Openion on war game programming

[Beja]

Hi all,
I am just enjoying my First Amendment

1- I ask my self, why programmers create war games software?
2- Why is it, that war games are rated in the same category as sex, for kids.?
3- What people benefit from playing war games?
4- What are the effects of war games both, on the player and on the society?

Still trying to find answers to these questions, but I think the answer to the first question is Money.. they want to make money.
My answer to the second question is that, because small children are vulnerable to external influence than adults.. but
vulnerability is a relative value, and some kids are more mature than some adults.. there is a very big gray area between the two.
My Answer to question three is that, to vent out the violent nature that we inherited from animals, otherwise that nature will try to express itself in the real world.
And finally, my answer to the last question is that, the answer to the third question could, in many cases (if not in all cases) be reversed, and instead of venting violent nature, war games can stimulate, strengthen and awake them from deep sleep, and I personally believe this is true. It starts by games and then when a chance is found players will tend to play the REAL game.

for these reasons, my hope and advice to all is to stay away from war game software programming, and instead, produce other arcade, action and strategy games.

Vive la liberté

 

[EnriqueGonzalez]

Ey Beja,

i particullary like war games a lot, since i was 12 years old playing Age of Empires II to my most recent adquicition Act of Aggression, first of all Games does not make you violent (me my self cant stand any gory movie) nor i think they act as a pressure relief for our inner violence. also i do not play war games only, i am kind of fanatic of SimCity, Transport Tycoon, Cities Skyline.

for me i play those games because they challange my mind, my ability to comand and organice, to make things happen, like chess. People do not think they are killing people by moving chess pieces (AOE II reference),

 

[Roycefer]

1) I suspect a large part of why customers demand war games and why programmers create war games is that humans instinctively know how to play them. Abstract games like chess or Tetris require non-intuitive analytical thinking to learn and then play. But everyone instinctively knows "gain territory, don't lose territory, shoot the other team, don't get shot by the other team". I'm not sure if there is any other kind of game mechanic as ingrained as war. Even market-based/money-based games aren't as intuitive. Some higher primates (chimpanzees and capuchins) can be trained to use money (with limited success) but even lizards and sharks understand the mechanics of combat and territory. The capacity and desire to play war games was probably formed 500 million years ago with the advent of animal predation and hunting/mating territories. The capacity to use money is probably only 20 million years old. And the capacity to reason abstractly is probably only 1 million years old.

2) Interesting question. I'm sure the answer lies in puritanical ideas about sex. It should be noted that even the MPAA will allow quite gratuitous violence in movies before enforcing an R-rating but even the slightest hint of non-sexual nudity will require such a rating. (For non-American readers, MPAA movie ratings dictate how old you have to be to attend a certain movie in the theater unaccompanied by an adult. R-rated movies require an adult to accompany kids under 17.)

3) What are the benefits of playing ANY game? Even self-described "brain training" games and self-described "educational" games ("Turn your baby into the next Mozart by playing our game! Only $199.99 on Google Play.") have been shown in the scientific literature to do nothing of the sort. Fast-paced games (like some war games) have been shown to have a training effect on visio-spatial reasoning, reaction times and hand-eye coordination. But, even then, I doubt any game player is saying "I want to improve my visio-spatial reasoning, reaction times and hand-eye coordination. I'm going to play this game.".

4) I doubt there is much effect on either. American politicians make much hay about the deleterious effect on the social fabric by violent movies and video games but the scientific research routinely debunks this idea. They are occasionally able to trot out a single study that shows increased levels of aggression after playing a violent game but individual studies don't form scientific consensus. The aggregate conclusion of the body of studies on the topic show no significant increase in aggression and some small decrease in aggression after playing violent games.

There's a separate but related issue of cultural sensitivity. Historically, most war games were historical in nature. The first Call Of Duty was about WWII. But as war games became more popular in the early 2000s, the recent-ness of their subject matters increased. By the time of the Battle of Fallujah, it was only a few months after the battle that video games depicting the battle came out. Some decried this as insensitive, but is it considerably more insensitive than movies coming out in the same time frame depicting the same events? Like movies, I think it entirely possible for consumers to visually enjoy the product while simultaneously being aware that the events depicted were quite horrific.

 

[Informatix]

4) I doubt there is much effect on either. American politicians make much hay about the deleterious effect on the social fabric by violent movies and video games but the scientific research routinely debunks this idea. They are occasionally able to trot out a single study that shows increased levels of aggression after playing a violent game but individual studies don't form scientific consensus. The aggregate conclusion of the body of studies on the topic show no significant increase in aggression and some small decrease in aggression after playing violent games.

It seems that's a bit more complex and your last affirmation is based on a single study. A good summary on this matter can be read on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversies

Your first answer explaining why war games are so popular is very interesting and very intelligent. It's the first time that I read such an explanation.

 

[wonder]

3) What are the benefits of playing ANY game?

Here's a very clever answer from Vsauce:

 

[Roycefer]

Yes, it seems my review of the literature was a bit out-dated. It looks like the contemporary consensus is that there is probably a small increase in short-term aggression from playing violent video games in some categories of people (male teenagers, mostly). Nevertheless, I think my conclusion still holds. Video games aren't turning people into marauding werewolves and the real large-scale effect on society and individuals is probably negligible. Especially considering the other factors that DO turn people into marauding werewolves (childhood abuse, ideology, food insecurity, political oppression, lack of employment/education opportunities, hot weather, genetic predispositions, etc...).

VSauce is no doubt correct in a sense. Games stimulate the reward centers of the brain in a way that real life rarely does. I suspect this is an example of this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernormal_stimulus . The Matrix deals with this concept, as well. Interesting stuff.