Video games can do good.  It is just a matter of the media focusing on the bad effects and people more worried about people being influenced poorly by playing violent games instead of focusing on the positive effects video games can have.

Using Kant’s Categorical Imperative and Rawls’ Veil of Ignorance, I see that violent video games can have negative effects and should not be made, but games that improve health and recognize a person’s social responsibility are fine and help improve society (Christians, Fackler, Richardson, Kreshel, Woods, 2012).

The fact that people’s behavior changes from playing a video game is nothing new, but rarely are stories published that talk about how a person changed their behavior for the better after playing a game (Helmore, 2014).  Behind the veil of ignorance, any game that improves a person’s behavior or attitude would always be a good choice because it would improve society on the whole (Helmore, 2014).

The video game industry has to be socially responsible, and with the studies done that have shown video games can help improve people’s health, it is up to the industry to continue making such games (Helmore, 2014).

Reference List

Christians, C. G., Fackler, M., Richardson, K. B., Kreshel, P. J., & Woods, R. H., Jr. (2012). Media Ethics: Cases and Moral Reasoning. New York: Allyn & Bacon.

Helmore, E. (2014, April 12). Ethical gaming: Can video games be a force for good? Retrieved April 07, 2016, from https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/apr/12/ethical-video-gaming-games-for-change-festival.