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Little something I did for a discursive essay.
Do video games cause violence?
The video games industry is a massive one. In 2003, revenues totalled $6.9 billion, and this was just in the United States. In fact, 90% of U.S. households with children have rented or owned a video or computer game, and young people spend an average of 20 minutes per day playing video games. Video games are the second most popular form of entertainment after television.
Although research has pointed to the constructive uses of video games in such fields as education and medicine, there are trends in game playing that some observers find disturbing. A 1998 survey revealed that 80% of the video games preferred by young people have violent or aggressive content; of these, 21% depict violence against women. A survey of 900 eight year olds disclosed similar results: 50% of the respondents chose games with fantasy or human violence as their favourites.
Researchers have raised concerns about the potential link between playing violent video games and subsequent aggressive behaviour. A number of studies have shown such effects, with younger children being particularly susceptible to influence. In fact, recent studies show that after playing a violent video game children can become desensitised to violence or act hostile to others. A tragic happening, the Columbine massacre, which involved two American high school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. They killed twelve students, one teacher, and the two themselves. Why? Although innumerable causes were named, video games stood out. It emerged that the two perpetrators had been playing a well known and realistic gaming simulator shortly before the massacres, and had displayed a passion in the game beforehand. It was called “Doom”, a somewhat ironic name when one considers what happened in that school on the 20th April, 1999. Although there is no sound evidence that Doom was responsible it is no doubt a realistic game. It is reputed that US Marine Corps use it for combat training, emphasising its realism.
Another so called “vicious and callous” game is "Carmageddon". Originally, players were encouraged to run down pedestrians, including elderly women with Zimmer frames. If a player completes all levels of this game, he or she will have killed a maximum of 33,000 people. However, because of public outrage, the pedestrians were exchanged for zombies in all later editions of the game, and the original removed form the shelves. Although no crimes committed were blamed on Carmageddon, others have caused worldwide outrage and one in particular is currently embroiled in legal debates. It is Grand Theft Auto.
It was originally a “bird’s eye view” game for the Playstation console. It involved the player taking “jobs” from characters, namely criminals, and committing acts of violence against the general population. The player could acquire multitudes of weapons such as pistols, machineguns, flamethrowers and rocket launchers and
use them against the populace of the city in which it was set. The police would then attempt to apprehend the player, and would be in turn killed. Such indiscriminate slaughter coupled with the glamorisation of violence and disregard for human life caused enormous outcry and rage against the game and its manufactures, now known as Rockstar. When the game, several years later, was released in a 3D version for the PlayStation 2 console (PS2), similar outrage was expressed. The game allowed more indiscriminate slaughter and the high quality graphics of the PS2 console showed blood in greater detail than before, enabling the player to shoot of the limbs and heads of pedestrians in the game, as well as drive over them in vehicles.
I feel however that such attitudes must be tempered, and by that blaming violent videogames we remove responsibility from young people and allow them a convenient scapegoat. I have had the game for over two years and have not once killed someone or took a joyride in a car, or pot-shots at passers-by, and I am in no way inclined to do so. Whether Rockstar intended for the controversy to abound or not is in question, but it was no doubt a stroke of brilliance. The publicity helped shift sales and paved the way to Grand Theft Auto 3’s sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. At the minute, Rockstar is again under attack for its portrayal of Haitians on Vice City, and its seemingly discriminating attitude towards them.
Another attack on GTA came from a different quarter, two teenagers from the United States. They killed one man and seriously injured a woman when William Buckner, 16, and his step-brother Joshua, 14, decided to relieve their boredom by opening fire on traffic on Interstate 40 with a .22-calibre rifle.
A lawyer, Jack Thompson, has taken up the case and plans to sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto, saying they should bear some responsibility for the death of Aaron Hamel, a 45-year-old nurse and the injuries caused. Mr Thompson said if manufacturers wanted to keep selling violent games to children, they should be prepared for the consequences he believes repeated playing can have on young and impressionable minds.
However, the GTA series are all marked with an “18” certificate and therefore should not be supplied to anyone under that age. Rockstar do not willingly sell the game to under 18’s, that is the responsibility of the gaming stores. Furthermore, the gaming industry (more accurate Rockstar) should share no blame. The two boys, 16 and 14, had possession of a .22 rifle, a very deadly weapon and perhaps more deadly in the hands of the inexperienced. How they managed to get hold of the rifle is not mentioned, but it was obviously from a family member. This negligence puts blame on the part of the family and no one else. The fact that the family are willing to accuse in my eyes a blameless gaming producer is ridiculous. The two shot at cars of their own free will. If they possessed a sound mind they would know what they were doing was wrong, but they now have the audacity to do it and place a pathetic excuse against a totally unrelated company, simply because they cannot hold the responsibility on their shirking backs. The blame should be placed firmly with the boys and those who supervise them.
