sample paper for gaming

7/29/2019 Sample paper for Gaming

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Moral Panic and Call of Duty

Midnight. June 5, 1944. It was a full moon and all you have to do is find German

soldiers and annihilate them so you can lay down the beacon for the paratroopers. The

mission: start of the invasion of Normandy and the out come of that event lies in the

performance of your duty. As you spot a German soldier near a tree, you decide to

slash his throat so as not to call the attention of other soldiers. Violent ? Maybe not, this

one is in real war.

The scenes described above illustrates the first mission in Call of Duty, the

game developed by Infinity Ward in collaboration with Activision in 2003. Categorically,

it is a first-person shooter video game released in different formats such as XBox, Wii

and PC. Its theme is quite similar to another war simulation game known as Medal of

Honor. However, Medal of Honor ( MOH) is played only from the perspective of an

American soldier. The first Call of Duty gives the player two other perspectives: Soviet

and British since the computer provides allies from these countries. In short, the game

simulates the real allied forces during World War 2.

According to Metacritic ( 2003), Call of Duty had a rating of 91 which is quite a

feat since the 44 critic reviews were ravishing. Metacritic is website that publishes

game reviews so that the gaming public would not waste their money and time on

badly scripted games. Critic reviewers of video games are often harsh since the industry


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is filled with frustrating games. Luckily, aside from getting superb reviews from game

sites, Call of Dutygarnered awards such as Game of the Year Award 2004 ( from the

Academy of Interactive Sciences) as well as Computer Game of the Year . Because of

its popularity, various spin-off of the game such as Call of Duty 2, Call of Duty 3and

the recent Call of Duty 4 : Modern Warfarehas evolved. The most modern version, Call

of Duty 4 : World at War 2 was released for different consoles such as Xbox360,

PlayStation 3 and Wii; moreover, it also had a PC version for Windows and Mac OS X.

However the most controversial version was that of Call of Duty : Modern Warfare (

CODMW) which was released last April 2007. According to gamepro.com, COD MW

sold 7 million copies, however , that was as far as January 2008. News report of USA

Today ( 2009 ) claims that the game has sold 11 million copies.

Call of Duty and the Process of Moral Panic

Aside from gaining sales and top video ratings, the game also earned a lot of

controversy. For one, the game gives the player an option to play good guy by

defending the capital. Conversely, the player can also be part of a terrorists group. The

game caused a furor among moral crusaders as well general public since the games

showed footages of a scene that showed killing so innocent and unarmed civilians

inside an airport of what looks like LAX airport in Los Angeles ( telepgraphg.co.uk,

2009). An online media site gathered comments from people and as stated by


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Criscuolos report:

It's a scene where they kill civilians and it's a scene you can skip but that's where

it's getting all the buzz because the lawmakers and the people that want to ban games

are having a field day with it," says Tim Manes, a Hastings employee in Pittsburg,

Kansas.( koamtv. com, Nov. 11 2009 ).

Another touchy scene in the game was portrayed in Lincoln Memorial in DC. It

seems that the public dislikes using real places since it reminds them of the 9/11 event.

Publisher Activision defended that by arguing that the game was rated for players 18

and above. Also, they claimed that establishing such a wicked scene helps emphasize

the importance of a mission, plus, the player can skip the scene.

The issue in this controversy regarding Call of Duty : Modern Warfare is the

source of moral panic. The aforementioned comment of an ordinary employee reveals

that lawmakers and people ( could be media ) would definitely ride on the issue.

Ironically, the negative publicity would even generate sales as the public themselves

would grab a copy of this game. Going back to the issue of moral panic, it would be

helpful to discuss first what is moral panic. Sociologically, moral panic is a type of

hysteria that the public goes through when it identifies something as deviant. In our

case, the public perceives the game Call of Duty as threatening since it instigates acts

of terrorism. To be more thorough in presenting this moral panic, it would be beneficial

to go through the process of a moral panic by Cohen ( 1973, p.9).


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These are the six processes that Cohen cited in his bookFolk Devils and Moral Panics:

1.A condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined asa threat to societal values and interests;

2. Its nature is presented in a stylized and stereotypical fashion by the mass media;3. The moral barricades are manned by editors, bishops, politicians and other right-

thinking people;

4. Socially accepted experts pronounce their diagnoses and solutions;5. Ways of coping are evolved or (more often) resorted to;6. The condition then disappears, submerges or deteriorates and becomes more

visible;

In analyzing the first process, it is evident that the game COD has become a threat

to society since it seems to advocate terrorist acts. On top of this, groups argue that

such games produce aggressive behaviour on young players. The game Grand Theft

Autowas similarly subject to this moral panic as the media published a news report

that links deviant behaviour of a group of teenagers were influenced by this video

game. In fact, the article even recommended that :

Police are asking parents to keep track of what their children are watching on

television and on DVD, and what they are playing on game consoles ( Young, June

2008).


