Analysis of the game

The True Intent Behind Violent Video Games

The article’s author asserts that the creators of violent video games have fallen short of demonstrating the true intent behind their creations. Violence-themed video games contain more dull characters than anyone could have imagined. Additionally, according to the author, these games, particularly those released in 2013, feature a lot of desecration, shooting, and torture without providing the spectator with any clear explanation. The concept of personal yet explicit violence, which is what the majority of gamers are yearning for, should be acknowledged in violent video games, in his opinion. Most of the time, the antagonists in these violent video games have been degraded by the creators, who let the players easily dispatch a squad of adversaries while showing little sympathy for their characters (Wallace, 2014). When a game developer puts a name and face to a given character, then violence against them become personal and specific.

Comparison of BioShock Infinite and The Last of Us

The article compares two video games; BioShock Infinite and The Last of Us both developed in 2013 with different perspectives of how games are more violent than the audience may think. The BioShock Infinite is a story about a young woman and man battling it through a territory of nameless evil individuals while The Last of Us is survival game in a land conquered by zombies. Even though the violence in the latter video game seemed both grisly and direct, it served the purpose. The protagonists (Joel and Ellie) in the game narrowly survived, and the dreadful activities committed by and upon them leaves both emotionally distorted at the end of the game. Nonetheless, the violence in BioShock Infinite makes the audience feel gratuitous instead transformed by the game.

The Value-Based Assertions

The article has some value-based assertions to support the argument on how games are more violent than the audience may picture them when playing. Most developers of games have failed to use the greatest strength of gaming, “the interactivity” to make it more lively. Some games have emphasized the depiction of the “enhanced interrogation” however; few are likely to interrogate the action itself. A section of game developers has done something noteworthy regarding the issue of torture by getting players involved in the action (Jia-Kun & Qian, 2016). For instance, Grand Theft Auto V makes the player sustain a prolonged action when the protagonist, Trevor tortures a yelling, innocent man for questionable-at-best intelligence.

Lack of Consistency in the Argument

However, I feel this evidence supported by the author of the article does not demonstrate or portray consistency in the argument. The article criticizes the torture that most violent video games have portrayed, claiming they are not transformative or powerful to influence the behavior of the player.

The Importance of Personal and Specific Violence

The author supports some form of personal and specific violence forms than torture. Predestinated, towards the end of the article, they recommend Grand Theft video game though it has actions of torture on an innocent man. Additionally, the evidence is not relevant in arguing that violence should be more personal and specific than just torturing. According to my assessment, I believe violence in video games are relevant as long as they meet the objectives and goals of the developers regardless of whether they are unmistakable.

The Use of Critical Elements

However, the author has signaled the use of most critical elements in the article through the selection of appropriate words and transitions from one idea to the other. The word choices used to convey the message are correct considering that the audience of this article may be from diverse cultural, social, and educational background.

References

Jia-Kun, Z., & Qian, Z. (2016). Priming Effect of Computer Game Violence On Children’s Aggression Levels. Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 44(10), 1747-1759.

Wallace, R. (2014). Modding: Amateur Authorship and How the Video Game Industry Is Actually Getting It Right. Brigham Young University Law Review, 2014219.