Talk:Video game

No evidence for harmful effects of violent media? What are these then?
I got around to wondering if censorship in general could be just, when wondering if I should ever for example, depict grotesque things creatively that are downright offensive, though rather than saying "let's just do that" I stopped to think if there would be any consequences. Needless to say, this applies to all art forms, all forms of media, written, drawn animated or simulated. Having not found very compelling 'opinions' I wanted some actual hard facts based on real reviews and evidence before I did something. Video games are relevant here because they are such a contentious issue that at least someone is going to study it.

But truth is, violence in media has been an issue for decades more than video games existed, and research on that has, too. There seems to be many studies suggesting that video games have harmful short-term effects at least, and I did find contrary studies that look at whether there is publication bias. What I've found is that this is a quagmire issue, and I personally, couldn't find any 'easy answers or scientific consensus'. Despite this page acting like one exists.

Anyway, here are some sources discussing the issue, since they "don't exist".

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29093050/ - Observes an effect but doesn't demonstrate a cause. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28639810/ - Refutes some other author or attempts to and highlights potential publication bias issues. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20192553/ - Meta-analytic review determines results of effect are robust and there are few signs of publication bias. Or at least claims so. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2704015/ - This one is really interesting because it gives us the actual theories of why the effect occurs, it describes a process called "priming" where mere mention of aggressive concepts increases aggression in the brain, which seems reasonable if we are considered a reactive species with a fight or flight reflex. You would think that being aware of potential danger, even abstract forms, would be of great importance to us as animals, right?

There is a lot of academic discussion on this issue, I didn't think the article was being very reasonable with the violence section at all and seems rather biased on the issue itself. On a side note, it bothers me when science doesn't reach an easily found consensus so common people like myself can just say a fact for sure.

(I don't have a user account and don't know how to sign my name here just refer to my IP or something as an identifier? - Anon) &mdash; Unsigned, by: 81.105.226.107 / talk
 * Using four of these bad boys: ~ will sign with your IP and the date. Thank you for leaving us in depth and polite feedback, kind stranger. Such a refreshing thing to read compared to the usual nonsense. - Rairyu75  ( Talk ) 17:06, 25 October 2020 (UTC)
 * The problem is that you can find just as many studies refuting these claims. This one specifically debunks the "priming" claim: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563217305472 The same is true for claims of aggression: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.171474 2A00:23C7:99A4:5000:C94F:E83D:A4D7:5728 (talk) 22:42, 7 April 2022 (UTC)

I would like to know the difference between demonizing a medium and demonizing a demographic
Let me ask you something, is telling readers that sexism is the norm and all gamers of a specific gender even the slightest bit diffrent? Because I fail to distinguish between that gaming is for toxic muscularity and all men are sexual predators in every field.--2001:8003:8560:3D00:88D2:89AC:DBD9:6F99 (talk) 11:56, 15 February 2021 (UTC)
 * Calm down. I believe you were the one inserting statements into the article claiming that all gamers were sexists or racists. The fact of the matter is, the article demonizies neither a medium nor a demographic. Just because video games have some hostile, negative elements around them does not mean that anyone who plays video games must possess such behaviors. That is a naked and unproven assumption, and one that is not advanced within this article. The fact that you make it on your own reveals more about you than it does our article. IveBeenFrank (talk) 12:00, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Sonic the Hedgehog needs its own article
Especially his radioactive fandom &mdash; Unsigned, by: Nitrato de Chile / talk / contribs
 * Sounds more like funspace/essay material. Also, the crap that goes in fandom isn't particularly unique to the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. 22:14, 15 May 2021 (UTC)

