Americans say no to games with guns

By: Muhammad Qasim Hassan

  |   December 26th, 2012   |  

Featured

The tragic incident of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting at in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday, December 14, is something that the world and especially the American people will not be forgetting in a long time.

The deadly incident claimed lives of 20 children and 6 adults, affecting so many families while sending a fresh wave of fear through the entire nation, which has still not fully recovered from the deadly September 11 attacks on the Twin Towers in 2001 by terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda.

Surprisingly, the recent incident and loss of so many lives did not involve a terrorist, but in fact was carried out by someone who came off as just a regular 20-year-old American.

One thing that has been getting a lot of spotlight in the recent weeks is this man’s addiction to Call of Duty, a first-person shooter franchise published by Activision.

The game has remained a best-seller for quite a number of years now, earning its company millions of dollars in profits, while indicating the strong interest of people around the world in such games.

Call of Duty and numerous other games rely heavily on depiction of violence through the use of guns. The players get access to the most advanced weaponry, which he uses to kill hundreds of players during the campaign or online multiplayer sessions.

The feeling of being invincible with a strong weapon in the hand is something that people could surely be expected to crave and seek in real life. It only seemed like a matter of time before someone addicted to first-person shooters would want to get his hands on a gun and do what he has been fantasising to do through video games for so many years.

The Connecticut shooting incident was a sad and brutal reminder of the consequences that the prevalence of such games can have.

American public seems to be a bit late to react, but they have finally opened their eyes to the danger that games with guns poses to the society. Even though they are raising their voice against prevalence of guns in the society, even the licensed ones, guns in video games and glorification of violence is a major part of the whole rising.

Some of the biggest companies in the gaming industry are maintaining attractive balance sheets by creating and selling games to kids that is high on violence and graphic images. Games such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, Far Cry, Halo, etc. have all established as one of the most popular franchises.

The situation is likely to change now, though, as the consumer backlash may result in the popularity of such games to decline and maybe even convince the publishers to start making games that are more society-friendly.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely of the writer’s and do not reflect wishfree.com official editorial policy.