One of the hardest things about blogging is finding funny topics when the world is on fire, so I reluctantly dive into the pool on the other side from time to time. This is one such time. After a mass shooting, the blame game starts and I believe this, along with the constant attention given these animals has more to do with the frequency of them than anything. I read an LA Times article that I have linked to that showed what all mass shooters have in common. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2019-08-04/el-paso-dayton-gilroy-mass-shooters-data
What I saw from the article, which in fairness, is just one source, is that violence to the person, experienced and witnessed, is a common factor, along with a “trigger” event before the shooting and then the ease of access to information about other mass shooters. These guys are trying to be famous or known; trying to make a splash. I won’t go into that side, but let’s look at what not’s the cause: video games.
I tried to go back and see what video games I’ve played with violence in them. Discounting sports games like hockey, football, and boxing, I still am in the hundreds. I’ve played games where you could be evil or good. Games where you had to fight other characters to the death. I’ve also read books and seen movies with extreme violence. Even classical literature has murder, rape and torture. At any time, you can go to a theater and see at least one movie with someone getting killed. People I’ve killed so far? Zero.
In fairness, there are some limits. We don’t allow actual murder and/or death to hit our airwaves. Beheadings and other video clips of car accidents are typically firewalled or blocked on social media. I remember the “Faces of Death” series being one kids tried to watch, usually without success. It was video footage of horrible accidents compiled on a VHS series. It was heavily restricted (correctly, I believe) in distribution. For video games, the two most controversial of my life were the Call of Duty “No Russian” scene and Manhunt. “No Russian” was where, as an undercover CIA agent, the player was told to massacre civilians in an airport. Turns out the leader of the terrorist group knows the player is American and kills your character as a way to blame the killing on the American government. A kid planning a school shooting actually referenced this scene when he was caught. The player does not have to shoot anyone during the level and it can even be skipped. I will say, despite my disgust with this scene/level in the game, even that cannot be directly tied to a mass shooting. It was roundly criticized and years later is generally frowned upon as a marketing gimmick in poor taste, but still not a direct influencer.
Manhunt was actually involved in a lawsuit for a murder and led to countersuits. It was a game where you were a death row inmate released in an asylum in a kill or be killed scenario that was being filmed. Very dark, very violent and banned in 2003 and 2007 in several countries. Again, outside of one case that wasn’t settled, it was never shown definitively to have led to murder, but it absolutely was in poor taste and probably to date is the most violent non-underground video game ever released. Whatever you think about the companies that release these games, actual violence to kids has been proven to be astronomically more involved in serial killers and mass shooters’ motives than any game.
In summation, is it moral to make (or play) games with extreme violence? Probably on some level, no. If you blame such games, however, I hope you don’t watch fights or contact sports, read murder mystery or horror novels, or watch action movies. I also have no issue with a stance on video games, but it clearly isn’t a direct cause of mass shootings, no matter how pretzel like your logic. Take that energy and work on child advocacy to prevent abuse, rape and domestic violence. It’ll do a lot more good than taking away a game.