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Blood, gore, violence...
BLOOD GUSHES into the space where the man's head used to be before you slashed his neck with an axe. His friend lies with his skull caved in after you bashed it in. Welcome to the world of violent video games. Too gory for you? It is for many countries, including the
United Kingdom, which recently banned an excessively gory video game set in an underground experimental science project where a key character is trying to escape and kill the people responsible for imprisoning him.
The ban and restrictions seem to have affected the game's shipping date recently.
Video games have been blamed by some psychologists for real life crime.
Some say the distinction between reality and the imaginary world of the game is blurred for some gamers.
Dubai Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr Raymond Hamden, at the Human Relations Institute in the UAE, had no doubt as to the effects violent video games could have on users, particularly children.
"Any visual reference may be difficult for some people to distinguish between reality and fantasy," he said.
But several such games are all in a sitting's entertainment for some UAE gamers although they warn it's easy for children to get their hands on such games.
Anish Thomas, 30, plays games he describes as medium paced action games.
"It's fun, it's very entertaining. The graphics are very good. But it's based on history," he said describing one of the games.
He said games varied but the violence was usually only an aspect of the game.
But he admitted that "some games go too far."
Thomas said the games carried a rating for that reason and while kids shouldn't play them, the games should not be restricted for all.
"It's all action, it's pure fun, it's entertaining," he said. "You can't stick to Pacman forever."
When reality gets blurred
Dr Hamden said the issues surrounding violent video games affected all players, not just children.
He said there was a natural anxiety among people against "killing and hostile behaviour". However he said this is diminished by video games which called for players to repeatedly battle against the anxiety.
"Even though they may be able to distinguish between reality and fantasy as they grow older, the repetition of that anxiety decreases it," he said.
Jamie Quadros, another UAE gamer, said he enjoyed role playing games and shooter games and explained the attraction.
"They're incredibly violent," he said. "There's blood splattering everywhere. It's pretty much like being inside a horror movie."
He said these games were designed with blood and horror to make the gamer feel scared.
"You're meant to be scared when you play them. The graphics are very realistic. It's the whole cheap thrill factor like going to a horror movie," he explains.
He said certain games weren't as violent as some and had other aspects than blood and gore.
"You actually have to be careful about what you do in the game and that's why there is the horror," he said.
"When you play a game you can control it. I don't get pleasure from beating someone senseless," he rationalises.
Quadros, did agree that some might take violent video games too seriously particularly children and such games therefore should be restricted.
"It depends on the individuals. There are chances for people to be violent. The only people that take it that seriously are younger. That's why such games have the high age rating."
Ban not the answer
Quadros said he didn't think banning violent video games would prevent their influence.
"The more you ban it the more people will want to play it."
Despite age ratings and bans, Quadros believed it was still possible for children to have access to violent games.
"It's incredibly easy for kids to get the games. Games stores will sell it to anyone. It's very easy to get hold of violent games online.
"All you need is a computer and a fast Internet connection and you can get anything you want."
Quadros said parents had to be aware what their child was playing.
"It's up to parents to exercise their discretion. It depends on the kids too. You can't expect not to be thrown in jail if you steal a car."
Parental role
Dr Hamden was of a similar opinion and said children were reliant on what they learned from their parents and what their parents allowed them to observe.
"They don't know limits or boundaries," he said.
"Children who are not guided by their parents are children who will not have the differentiation (between right and wrong).
"Humans do have an instinct that is monitored by the environment as to what's right and wrong.
"(But)It still has to be learned and conditioned. Teaching kids from an early age is necessary."
This opinion was even held by the head of one of the largest distributors of video games in the Middle East, Software Planet.
General manager Riyad Santouh said regardless of video game restrictions imposed by the UAE National Media Council or guidelines by distributors, parents were ultimately responsible for what video games their children played and consequently what they learned.
"I'm against violent games. They should be controlled," he said.
"If it's a shooting game with lots of blood, I would never let my child watch if he was seven-years-old."
Santouh said despite ratings, violent games were still popular among children.
"Kids are crazy about major violent games. Even 7-year-olds want to play 17+ games.
"He is a kid, he doesn't know. If you tell him, he will follow. If they play these games there will be more violence."
Santouh said it was for these reasons that he agreed to restrictions and ratings on violent games, and often decided not to sell particularly violent games.