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When cases like these happen, the media immediately amplifies the situation and

finds something to blame. This brings us to the second process of how a moral panic is

processed. Indeed, the media plays a key role in creating such hysteria. An insightful

article titled Young, Black (& Brown) and Don't Give a Fuck: Virtual Gangstas in the Era

of State Violencewritten by David in 2009 criticizes the hypocrisy of those (institutions)

that blame video games . Instead, David pose questions to these blamers( i.e .

media):

....yet remain silent about institutions and cultural practices that expose children to

violence and the failure of these studies and their proponents to consider a myriad of

factors from class and upward mobility to divorce rates and school instability, much of

literature scoffs at the mere premise of virtual play facilitating violence. ( David, 2009 ,

p.15 )

This is exactly what is consuming about moral panics, its usefulness lies in what it

does not reveal according to the report of Jessica Edwards. Behind the aggression of

young people, many attributable factors such as personality, family background,

psychological stability and education is not emphasized. Unfortunately, the public is not

as discerning as scholar which leads them to relying on mass media to create truths

or realities for them. It is a vicious cycle when the public is fed by the media with

information and the social reaction of the public is influenced by the medias packaging

of a deviant. As the public clamor for more information, the media feeds the public and

even suggests courses of action as in the case of the news article that reported the

GTA inspired misdemeanor. This is where the Focaults regime of truthsets in. As Hall


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( 1997 , p.49) argues not of the truth of knowledge in the absolute sense, a Truth

which remained so, whatever the period, setting , context- but of a discursive formation

sustaining a regime of truth. The media disseminates a certain truth that public

unknowingly digests and accepts as valid.

The third process which deals with moral barricades manned by rightist groups are

also players in creating this regime of truth

Indeed, this is a pathetic case when the public depends on the media when it is lazy

to use its thinking process. Call of Duty was created by Activision to provide

entertainment and portray real situations that would excite the player. Counter-

arguments against terrorism in video games is given by Adam Sessler, a former co-

host of cable channel G4 TV series when he asserted that ( for Call of Duty):

"There is a helplessness for the player in that sequence and games, somehow, are

not being allowed to go into that creative territory. It's always somehow supposed to be

typified as 'fun.' This will elicit a reaction and create a motivation for the successive

events that happen in the rest of the game," he says. "I'm not going to go so far as to

say it is right or wrong. I feel that is really in the eyes of the beholder.( qtd from.

Snider,T., 2009).

This comment of Sessler as part of the news report by telegraph.co.ukis defensive

of the game especially when it comes to its creative process. Creating a game for

Activion is hard work that is intended to provide entertainment for a certain age-group (

( 18 above). In fact, when one logs into the website of Call of Duty, it needs to validate


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the users age. Also, Sessler is concerned with the artistry and creativity behind a game

that non-gaming people do not see. The game is like a book which is judged by its

cover.

The fourth process is fulfilled when studies made by socially acceptable experts

like Anderson and Dill ( 2000 ) conclude from their studies of college students that

exposure to violent video games can increase aggressive behavior ( qtd. from

mentahlhealth.com,2005 ).Because of these studies, educators, lawmakers and other

rightist groups amplify the issue which leads us to the fifth process coping. Again,

David ( 2009 ) relates to us in his works the coping which society adopted in relation to

the game GTA. The ghetto whether virtual or not is heavily policed in the effort to

protect the White Youth. Legislators and even law-enforcers have a certain bias when

dealing with stereotypes, detention can be longer when imprisoned. Historically, acts

of lynching has shown what white groups can do to colored people.

The last process is applicable to any controversy it shines then eventually fades

out and gets accepted by people. Doom 3, GTA, and other games had their share of

controversy. Indeed, Call of Duty being so popular would not be spared by controversy.

This controversy has made the producers very rich which is like showbiz propaganda.

By this time, the most recent version of Modern Warfare 2 would definitely be having its

own share of controversies too what with Japanese Banzai soldiers being pictured as

suicidal and irrational. The public definitely needs to see something negative in

videogames so it can be a scapegoat for peoples behaviors.


