Creator of Space Invaders shocked by modern day video games

The father of video games has condemned the “shocking” violence and real-life graphics today’s gamers are exposed to.

Countless games have been released encouraging users, including children, to kill their human enemies.

It is a premise that has grown in popularity over the last two decades and provided lucrative returns for designers.

Fortnite, played by more than 45 million people, is one of the most popular games currently in circulation while Battlefield and Call of Duty are among dozens of ‘first-person shooters’ to receive widespread acclaim upon release.

Space Invaders was the biggest game the world had ever seen when it hit arcades in 1978 and pioneered the use of enemies that shot back.

But creator Tomohiro Nishikado voiced his concern at how video games have evolved since.

“Real-life effects of people shooting and being shot you see in today’s games is a bit shocking,” Mr Nishikado told Seven News Perth.

“Compared with my times, the violence is quite surprising.”

His company made a conscious decision to cast aliens as antagonists but still held fears the Star Wars-inspired game would be rejected by the public on ethical grounds.

“Initially we were going to use people but the opinion was it was not OK to shoot people in a game,” he said.

In the United States, Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick singled out violent video games as one of the causes for a school shooting in Santa Fe that killed 10 people.

“Many (students) have lost empathy to their victims by watching hours and hours of video, violent games,” Mr Patrick told the American Broadcasting Corporation.

Studies are yet to confirm a conclusive link between video gaming and violence or antisocial behaviour.

Expert advice for parents includes limiting their child’s gaming time, observing classifications and personally checking the game to make sure they agree with its content.