In my view, video games should not technically influence peoples behaviour. They have graded age certificates and officially they should not be sold to anyone below the given age but of course, are. Therefore, and because of this, young children will unfortunately be influenced and their impressionable minds indented by video games. There is no possibility of a closure in the video games industry, and therefore it is up to parents to supervise and be observant of their children’s activities. There is no doubt that video games and indeed, the newer generation of interactive games has changed radically in their sophistication, graphics, realism, interactivity and level of violence and gore, allowing players to participate in more realistic violent action than ever before. However, whether this new level of realism will breed new forms of killers and influence people for wrong remains to be seen.
Do video games cause violence?
The video games industry is a massive one. In 2003, revenues totalled $6.9 billion, and this was just in the United States. In fact, 90% of U.S. households with children have rented or owned a video or computer game, and young people spend an average of 20 minutes per day playing video games. Video games are the second most popular form of entertainment after television.
Although research has pointed to the constructive uses of video games in such fields as education and medicine, there are trends in game playing that some observers find disturbing. A 1998 survey revealed that 80% of the video games preferred by young people have violent or aggressive content; of these, 21% depict violence against women. A survey of 900 eight year olds disclosed similar results: 50% of the respondents chose games with fantasy or human violence as their favourites.
Researchers have raised concerns about the potential link between playing violent video games and subsequent aggressive behaviour. A number of studies have shown such effects, with younger children being particularly susceptible to influence. In fact, recent studies show that after playing a violent video game children can become desensitised to violence or act hostile to others. A tragic happening, the Columbine massacre, which involved two American high school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. They killed twelve students, one teacher, and the two themselves. Why? Although innumerable causes were named, video games stood out. It emerged that the two perpetrators had been playing a well known and realistic gaming simulator shortly before the massacres, and had displayed a passion in the game beforehand. It was called “Doom”, a somewhat ironic name when one considers what happened in that school on the 20th April, 1999. Although there is no sound evidence that Doom was responsible it is no doubt a realistic game. It is reputed that US Marine Corps use it for combat training, emphasising its realism.
Another so called “vicious and callous” game is "Carmageddon". Originally, players were encouraged to run down pedestrians, including elderly women with Zimmer frames. If a player completes all levels of this game, he or she will have killed a maximum of 33,000 people. However, because of public outrage, the pedestrians were exchanged for zombies in all later editions of the game, and the original removed form the shelves. Although no crimes committed were blamed on Carmageddon, others have caused worldwide outrage and one in particular is currently embroiled in legal debates. It is Grand Theft Auto.
It was originally a “bird’s eye view” game for the Playstation console. It involved the player taking “jobs” from characters, namely criminals, and committing acts of violence against the general population. The player could acquire multitudes of weapons such as pistols, machineguns, flamethrowers and rocket launchers and
use them against the populace of the city in which it was set. The police would then attempt to apprehend the player, and would be in turn killed. Such indiscriminate slaughter coupled with the glamorisation of violence and disregard for human life caused enormous outcry and rage against the game and its manufactures, now known as Rockstar. When the game, several years later, was released in a 3D version for the PlayStation 2 console (PS2), similar outrage was expressed. The game allowed more indiscriminate slaughter and the high quality graphics of the PS2 console showed blood in greater detail than before, enabling the player to shoot of the limbs and heads of pedestrians in the game, as well as drive over them in vehicles.
I feel however that such attitudes must be tempered, and by that blaming violent videogames we remove responsibility from young people and allow them a convenient scapegoat. I have had the game for over two years and have not once killed someone or took a joyride in a car, or pot-shots at passers-by, and I am in no way inclined to do so. Whether Rockstar intended for the controversy to abound or not is in question, but it was no doubt a stroke of brilliance. The publicity helped shift sales and paved the way to Grand Theft Auto 3’s sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. At the minute, Rockstar is again under attack for its portrayal of Haitians on Vice City, and its seemingly discriminating attitude towards them.
Another attack on GTA came from a different quarter, two teenagers from the United States. They killed one man and seriously injured a woman when William Buckner, 16, and his step-brother Joshua, 14, decided to relieve their boredom by opening fire on traffic on Interstate 40 with a .22-calibre rifle.
