Image by flickr user: JBLivin

Since their beginning, video games have incorporated at least some form of violence. Space Invaders had players blowing up aliens, Thousands of goombas have been stomped to death since Super Mario Brothers was released in 1985, and the casualties from all our assorted shooters number in the millions at the very least. We gamers deal with so much death and destruction, and yet aren’t phased by it in the slightest. Even new gamers can jump into the fury of a game like Battlefield 4 and not be the slightest bit bothered by carnage going on all around them. At first glance, it would appear that players of violent games are a very disturbed lot. Something that some critics genre would love non-gamers to believe. Indeed, if we aren’t all sociopaths, how could we possibly abide all the wanton savagery we delve into as we play our shooters, fighters, and adventure games that have us take down entire armies in all kinds of creative and even gruesome ways? Well to put it bluntly, they’re games. The things we do in games are different and have an entirely different meaning behind them. How is this possible? It has to do with a concept known as “play space” (not my term btw).

To start, “Play Space” is defined as the space within which play takes place (a soccer field for example). Appropriate behavior within a play space is defined by the rules of its game or form of play, and such behavior is often not necessarily appropriate outside of that space. Continue reading Why We’re not Disturbed →