Question
Let's say that I'm a video game developer. I want to make a violent video game. I want to add an African American character. Should I make him the assailant?(If I do that then I'm promoting the stereotypes that African Americans are violent) Or should I make him the victim?(If I do that then I'm portray him as weak) Shouldn't the plot of the game become the main focus? Instead of being race/sex sighted, let's celebrate their cultures and experiences. As a non-white person, I feel like the reason why the minorities have developed an inferiority complex is because we don't feel included. Skincolor doesn't represent culture. Celebrate the good aspects of a culture, criticize the bad. The Witcher was a great game because it celebrated polish culture. It increased the soft power of Poland and became Poland's greatest cultural export. CorporateBrinjal (talk) 14:40, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I'd say your example is a very simplistic and reductive analysis, and one of those cases where you're just building a person to be angry at. Very few (if anybody) believe that, e.g., just because a black character is violent (and violent alone), it's pushing the stereotype that black people are violent (even fewer are complaining about black characters being portrayed as weak because they're the victim of an assault).
 * I think you should take your own advice when you say the "plot of the game [should be] the main focus." Why is the black character violent? Is he violent because he's bashing a zombie's head in with a pipe wrench during the apocalypse? Is he violent because he's a soldier fighting through the streets of Incheon during the Korean War? Or is he violent because the plot portrays him as a one-sided coked up stereotypical inner-city gangbanger wearing his jeans around his knees? ℕoir LeSable (talk) 15:06, 6 March 2022 (UTC)
 * I also think that the scenario of being meaningfully accused of racism for those things is unrealistic and corresponds rather to the self-feeding hysteria around cancel culture (with anti-cancel culture people telling themselves scary unrealistic stories to reinforce their feeling there is a real threat). Also, if you think this scenario is realistic, don't forget to also consider the equally probable idea that if you make a white person the assailant, you will be accused to promoting anti-white white-guilt mentality. But one thing that really tickles me with your message: this is a good example of bad faith discussion, it looks like you are more interested in implying that there is a problem with pesky sjw rather than really finding a solution. Because if you truly wanted to find a solution, you would have thought a slightly bit further and would have seen that there are plenty of very easy ways to simply avoid the problem. For example, at the beginning of the game, randomly assign a model to each character (some player will see the assailant black, other will see them white, and no one can accuse you of trying to promoting something). Or maybe the assailant AND the victim can have the same skin color? Other crazy idea, having in the game several black characters behaving differently. Or the assailant can wear a helmet or a mask. Or ... Cauch (talk) 16:17, 6 March 2022 (UTC)

Fine, you win. Je me rends.🏳🇫🇷 Imma head out now and find some other page to vandalize. CorporateBrinjal (talk) 17:25, 6 March 2022 (UTC)

I would add a section that video games attract the alt-right
There are many alt-right gaming boards. From what I have seen, the left is more offended by games than the right. 2003:C3:3725:3000:1D3C:582:E055:43CD (talk) 12:27, 2 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The alt-right has a lot of overlap with the existing problems with video game communities, so its tendency to harbor white supremacists, misogynists, and other flavors of far-right beliefs can be quite natural. As for the second claim, I'm not sure how it follows from the first one, but if you browse alt-right gaming boards, you are certainly going to see near universal opinion that the left (which is poorly defined in these circles) is "perpetually" offended by games because a lot of the media they share often makes unsubstantiated claims that blow one or two posts out of proportion or simply take words out of context. This had been the issue with Anita Sarkeesian where she made some moderate observations regarding tropes for women in gaming, qualified these observations, and then made statements that these tropes are harmful (again with qualifying statements like "I don't want to take away sexy women, sex isn't necessarily the issue, etc); but people still believe she wants to censor video games and attack people who enjoy the games containing these tropes. Also, your observation is easily countered by several "outrage" (which are decidedly not from "the left") spillovers such as Alloy's appearance from Horizon Forbidden West, Angrboda's appearance in God of War Ragnarök, Tracer's appearance in Overwatch just to name a few. There was this giant ugly Gamergate movement also made up of perpetually offended nasty people who usually hold right-wing views. I've seen people get upset that Princess Peach in the Mario movie is a "girlboss" while Mario is a bumbling man which is apparently the "woke" infecting Mario, although most people like how Peach is shown in that movie (me included). Oftentimes, there's accusations of "woke" "SJW" people who ruined gaming, present in this small example of these short-lived microcosmic culture wars. Sure, there are some bad takes online that promote diversity (there was this paste article that disparaged Mario Kart 8 for lacking black characters, though its singling out of Mario Kart 8 is bizarre as lacking black characters is a Nintendo franchise problem; Nintendo's crossover Smash Ultimate doesn't have any black characters besides a few recolors of existing ones) but it doesn't seem to be reported as often as the right-wing fueled culture wars; I can't think of any recent ones similar to Mario Kart 8. I've seen critiques of portrayal of women in Xenoblade games, but I don't think it's out of being "offended". I've seen games engaging in editing out some labels that may be seen as offensive such as The Sims 4 removing possible references to the Rising Sun and bowing at a shrine to prevent reminders of Japanese imperialism to Korean players; that was seen as overstepping by several fans too. But I really doubt the claim that "the left is more offended by games" than the right.  19:44, 2 January 2023 (UTC)