It’s no secret that there are millions of pirated games in the world, and if in North America a game costs $50 then countries such as Saudi Arabia a pirated version costs just $2-5. However, while piracy is in itself a problem, another is that if a game costs $5 then children can afford to buy them without any parental supervision.

Indeed, a group of education specialists recently undertook a study in Saudi Arabia and found out that 90 percent of youngsters were negatively affected by violent video games. According to QJ.NET, many were unable to distinguish realty from the virtual world.

Cited were “evil scenarios” such as combating security forces, destroying state property or violating people in various ways that juveniles wanted to imitate after extended hours of play.

Piracy was blamed by research, saying the complete absence of official censorship coupled with lower than US$ 2 price tags (as opposed to US$ 27- 53 prices for legit copies) allow violent video games to spread among children.

Though this isn’t much of a secret for many of us, these kinds of studies might reduce the number of pirated video games available to minors and also change the types of games produced by manufacturers. Maybe they will instead develop more games which don’t require any killing but instead teach logic or even kindness. Of course, this can only occur if the big companies such as Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony develop a strategy for those countries where pirated games are popular.

Photo: © despotes

Related posts:

1. Video Games - An Endless War Between Parents And Children
2. Gamers Want More From Nintendo