A lawyer, Jack Thompson, has taken up the case and plans to sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto, saying they should bear some responsibility for the death of Aaron Hamel, a 45-year-old nurse and the injuries caused. Mr Thompson said if manufacturers wanted to keep selling violent games to children, they should be prepared for the consequences he believes repeated playing can have on young and impressionable minds.
However, the GTA series are all marked with an “18” certificate and therefore should not be supplied to anyone under that age. Rockstar do not willingly sell the game to under 18’s, that is the responsibility of the gaming stores. Furthermore, the gaming industry (more accurate Rockstar) should share no blame. The two boys, 16 and 14, had possession of a .22 rifle, a very deadly weapon and perhaps more deadly in the hands of the inexperienced. How they managed to get hold of the rifle is not mentioned, but it was obviously from a family member. This negligence puts blame on the part of the family and no one else. The fact that the family are willing to accuse in my eyes a blameless gaming producer is ridiculous. The two shot at cars of their own free will. If they possessed a sound mind they would know what they were doing was wrong, but they now have the audacity to do it and place a pathetic excuse against a totally unrelated company, simply because they cannot hold the responsibility on their shirking backs. The blame should be placed firmly with the boys and those who supervise them.
In my view, video games should not technically influence peoples behaviour. They have graded age certificates and officially they should not be sold to anyone below the given age but of course, are. Therefore, and because of this, young children will unfortunately be influenced and their impressionable minds indented by video games. There is no possibility of a closure in the video games industry, and therefore it is up to parents to supervise and be observant of their children’s activities. There is no doubt that video games and indeed, the newer generation of interactive games has changed radically in their sophistication, graphics, realism, interactivity and level of violence and gore, allowing players to participate in more realistic violent action than ever before. However, whether this new level of realism will breed new forms of killers and influence people for wrong remains to be seen.
They're just as much to blame as books, films, even music. Normal people aren't going to play GTA then decide to go out on a mental killing spree, you'd have to be pretty phsycopathic in the first place to do that.
Some parents blame video games, but if your child is in such an unstable mental state, its your ob to make sure they're not influenced by games like these.
It's just a media escape to heap the blame on some 'evil' source.
Some parents blame video games, but if your child is in such an unstable mental state, its your ob to make sure they're not influenced by games like these.
It's just a media escape to heap the blame on some 'evil' source.
Bill Hicks: "(who) would want to kill their paying audience?"
I think they can give ideas to people who are impressionable or are already violent by nature, but the way they are constantly blamed by the media irritates me immensely.
The way they are targeted more than t.v and video is deeply unfair, however if the age limit could be enforced if might stop some criticism, it has been more enforced recently and the problem now seems to be parents buying violent games for their kids without knowing or caring what they are getting.
The way they are targeted more than t.v and video is deeply unfair, however if the age limit could be enforced if might stop some criticism, it has been more enforced recently and the problem now seems to be parents buying violent games for their kids without knowing or caring what they are getting.
Little something I did for a discursive essay.
Do video games cause violence?
The video games industry is a massive one. In 2003, revenues totalled $6.9 billion, and this was just in the United States. In fact, 90% of U.S. households with children have rented or owned a video or computer game, and young people spend an average of 20 minutes per day playing video games. Video games are the second most popular form of entertainment after television.
Although research has pointed to the constructive uses of video games in such fields as education and medicine, there are trends in game playing that some observers find disturbing. A 1998 survey revealed that 80% of the video games preferred by young people have violent or aggressive content; of these, 21% depict violence against women. A survey of 900 eight year olds disclosed similar results: 50% of the respondents chose games with fantasy or human violence as their favourites.
Researchers have raised concerns about the potential link between playing violent video games and subsequent aggressive behaviour. A number of studies have shown such effects, with younger children being particularly susceptible to influence. In fact, recent studies show that after playing a violent video game children can become desensitised to violence or act hostile to others. A tragic happening, the Columbine massacre, which involved two American high school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. They killed twelve students, one teacher, and the two themselves. Why? Although innumerable causes were named, video games stood out. It emerged that the two perpetrators had been playing a well known and realistic gaming simulator shortly before the massacres, and had displayed a passion in the game beforehand. It was called “Doom”, a somewhat ironic name when one considers what happened in that school on the 20th April, 1999. Although there is no sound evidence that Doom was responsible it is no doubt a realistic game. It is reputed that US Marine Corps use it for combat training, emphasising its realism.
Another so called “vicious and callous” game is "Carmageddon". Originally, players were encouraged to run down pedestrians, including elderly women with Zimmer frames. If a player completes all levels of this game, he or she will have killed a maximum of 33,000 people. However, because of public outrage, the pedestrians were exchanged for zombies in all later editions of the game, and the original removed form the shelves. Although no crimes committed were blamed on Carmageddon, others have caused worldwide outrage and one in particular is currently embroiled in legal debates. It is Grand Theft Auto.
