The Videogame Ethics Reader

454 Pages·2013·7.815 MB·English

by  Jose P. Zagal

Revised First Edition
Edited by José P. Zagal
DePaul University
Bassim Hamadeh, Publisher
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First published in the United States of America in 2012 by Cognella, Inc.
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Printed in the United States of America
ISBN: 978-1-62131-401-1
Preface
A
few years ago, I was offered a choice. It wasn’t a difficult choice. Would I
rather teach a course on videogame ethics or an introductory game design
course? At the time I didn’t know much (if anything) about moral
philosophy, so I decided on the videogame ethics course. It seemed like a
good opportunity to learn something interesting. I also thought that a few
weeks would be enough to get up to speed on the debates, consensus, and
understanding of the intersection of ethics and videogames. I naively
assumed that all there was to “videogame ethics” was deciding whether or
not violent videogames should be banned.
It’s now a few years later and I am still travelling down what I quickly
realized was a rabbit-hole of fascinating questions, issues, and ideas. Violent
videogames and their potential effects are thin thread in a larger and richer
tapestry of themes and topics. The more I learn and discuss with others, the
more convinced I am that videogames, as the dominant art form of the 21st
century, will increasingly play a central role in our understanding of morality
and ethics. How we go about designing and creating videogames, what we
choose to say and express with them, and how we engage with and play
them, will all increasingly reflect and inform our behavior and broader
understanding of who we are, and who we can aspire to become.
This book offers a collection of essays and readings that have been useful to
me and my students as we have examined and explored questions of ethics
through the lens of videogames. On the surface, it would appear that many of
the chapters in this book aren’t about ethics. However, they all highlight
ethical questions and topics that are incredibly relevant to videogames. It just
depends on the perspective on ethics and games you are using.
Perspectives on Ethics and Games
Why do we find lying a reprehensible activity, yet celebrate great Poker
players for their ability to lie and deceive their opponents? Does playing an
ultra-violent videogame imply that I’m a bad person? Is it ethical for a game
designer to purposefully attempt to elicit negative emotional reactions like
fear, anger, or guilt from their players? Should videogame makers discourage
players from spending unhealthy amounts of time playing their games?
Should players have the right to transfer or sell their saved game files or
characters created in online games? Is it ethical to use a strategy guide or
cheat codes to play a game? Does it make a difference if the game is
multiplayer? Should certain games be banned based on their content? Should
they be banned based on their gameplay? These are just some of the
questions I’ve been asked over the years. They’re all about videogames, and
they’re all about ethics. However, they assume different perspectives,
focusing on the games, what is in the game, the players and what they do in
game, or the people who make them. When examining these questions I’ve
found it useful to pay attention to these perspectives since they highlight
different issues and concerns.
Focusing on the Games
Can a “mere game” be good or bad in a moral sense? Should we condemn a
1
game about the Columbine school shootings simply because it is about a
serious and emotional topic? Perhaps there are themes or topics that should
never be part of a videogame, regardless of how they are treated or presented.
Many people would agree with this. Consider for example the outcry in
Germany regarding the announcement of 1378, a student-created game set in
the Cold War that would allow people to play as border guards shooting
2
political refugees trying to cross the Berlin wall . Or, recall the controversy
surrounding Medal of Honor, a first-person shooter game published in 2010
by Electronic Arts? The game, set during the opening moments of the US
invasion of Afghanistan, originally featured a multiplayer mode would allow
players to play as the Taliban. After considerable pressure and outcry, the
term “Taliban” was replaced with “Opposing Force” though the game
remained otherwise the same. Does simply changing the name solve any
ethical issues the game might have? More generally, does the act of playing a
game inherently trivialize the issues it tackles and thus render any game about
a serious topic inherently inappropriate and unethical? Are there things for
which it will always be unethical to make game about?
We could perhaps then examine the moral worth of a videogame by
focusing on the consequences that the existence of a game may have. From
those consequences, we might have a basis for determining the morality of a
game. In what ways does a game affect its players, our society, or our
culture? For example, is the hyper-violent game Madworld, released in 2009
by SEGA for Nintendo’s Wii console, good or bad? We might argue that its
depictions of violence are such that the game might have a negative effect on
its players by desensitizing them to violence. It might even increase the
chance that they will become more violent individuals. On the other hand,
perhaps it is a moral game because of what we can learn from it about game
design and for the pleasure it may bring to those who play it. After all,
3
popular game site IGN praised the game (rating it with a 9/10) calling it a
“playful, absurdist celebration of the playful, absurdist celebration of
4
violence in video games.” So, which of these factors should we consider,
and how we should weigh them?
Focusing in the Game
If we think of ethics as rules for guiding our behavior and then look at games,
there are remarkable parallels. Games are also systems of rules. Sometimes
those rules are arbitrary or nonsensical (Why can’t I pick up a golf ball with
my hand and place it directly in the hole?), but they are rules nonetheless.
They are also effective, through the use of rewards and other incentives, at
influencing our behavior. I’ve seen players spend hours with a game trying to
get one last golden coin. If, in addition to a game’s system of rule, we add a
rich narrative storyline, characters, and detailed settings, we can begin to
examine the ethics of actions in games as defined by the games themselves.
Perhaps your character did something that was wrong (you lied to another
character) and the game reacted accordingly (your friends no longer trust
you). You know it was wrong because it’s been defined that way in the game.
