- Author:
- Miguel Sicart
Despite the emergence of computer games as a dominant cultural industry (and the accompanying emergence of computer games as the subject of scholarly research), we know little or nothing about the ethics of computer games. Considerations of the morality of computer games seldom go beyond intermittent portrayals of them in the mass media as training devices for teenage serial killers. In this first scholarly exploration of the subject, Miguel Sicart addresses broader issues about the ethics of games, the ethics of playing the games, and the ethical responsibilities of game designers. He argues that computer games are ethical objects, that computer game players are ethical agents, and that the ethics of computer games should be seen as a complex network of responsibilities and moral duties. Players should not be considered passive amoral creatures; they reflect, relate, and create with ethical minds. The games they play are ethical systems, with rules that create gameworlds with values at play. Drawing on concepts from philosophy and game studies, Sicart proposes a framework for analyzing the ethics of computer games as both designed objects and player experiences. After presenting his core theoretical arguments and offering a general theory for understanding computer game ethics, Sicart offers case studies examining single-player games (using Bioshock as an example), multiplayer games (illustrated by Defcon), and online gameworlds (illustrated by World of Warcraft) from an ethical perspective. He explores issues raised by unethical content in computer games and its possible effect on players and offers a synthesis of design theory and ethics that could be used as both analytical tool and inspiration in the creation of ethical gameplay.
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- Iten G, Bopp J, Steiner C, Opwis K and Mekler E (2018). Does a prosocial decision in video games lead to increased prosocial real-life behavior? The impact of reward and reasoning, Computers in Human Behavior, 89:C, (163-172), Online publication date: 1-Dec-2018.
- Tancred N, Vickery N, Wyeth P and Turkay S Player Choices, Game Endings and the Design of Moral Dilemmas in Games Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play Companion Extended Abstracts, (627-636)
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Index Terms
- The Ethics of Computer Games
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Less nuanced approaches to the ethics of computer games may suggest that one can ascertain the moral quality of a game purely based on its content. For example, it may be too violent; it may over-sexualize women; or it may encourage undesirable behavior, such as cheating or deception. Sicart suggests that there is more to it than that. You have a moral object (the game) that is designed and has moral content, as far as the values it embodies are concerned. You have a moral agent (the player) who bears some responsibility with regard to how the game is played and what is taken from the game. And you have the agent's experience of the game, as different players will derive different experiences from the same game. In order to study the ethics of computer games, one must consider the way in which these three aspects interact with each other: Understanding the ethics of any computer game involves researching the interplay between a designed moral object, a moral experience derived from that object, and the moral agent that experiences the game. The relations between these three elements determine the ethics of computer games. The problem with this book is that the author spends way too much time stating what he is going to do in the book and why he is going to do it; then, after he does it, he further explains what he did and why he did it. It makes for tedious reading. However, being difficult to read because of the complexity of the ideas is one thing, and being difficult to read due to poor writing and a lack of clarity is another thing entirely. The author provides a useful framework for studying the ethics of computer games. Whether one agrees entirely with this framework or not, it is good to have one. Computer ethics went far too long without a conceptual framework, much to its detriment. But, it is a hard read and not entirely worth the effort. It appears to be Sicart's dissertation, and sadly it reads like one. If it were edited back to a short paper and rewritten for clarity, it would serve its purpose much better. Online Computing Reviews Service
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