Computer Game Ethics
José Diaz
Overview
The Business
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Software Piracy
Ratings / Censorship
Game Content
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Violence in Gaming
Gender & Sexuality
Social Affect
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Computer Game Addiction
Privacy
Definition of Computer Games
► “Technological-recreational
fantasy entertainment”.
This implies that the experience made playing a
computer game happens on an abstract level.
Although game players might identify themselves
with characters they control, it is a virtual identity
they temporarily adopt. This virtual identity exists
in an intangible world that is not comparable to
reality. “game play is its own reward and is clearly
distinguished from ordinary life”. Therefore, real
moral values and principles might not be
applicable.
Software Piracy
► Definition:
The illegal duplication of
software for commercial or personal use.
► Computer
Industry loses more than 11$
billion to software piracy every year.
► Considered
a crime in many countries.
 Up to 5 years in jail and/or 250000$ in fines in
the U.S.
Software Piracy
► Is
piracy acceptable if the person wouldn’t
have ever actually bought the item?
► Is
pirating / cracking a game ever ok? What
about to replace a lost legal copy?
► Have
you ever pirated software, and if so,
what is your rationale for breaking the law?
Is it any different than shoplifting?
Ratings and Censorship
► Entertaiment
Software Ratings Board (ESBR) rates
computer and video games in the U.S.
► Pan
European Game Information (PEGI) rates
computer and videogames in Europé.
► Not
supported by law.
► ESBR
rates over 1000 games per year.
ESBR rating and content symbols
ESBR rating and content symbols
ESBR rating and content symbols
► Each
of these ratings has a content
description below it, containing more than
30 choices of descriptions from "Cartoon
Violence" to "Strong Sexual Content" and
everything in between. Content is allowed
further permutations with the words "Mild"
or "Strong" to describe each term.
PEGI rating and content symbols
Main purpose
► To
help parents make informed decisions on
buying interactive games. In other words
both PEGI and ESRB are working for the
protection and well being of children
Violence in Gaming
► Anderson
games…
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…
…
…
…
…
& Bushman: Exposure to violent
increases physiological arousal
increases aggressive thoughts
increases aggressive emotions
increases aggressive actions
decreases positive prosocial actions
… trains our youth in combat tactics needed for the
revolution
Violence in Gaming
► Psychologist
Jonathan Freedman, who
reviewed over 200 published studies, found
that the impact of violence in videogames to
aggressive behaviour was very small
compared to other things.
Agression Experiments
► College
student experiment
 Group A: played a non-violent game
 Group B: played a violent game
 Competitive reaction test afterwards
► Winner
of each ‘round’ delivers a loud “noise blast” at
opponent, with a choice of volume and duration
► Group B delivered longer blasts than Group A
 Exposure to violent video games increases hostile
attribution bias
► Those
who interpret ambiguous social cues as being of hostile
intent are more aggressive
► Children who play more violent video games are more likely to
have a hostile attribution bias
Violence in Gaming
► Do
game designers have social
responsibilities to the users of their
products?
► Should violence in computer and video
games even be an issue, since we can see it
so often in other, more popular mass
media?
Gender & Sexuality in Games
► 43%
of people who play
interactive games are women
► 47%
of people who purchase
computer games are men and
53% are women.
► 54%
of people who purchase
console games are men and 46%
are women.
Gender & Sexuality in Games
Gender & Sexuality in Games
► Much
of the debate about the good and ills of
computer and video games center on children
► What
moral and legal duty do game developers
have to ensure that children cannot access the
material that they create.
► Whats
► Should
is appropiate? And what is not?
games be rated according to their sexual
content?
Game Addiction
► “He
even left
Thanksgiving dinner
before pie was served
to come home and
play….”
►A
post on EverQuestWidows
Game Addiction
► “My
husband was doing an adventure when one of
the players asked how much longer the adventure
would take since his wife was in labor.“
► “When
I came back home I asked my husband to
come to bed with me because I needed some
comfort and to process what had happened,
especially since I just started my 8th month of
pregnancy. You know what his answer was? ‘I
can't just leave my group, it's rude.’”
Game Addiction
► “Symptoms
of game addiction include falling
behind in school and work and basically deferring
everything else in your life so you can play.”
► “Compulsive
playing tends to mask underlying
problems such as depression, anger and low selfesteem,” said the director of the Computer
Addiction Studies Center, who said she was once
hooked on computer solitaire.
Game Addiction
► Where
is the line drawn between passion and
addiction?
► What
social responsibilities do game designers
have to the users of their products?
► Make
a game less addictive by making it boring?
► Should
games known to be highly addictive come
with warning labels?
Privacy
► MMPORG’s,
Web-based games, and even games
requiring online registration all have access to your
machine and any information you choose to offer.
► Organizations
like Microsoft, and more recently the
US Army, which have possible negative social
connotations associated with them, have gotten
involved in computer games.
Privacy Questions
► What
data is ethical to collect without the
user’s knowledge? To collect with consent?
► If
the user’s gaming experience can be
improved by collecting personal information,
how much is harmless?