"These games should be controlled. I would never sell such games."
Sharing the responsibility
Action games, including violent games, were among the most popular games but after strategic games and sports games.
A spokesperson for the National Media Council Dubai censorship department reinforced the message that the responsibility for what our society's children learn lies with a number of parties, most importantly parents.
"We are doing our part but it is a two way street," he said.
"There is control (censorship) but everyone should play their part.
"The parents, the household, the media, the school — there are many parts."
He said the department had as much concern for video games with religious themes as for violence and took this into account when censuring and rating games.
"It shouldn't be offensive to religion, tradition, have too much violence or inappropriate scenes," he said.
Generally UAE ratings were similar to those in the US and UK but he said some games could differ dramatically because of themes more sensitive for UAE residents.
Often distributors self-censored themselves and did not import the games in the knowledge they were then likely to attract a high rating or ban, according to the official.
In other cases the rating was increased or, recently in one case, a game was banned.
However, this did not mean the game was not accessible to the public and the official stressed this was where the role of parents was important.
The department focused on monitoring the content of products on the market rather than online games.
"It's difficult to control this market," he said.
However he noted the government was focusing on breaches of copyright and piracy.
George Kuruvilla, a 25-year-old who has played video games since he was about five, said he doubted links between violent games and real life violence existed particularly in Dubai while describing his circle of gaming friends.
"I don't think Dubai residents are as much into the bloodshed. I haven't met many. And there are options to reduce the violence. I don't think people react to it as though it's real life.
"Real life in Dubai is tense as it is — video games won't make you react violently."
An American youth violence prevention centre cited a 2001 review, entitled 'Children Now', which found that of the 70 top-selling video games, 89 per cent contained some kind of violence. Almost half of all games (49 per cent) contained serious violence, while 40 per cent contained comic violence. In 41 per cent of the games, violence was necessary for the protagonists to achieve their goals. In 17 per cent of the games, violence was the primary focus of the game itself.
However, the American Entertainment Software Association states that in 2005, only 14 per cent of games sold were rated 'Mature (M),' as compared to the 85 per cent of games sold rated 'Everyone (E)', 'Teen (T)', or Everyone 10+ (E10+) (49 per cent rated 'E', 32 per cent rated 'T', and 4 per cent rated 'E10+').
Meanwhile a 2001 report by the US Department of Health and Human Services found that the number of studies investigating the impact of such games on youth aggression is small. A recent meta-analysis of these studies found that the exposure to violent video games has a relatively small effect on physical aggression and a moderate effect on aggressive thinking. The impact of video games on violent behaviour remains to be determined.
Dr Hamden concluded that children could still play games but they needed to be monitored by their parents and much of the problem lay with parents where work was the number one priority rather than family.
Games report
UAE rating for some games
Gangs of London (UAE 18+)
Reservoir Dogs (UAE M)
Mortal Kombat: Unchained (UAE 18 +)sacrifice: The World is Yours (UAE 17 +)
The Godfather: Mob Wars (UAE 18+)
Hitman 2 (UAE 18+)
Resident Evil 0 (UAE 18+)
Dead Rising (UAE 16+)
Game player data
* The average age of the game buyer is 40 years old.
* The average age of the game player is 33 years old.
* Adult gamers have been playing an average of 12 years.
* Fifty-three per cent of game players expect to be playing as much or more ten years from now than they do today.
* Thirty-eight per cent of game players are women.
* Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (30 per cent) than boys age 17 or younger (23 per cent)
Computer Gamers
* Thirty per cent of most frequent game players are under eighteen years old.
* Twenty-six per cent of most frequent game players are between 18 and 35 years old.
* Forty-four per cent of most frequent game players are over 35 years old.
Console Gamers
* Forty per cent of most frequent game players are under eighteen years old.
* Thirty-five per cent of most frequent game players are between 18 and 35 years old.
* Twenty-five per cent of most frequent game players are over 35 years old.
How Much Time Is Spent Playing Games?
The average adult woman plays games 7.4 hours per week. The average adult man plays 7.6 hours per week.
Online gamers
* Forty-four per cent of most frequent game players say they play games online, up from 31 per cent in 2002.
* Fifty-eight of online game players are male.
* Forty-two per cent of online game players are female.
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