It was originally a “bird’s eye view” game for the Playstation console. It involved the player taking “jobs” from characters, namely criminals, and committing acts of violence against the general population. The player could acquire multitudes of weapons such as pistols, machineguns, flamethrowers and rocket launchers and
use them against the populace of the city in which it was set. The police would then attempt to apprehend the player, and would be in turn killed. Such indiscriminate slaughter coupled with the glamorisation of violence and disregard for human life caused enormous outcry and rage against the game and its manufactures, now known as Rockstar. When the game, several years later, was released in a 3D version for the PlayStation 2 console (PS2), similar outrage was expressed. The game allowed more indiscriminate slaughter and the high quality graphics of the PS2 console showed blood in greater detail than before, enabling the player to shoot of the limbs and heads of pedestrians in the game, as well as drive over them in vehicles.
I feel however that such attitudes must be tempered, and by that blaming violent videogames we remove responsibility from young people and allow them a convenient scapegoat. I have had the game for over two years and have not once killed someone or took a joyride in a car, or pot-shots at passers-by, and I am in no way inclined to do so. Whether Rockstar intended for the controversy to abound or not is in question, but it was no doubt a stroke of brilliance. The publicity helped shift sales and paved the way to Grand Theft Auto 3’s sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. At the minute, Rockstar is again under attack for its portrayal of Haitians on Vice City, and its seemingly discriminating attitude towards them.
Another attack on GTA came from a different quarter, two teenagers from the United States. They killed one man and seriously injured a woman when William Buckner, 16, and his step-brother Joshua, 14, decided to relieve their boredom by opening fire on traffic on Interstate 40 with a .22-calibre rifle.
A lawyer, Jack Thompson, has taken up the case and plans to sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto, saying they should bear some responsibility for the death of Aaron Hamel, a 45-year-old nurse and the injuries caused. Mr Thompson said if manufacturers wanted to keep selling violent games to children, they should be prepared for the consequences he believes repeated playing can have on young and impressionable minds.
However, the GTA series are all marked with an “18” certificate and therefore should not be supplied to anyone under that age. Rockstar do not willingly sell the game to under 18’s, that is the responsibility of the gaming stores. Furthermore, the gaming industry (more accurate Rockstar) should share no blame. The two boys, 16 and 14, had possession of a .22 rifle, a very deadly weapon and perhaps more deadly in the hands of the inexperienced. How they managed to get hold of the rifle is not mentioned, but it was obviously from a family member. This negligence puts blame on the part of the family and no one else. The fact that the family are willing to accuse in my eyes a blameless gaming producer is ridiculous. The two shot at cars of their own free will. If they possessed a sound mind they would know what they were doing was wrong, but they now have the audacity to do it and place a pathetic excuse against a totally unrelated company, simply because they cannot hold the responsibility on their shirking backs. The blame should be placed firmly with the boys and those who supervise them.
In my view, video games should not technically influence peoples behaviour. They have graded age certificates and officially they should not be sold to anyone below the given age but of course, are. Therefore, and because of this, young children will unfortunately be influenced and their impressionable minds indented by video games. There is no possibility of a closure in the video games industry, and therefore it is up to parents to supervise and be observant of their children’s activities. There is no doubt that video games and indeed, the newer generation of interactive games has changed radically in their sophistication, graphics, realism, interactivity and level of violence and gore, allowing players to participate in more realistic violent action than ever before. However, whether this new level of realism will breed new forms of killers and influence people for wrong remains to be seen.
Do video games cause violence?
The video games industry is a massive one. In 2003, revenues totalled $6.9 billion, and this was just in the United States. In fact, 90% of U.S. households with children have rented or owned a video or computer game, and young people spend an average of 20 minutes per day playing video games. Video games are the second most popular form of entertainment after television.
Although research has pointed to the constructive uses of video games in such fields as education and medicine, there are trends in game playing that some observers find disturbing. A 1998 survey revealed that 80% of the video games preferred by young people have violent or aggressive content; of these, 21% depict violence against women. A survey of 900 eight year olds disclosed similar results: 50% of the respondents chose games with fantasy or human violence as their favourites.
