We often played the game together, and I firmly believe that the violence inherent in that game never had any negative impact on his ability to understand right from wrong or feel empathy, or that it made him want to act out those matches of gunplay in real life.
But what it did do, absolutely did, was make him an expert in firearms, or at least how these real-world weapons performed in a virtual setting.
His ability to discuss the difference between, for instance, an AK-12 and a Remington R5 wasn't just about how they looked or which one his friend used, but delved into a level of detail that was, for me, chilling.
He understood their comparative fire rates, accuracy, stopping power, the sorts of attachments each could use and how they would impact his ability to virtually kill.
In discussing weapons with either my father or stepfather, both staunch NRA members and former military men, he could dazzle them with a nuance of knowledge that children his age, when I was a child, usually pulled from the back of a baseball card.
Over time he began to ask me about taking him shooting, so he could see what it was like to fire a real weapon.
As someone who spent a decade and a half covering crime and the evils people can do to one another with guns and a diabolical assortment of other items, as a uncle whose teenage niece was killed by an ex-boyfriend with a gunshot to the head, I'm not a gun owner, or really a fan of guns.
But somehow my son was steering toward becoming both.
He's since moved on, trading his enthusiasm for guns with an interest in knives powered by Counter-Strike: GO and its many colorful skins.
He's 15 now, a happy young teen who reads books, volunteers, worries about his grades and talks about girls. He's not been warped by his play of violent games. Today, games with guns are just one sort of game he spends time with.
But that early fascination with gunplay and the nuance of gun ownership in the United States was most certainly driven by some games' obsessive level of detail in presenting warfare and shooting.
This fetishization of guns in play doesn’t just bring with it a level of knowledge arguably unnecessary for young teens, it also normalizes the idea of gunplay and gun ownership without bringing with it the necessary care and instruction that should go along with gun ownership.
Often, gunplay in games is stripped of all danger both real and virtual: You can’t trip and shoot yourself or drop a gun and kill a friend. A child can’t find a firearm laying around in a virtual world and accidentally pull the trigger. They’re not loud. They’re not presented as dangerous or deadly. Instead, gamers can unlock stickers or decorate their guns like children of my generation decorated bikes, skateboards or action figures. Most modern shooters don’t even worry about friendly fire.
In so efficiently designing and redesigning gun games to eke out every drop of fun and minimize any moment of inaction, game designers are accidentally creating the worst sort of games for change.
So when those of you who make games rightfully dismiss any direct correlation between a person pulling a gamepad trigger to score a point and a person pulling a real trigger to take a life, don't also dismiss the smaller questions.
The real issues are in the nuance; the devil's in the details.
We often played the game together, and I firmly believe that the violence inherent in that game never had any negative impact on his ability to understand right from wrong or feel empathy, or that it made him want to act out those matches of gunplay in real life.But what it did do, absolutely did, was make him an expert in firearms, or at least how these real-world weapons performed in a virtual setting.His ability to discuss the difference between, for instance, an AK-12 and a Remington R5 wasn't just about how they looked or which one his friend used, but delved into a level of detail that was, for me, chilling.He understood their comparative fire rates, accuracy, stopping power, the sorts of attachments each could use and how they would impact his ability to virtually kill.In discussing weapons with either my father or stepfather, both staunch NRA members and former military men, he could dazzle them with a nuance of knowledge that children his age, when I was a child, usually pulled from the back of a baseball card.Over time he began to ask me about taking him shooting, so he could see what it was like to fire a real weapon.As someone who spent a decade and a half covering crime and the evils people can do to one another with guns and a diabolical assortment of other items, as a uncle whose teenage niece was killed by an ex-boyfriend with a gunshot to the head, I'm not a gun owner, or really a fan of guns.But somehow my son was steering toward becoming both.He's since moved on, trading his enthusiasm for guns with an interest in knives powered by Counter-Strike: GO and its many colorful skins.He's 15 now, a happy young teen who reads books, volunteers, worries about his grades and talks about girls. He's not been warped by his play of violent games. Today, games with guns are just one sort of game he spends time with.But that early fascination with gunplay and the nuance of gun ownership in the United States was most certainly driven by some games' obsessive level of detail in presenting warfare and shooting.This fetishization of guns in play doesn’t just bring with it a level of knowledge arguably unnecessary for young teens, it also normalizes the idea of gunplay and gun ownership without bringing with it the necessary care and instruction that should go along with gun ownership.Often, gunplay in games is stripped of all danger both real and virtual: You can’t trip and shoot yourself or drop a gun and kill a friend. A child can’t find a firearm laying around in a virtual world and accidentally pull the trigger. They’re not loud. They’re not presented as dangerous or deadly. Instead, gamers can unlock stickers or decorate their guns like children of my generation decorated bikes, skateboards or action figures. Most modern shooters don’t even worry about friendly fire.
In so efficiently designing and redesigning gun games to eke out every drop of fun and minimize any moment of inaction, game designers are accidentally creating the worst sort of games for change.
So when those of you who make games rightfully dismiss any direct correlation between a person pulling a gamepad trigger to score a point and a person pulling a real trigger to take a life, don't also dismiss the smaller questions.
The real issues are in the nuance; the devil's in the details.
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