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Jan 24th, 2012 at 12:02:10 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
Playing today I did not adhere to the missions for too long. It seemed more fun to go around and be destructive. There was one moment in particular that stuck out in my head today. I had to start form the begging today because I do not have a memory card. In the beginning CJ gets chased by a rival gang and I actually felt a connection to the situation. There was an individual that got in my way and as a form of punishment I killed him. I actually had feelings of retribution. This individual blocked my way and I felt in character enough to exact my vengeance. This speaks to the value system of the game. I would say that this is reinforcement of negative actions. There is an ability for the game to draw you into character and feel the emotions. I find this ability to feel reward by negative actions concerning. I would make the argument that this can desensitize people to violence. I wouldn’t even know where to begin to argue if Kant would find this moral or not. Is this considered real action or since it’s a game it does not constitute real action and require evaluation? I know it’s confined to a game but it became so much fun I continued to go on a rampage around town. My actions didn’t transfer over to real life. But younger uses who are not media literate could learn an unrealistic value system. If you die or get caught by the cops you “re-spawn”. I would say that over time this could erode a sense of consequences in reality.
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Jan 24th, 2012 at 12:00:52 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 24th, 2012 at 12:02:48.
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Jan 23rd, 2012 at 19:09:40 - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) |
This is the first time I played San Andreas and do not normally play video games. I anticipated this game to be unstructured violence where the player can do as they please. I assumed games of this type are made so people can play out violent fantasies and nothing more. Starting from the begging and watching the story clips I was surprised to see that the game had substance. On the surface it may seem that San Andreas is a glamorization of the “Gangster Life” but in retrospect it helps bring to light the socio-economic problems in impoverished urban communities. The story line brings to mind movies like Boys in the Hood and Training Day. Even though these movies are entertaining they also raise serious questions facing urban communities. Crime, police corruption and limited opportunities are a few of the difficulties that these urban communities face. This video game can be a vehicle for showing people tribulations of crime ridden communities and individuals. From the begging it was very apparent that race would be a contentious issue throughout the game. The initial story clips show the main character CJ being harassed by the police. The officers appeared to be a mix of Black, White and Hispanic individuals. The officer in charge talked down to CJ and referred to him a “Boy” and a White officer refers to the cab driver as a “greasy Mexican”. This sets up the scene for the corrupt cops black mailing CJ. The game play was simple because instructions were on the screen and you followed the map to the objectives. In my time playing I made it to the “Barber Shop” objective. This was enough time to get a sense of the troubles facing CJ. He returns home to a tumultuous situation for his family and gang. It appears that the main character is torn between his “clean” lifestyle and a sense of obligation. He values his family and friends and the environment around him becomes the dictator of his life choices. It becomes easy to identify that the unethical actions CJ must perform are based on ideas he feels are valuable. Kant would be quick to classify CJ’s actions as immoral. It makes it difficult for me to fully adapt Kant’s rigid criteria of right and wrong since he does not take into account any situational factors. CJ is defending his family, friends and honor and this must seem like a duty to him. This reflection makes it difficult to make a right and wrong argument for “gangbanging”.
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