Researchers have raised concerns about the potential link between playing violent video games and subsequent aggressive behaviour. A number of studies have shown such effects, with younger children being particularly susceptible to influence. In fact, recent studies show that after playing a violent video game children can become desensitised to violence or act hostile to others. A tragic happening, the Columbine massacre, which involved two American high school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. They killed twelve students, one teacher, and the two themselves. Why? Although innumerable causes were named, video games stood out. It emerged that the two perpetrators had been playing a well known and realistic gaming simulator shortly before the massacres, and had displayed a passion in the game beforehand. It was called “Doom”, a somewhat ironic name when one considers what happened in that school on the 20th April, 1999. Although there is no sound evidence that Doom was responsible it is no doubt a realistic game. It is reputed that US Marine Corps use it for combat training, emphasising its realism.
Another so called “vicious and callous” game is "Carmageddon". Originally, players were encouraged to run down pedestrians, including elderly women with Zimmer frames. If a player completes all levels of this game, he or she will have killed a maximum of 33,000 people. However, because of public outrage, the pedestrians were exchanged for zombies in all later editions of the game, and the original removed form the shelves. Although no crimes committed were blamed on Carmageddon, others have caused worldwide outrage and one in particular is currently embroiled in legal debates. It is Grand Theft Auto.
It was originally a “bird’s eye view” game for the Playstation console. It involved the player taking “jobs” from characters, namely criminals, and committing acts of violence against the general population. The player could acquire multitudes of weapons such as pistols, machineguns, flamethrowers and rocket launchers and
use them against the populace of the city in which it was set. The police would then attempt to apprehend the player, and would be in turn killed. Such indiscriminate slaughter coupled with the glamorisation of violence and disregard for human life caused enormous outcry and rage against the game and its manufactures, now known as Rockstar. When the game, several years later, was released in a 3D version for the PlayStation 2 console (PS2), similar outrage was expressed. The game allowed more indiscriminate slaughter and the high quality graphics of the PS2 console showed blood in greater detail than before, enabling the player to shoot of the limbs and heads of pedestrians in the game, as well as drive over them in vehicles.
I feel however that such attitudes must be tempered, and by that blaming violent videogames we remove responsibility from young people and allow them a convenient scapegoat. I have had the game for over two years and have not once killed someone or took a joyride in a car, or pot-shots at passers-by, and I am in no way inclined to do so. Whether Rockstar intended for the controversy to abound or not is in question, but it was no doubt a stroke of brilliance. The publicity helped shift sales and paved the way to Grand Theft Auto 3’s sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. At the minute, Rockstar is again under attack for its portrayal of Haitians on Vice City, and its seemingly discriminating attitude towards them.
Another attack on GTA came from a different quarter, two teenagers from the United States. They killed one man and seriously injured a woman when William Buckner, 16, and his step-brother Joshua, 14, decided to relieve their boredom by opening fire on traffic on Interstate 40 with a .22-calibre rifle.
A lawyer, Jack Thompson, has taken up the case and plans to sue the makers of Grand Theft Auto, saying they should bear some responsibility for the death of Aaron Hamel, a 45-year-old nurse and the injuries caused. Mr Thompson said if manufacturers wanted to keep selling violent games to children, they should be prepared for the consequences he believes repeated playing can have on young and impressionable minds.
However, the GTA series are all marked with an “18” certificate and therefore should not be supplied to anyone under that age. Rockstar do not willingly sell the game to under 18’s, that is the responsibility of the gaming stores. Furthermore, the gaming industry (more accurate Rockstar) should share no blame. The two boys, 16 and 14, had possession of a .22 rifle, a very deadly weapon and perhaps more deadly in the hands of the inexperienced. How they managed to get hold of the rifle is not mentioned, but it was obviously from a family member. This negligence puts blame on the part of the family and no one else. The fact that the family are willing to accuse in my eyes a blameless gaming producer is ridiculous. The two shot at cars of their own free will. If they possessed a sound mind they would know what they were doing was wrong, but they now have the audacity to do it and place a pathetic excuse against a totally unrelated company, simply because they cannot hold the responsibility on their shirking backs. The blame should be placed firmly with the boys and those who supervise them.
In my view, video games should not technically influence peoples behaviour. They have graded age certificates and officially they should not be sold to anyone below the given age but of course, are. Therefore, and because of this, young children will unfortunately be influenced and their impressionable minds indented by video games. There is no possibility of a closure in the video games industry, and therefore it is up to parents to supervise and be observant of their children’s activities. There is no doubt that video games and indeed, the newer generation of interactive games has changed radically in their sophistication, graphics, realism, interactivity and level of violence and gore, allowing players to participate in more realistic violent action than ever before. However, whether this new level of realism will breed new forms of killers and influence people for wrong remains to be seen.