More broadly, we can imagine games that realize worlds in which certain
ethical ideas are simulated and implemented. What would it be like to live in
a world in which lying was simply not possible? Or how about a game in
which the characters reacted to the player based only on the consequences of
their choices rather than the intention behind their actions? These mini-
worlds can serve as sandboxes for ethical reflection and analysis. In fact,
some games include ethical systems that morally evaluate a player’s actions,
often awarding “good” or “evil” points. By figuring out what actions result in
good or evil points as well as the consequences of accruing these points,
players can effectively explore a moral framework created by a game’s
designers. Although many of these systems may currently be simplistic or
primitive, they represent bold steps in providing people with opportunities
directly experience and participate in moral frameworks. I wouldn’t be
surprised to see moral philosophers turn to game design as a medium for
sharing and communicating their ideas.
Focusing on the Players
Another perspective is to consider the ethics of our behavior when we play
games. What does it mean to be an ethical player? What does our behavior in
a game say about us as players and human beings. I’ve always been intrigued
by the contradiction between behaviors that are reprehensible except when
they occur while playing a game. A good player may be one that best exploits
his opponent’s weaknesses or deceives his fellow players most effectively. Is
it unethical to do so? Some games allow players to enjoy, explore, and
examine unethical behaviors in a constrained setting. While playing a
criminal in a computer role-playing game may not mean the player is a
criminal, it is interesting to note how players often describe their in-game
activities in the first person: I killed, I stole, I destroyed, and so on. What are
the ethical implications of this? The rise of online gaming, especially in
massively online multiplayer games like World of Warcraft, also highlights
the role that players have in determining the values and morals held in their
online communities. In many ways, these games host mini-societies and
cultures each with their own ethical and moral guidelines. What are they like?
How did they develop and how are they negotiated between players? For
example, consider gold-farming, or playing a game in order to acquire and
sell in-game currency or virtual goods. Gold farmers play a game not for the
pleasure of play, but rather as work, is it unethical to do so? These ethics of
play seem to have to do mostly with the unwritten rules of a game and how,
when, and why, players regulate their behavior beyond what may “officially”
be required. After all, the notion of sportsmanship, or the aspiration of
enjoying a game for its own sake, is fundamentally tied to virtues and ethics:
respecting one’s opponents, playing fairly, winning gracefully, and more.
Focusing on the Industry and Society
Another way to talk about ethics and games is to consider the ethics of their
production and creation. What does it mean to create games ethically and,
what issues are most salient given the current state of the videogame
industry? In mid-2011, a group of former employees of Team Bondi, the
developer of the critically acclaimed and best-selling title L.A. Noire, created
5
a website that lists the names of employees (and former employees) that
were either not recognized or incorrectly attributed for their contributions to
the game. For a few years now, the International Game Developers
6
Association (IGDA ) has taken this issue of moral rights quite seriously. For
7
example, in 2007 they drafted a game crediting guide that provides
guidelines for how and when people working on a videogame title should be
attributed and credited. The game industry has also been criticized for other
issues such as its lack of non-White non-male characters in primary roles,
sexist and misogynistic portrayals of women, lack of racial and gender
diversity in its workforce, and exploitative work conditions. What are the
main ethical principles and moral problems that arise in these professional
environments?
The rapid growth of the videogame industry, coupled with the widespread
acceptance and incorporation of videogames into our culture has also
highlighted broader concerns that are interesting to examine from an ethical
perspective. For instance, over the years many attempts have been made to
regulate and/or censor videogames and their content. Should videogames be
regulated at all? In what ways? For instance, most game rating systems focus
on the visual and thematic content of games, however online interactions are
unregulated. Should they be? The videogame industry also has a long and
deep-seated tradition of player participation via level editors, mods,
customization options, and more. Nowadays, for some games like Little Big
Planet, the game editor and distribution channel has effectively become the
game. An environment in which the roles of consumers and producers are
fluid undoubtedly raises ethical questions regarding the practices,
responsibilities, and rights of its participants. What rights should authors have
over their creations? Is it reasonable for a game’s publisher to assert
ownership over a player’s detailed description of her character in a game?
These are but some of the questions we are currently dealing with. As new
games are made and new technologies are developed we will undoubtedly
run into new ones.
Organization of the Book
This book is organized into four sections that loosely represent the different
lenses we can use to examine issues of ethics and videogames. It isn’t
necessary that they be read in the same order they appear in the book. In fact,
for some readers it might make more sense to skip around based on their
interests.
Section 1 – Effects
1.
In Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Videogames Be a Force
for Good?, Christopher Ferguson presents an in-depth examination of the
controversies surrounding violent videogames that includes the history and
reasons behind media-related fears and moral panics, a review of current
theories and findings from research in videogame violence and aggression,
and an overview of the positive impact that violent videogames can have on
their players. This chapter helps illustrate and unpack the complicated and
convoluted relationship that exists between videogames and its purported
effects on its players.
2.
In Now It’s Personal: On Abusive Game Design, Douglas Wilson and
Miguel Sicart discuss the notion of abusive game design as a practice that
highlights the intentionality that a game’s designer has in encouraging
certain emotional reactions or effects from its players. They examine games