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While Call of Duty may not be focused on the issue of racial discrimination as the

case of GTA where blacks are portrayed as muggers equivalent to folk-devils ( Hall

et.al, 1978) still, there are stereotypes created In Call of Duty. For one, people in the

Middle East are portrayed as inherently evil and irrational. There are scenes where one

is slapped by a Middle East officer and an execution is carried by shooting prisoners in

the head. Everywhere one goes in the game, Iraqi people are blood-thirsty snipers

eager to bring down an American marine. However, these stereotypes are necessary to

emphasize the brutality of war. All soldiers in times of war think only of their survival.

It is either they kill or get killed. It is also an option to kill oneself rather than get

captured and undergo extreme torture. The game would not titled Call of Dutyif it did

not portray the gruesome realities that characterize wars.

From the way I look at it, Call of Duty is anti-war. It is an antithesis of war since it

presents the gore and cold-blooded killings that happen in an actual situation. If it were

a film, it would be like Saving Private Ryanor Platoon. Playing Call of Duty as a Marine

would make one shiver at the thought of not surviving a gunfight in a deadly zone. This

portrayal of a real situation makes one realize the value of freedom and the beauty of

peace. No one sane enough would want to be engaged in a cross-fire somewhere in the

Middle East.

The difference between Modern Warfare and the first version would only be plot.

Still, both games deal with the harsh realities of war- torture, imprisonment, death, and

fear. The difference would only lie in the set of antagonists. If the antagonists of

yesterday were Germans, then the favoritefolk-devil of the international scene would


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be people from the Middle East. Sadly, a lot of innocent people from these places are

suffering from discrimination. Everyone becomes a suspect in terrorism.

One of the COD fan player viewpoint is this:

1. Call of Duty was created to satisfy gamers who need an interactive game inside awar plot. Creativity and very good programming was done to mimic the real

combat. The makers of this game are not irresponsible since they classified this

game for adults only.

2. Playing such games do not breed aggressive behavior. There is a differencebetween imagining things and acting out our thoughts. Each person has a moral

compass and the fabric of values that one possess would guide him in his

actions. Playing video games alone does not make one shoot other people.

Indeed, David ( 2009 ) was very perceptive of the role of video games in our

lives, he stressed:

The stakes are certainly high, and the challenges are immense given that although

video games and popular culture in general are sources of entertainment, they are sites

of education, where common sense ideas of race and dominant discourses of racism

are constructed and disseminated for mass consumption.( p.251)


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This paper taught readers to change their perspective when accepting information.

Information much be discerned and filtered for it to be productive. Mass media and

popular culture can be used for education or for propaganda. It all depends on how we

want to see things and how we must use them.


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Bibliography:

Criscuolo,N.. (Nov 11 2009). "Call of Duty" controversy comes to 4-States and may drive

up sales of the game. Available: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/ 6454298/Call-Of-

Duty-Modern-Warfare-2-leaked-footage-set-to-ignite-controversy.html. Last accessed 03 Jan

2010.

Cowen,N.. (OCt 28 2009). Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 leaked footage set to ignite

controversy. Available:

David,L. (April 2009). Young, Black (& Brown) and Don't Give a Fuck: VirtualGangstas in the Era of State Violence. Cultural Studies, Critical Methodologies. 9 (2), 15.

Editor. (2003). Call of Duty. Available: http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms

/pc/callofduty?q=call%20of%20duty. Last accessed 7 Jan 2010.

Hall S, Critcher C, Jefferson T, Clarke J, Roberts B (1978) Policing The Crisis:mugging, the State and law and order. London: Macmillan

Hall,S. (1997). Cultural Representations and Signifying Practices. New York: SagePublication. 49.

Holmes, L. ( 2005)Violent Video Games Produce Violent Behavior. Nov 9

2005.http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm

Snider,T. (Nov 20 2009). Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' : Creativity and

controversy4395/call_duty_4_named_best_selling_game_2007/. Available:http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2009-11-10-callofdutyinside_ST_N.htm. Last accessed

01Jan 2010.

Staff. (Jan 25 2008). Call of Duty 4 Named Best Selling Game. Available from

http://www.gamepro .com .au/article/204395/ call_duty_4_ named _best_selling_game_2007/.

Available: http://www.gamepro.com.au/article/ 204395/ call_duty_4_named_

best_selling_game_2007/. Last accessed 03 Jan 2010.

Young, L. (June 2008). Grand Theft Auto'-Inspired Crime Spree Rocks L.I.States andmay drive up sales of the game. Available:

http://wcbstv.com/entertainment/grand.theft.auto.2.758102.html. Last accessed 03 Jan 2010.


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