Category: Violence in Video Games

Do video games cause violence?

Whenever a new form of entertainment rises in popularity, the mostly good remarks made are always mixed with a few disgruntled people worried about the potential harm a medium can inflict. This can be seen in television, cinema, YA novels, and even comic books in the early 20th century. The same can be said for video games. There is a long-standing stigma against video games, and it comes in many forms. They are said to damage the user`s eyesight, lead to behavioral issues and even lower the user`s IQ. However, the most notable one is without a doubt the idea that video games cause violence. This claim was given a more mainstream platform by the rise in school shootings around the world, particularly in the United States, where children and teenagers are committing mass murder.

Though not all video games have a violent theme, it is very prevalent in today`s enormous roster of available games. FPS (First Person Shooter) games have the player see through the eyes of a gun-wielding protagonist, allowing for brutal assassinations of enemies with enough blood to make even the most battle-hardened veteran squeamish. But the teenagers playing these games are completely unfazed. There are also 3rd person shooting games, which make for a less immersive experience but a wide-angle view of the havoc your character wreaks.

Violence in video games isn`t just limited to guns. Attack on Titan: Wings of Freedom (2016) is a 3rd personal game based on the anime Attack on Titan (2013). With its source material being described as Very graphic and disturbing (IMDb, 2013), and featuring sword-wielding teenagers cutting off the limbs of huge giants, you can imagine that the game adaptation is not exactly child-friendly.

But why are we attracted to violent video games? Why is there enjoyment to be found in killing hordes of zombies or being thrown into a WW1 battlefield surrounded by enemies? As Gentile, D. (2005) states, primal instincts are to blame. If a bear were to come into a proto-humans camp, killing its friends and stealing their food, a rush of hormones like adrenaline, testosterone, and cortisol flood its bloodstream, creating a higher sense of awareness and allowing the proto-human to think more rationally about what to do. Obviously, being attacked by a bear isn`t your perfect idea of fun. But that mixture of hormones with the knowledge that you are completely safe is what creates the fun part of violent video games. It`s the same with horror films, where you know you can`t be stabbed by the killer but you still get a rush from seeing him stab someone else. The excitement created can be almost intoxicating, which explains why people all over the world have collectively played over 25 billion hours of Call of Duty (Uberfacts,2020).

As previously stated, violence doesn`t play an integral part in every single game. For instance, Pong is widely regarded as the first video game. It features two rectangles and a bouncing circle but no fighting or death. The bloodier side of gaming is said to have its origins in Wolfenstein 3D (1992) (GamesRadar,2017). While other first-person games existed before, Wolfenstein 3D had better character models, ran smoother, and had more realistic environments. It was the first game to properly tap into that primal instinct and, as noted by GamesRadar (2017) it took the gaming world by storm. It is now known as the spiritual ancestor of Doom (1993), one of the most influential games of all time, as well as Goldeneye (1997), Half-Life (1998), and of course the Call of Duty franchise.

Call of Duty Mobile (2019) was downloaded 28.5 million times in the United States of America (0.086 per capita), 12 million times in Brazil (0.056 per capita), and 17.5 million times in India (0.013 per capita) (Statista,2019). Call of Duty is the most well-known FPS franchise globally at the moment, so is an appropriate example for this purpose. The US had 7 murder cases per 100,000 people in 2020, much less than Brazil`s 24 per 100,000 people and more than India`s 2 per 100,000 people (Statista,2020). These statistics don`t show either side of this argument to be completely true and aren`t a very good way to demonstrate the issue due to the sheer number of variables at play (a murder could be caused by anything). This is an example of how difficult it is to come to a single conclusion with this argument, and why it is a debate that still goes on today.

One obvious argument that can be made against the claim that video games cause violence is the fact that the vast majority of murderers are between the ages of 25 and 44 (Statista,2020). The average consumer for video games such as Battlefield or Call of Duty is much younger than this, being closer to 18. Naturally, there is a counterargument to be made, being that a childhood of playing these games can have an effect on the player in later life, even if they stop playing. Specifically, the hormonal boost received from violent video games can become such a regular part of one`s life that one becomes addicted to it, craving more potent doses from other sources, leading to them killing or harming others in real life to receive such a boost. But using this logic, horror films should also be breeding grounds for future murderers and psychopaths, which is completely unheard of.

The difference between horror films and gory games is that in an FPS you are the one doing the killing, and this is what makes parents and guardians worry about their child`s mental well-being after playing such games. I believe this is where the idea that video games cause violence has its origins (Parents thinking their children are playing violent games simply to kill without consequences).

Although gory video games do provide an adrenaline rush, that isn`t the only reason people play them. Logging on to a game with your friend to fight a common enemy is an underrated aspect of gaming. To be fighting off an advancing army and see your friend doing the same next to you creates a sense of comradery unlike what can be made from, for example, reading the same book. It takes a small sliver of the brotherhood formed in actual army battalions and brings it back to civilians.

Additionally, a large majority of the games that have come out in recent years feature violence of some kind, whether it be against aliens, animals, or Sith lords. In fact, 8 out of 10 of the best games to come out last year feature some form of violence, the two outliers being Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Tell me Why (Softonic,2020). This means that in order to play a next-gen game with up-to-date speed and graphics, it is almost impossible not to be exposed to violence no matter your intention.

It is very common to experience short bursts of anger (sometimes leading to violence) while playing video games. But this has nothing to do with getting hooked on adrenaline. In actual fact, the vast majority of real-life violence caused by video games is due to frustration (Gentile, D., 2005). This can be caused by failing a level right before a checkpoint, losing a game by just a few points, or the opposition scoring just before the buzzer. The reactions to these events have been known as raging. This can manifest itself in throwing a controller, smashing a keyboard, or swearing profusely, but rarely with violence directed at other people. It is similar to the emotions you feel when your favorite character dies in a book or film but heightened by the sense of connection you feel with a character you can control the actions of.

That is another reason why games, in general, are so fun and popular. When you not only observe the experiences of the protagonists but also experience them yourself, you become more attached and invested in their story, leading to louder cheers at their victories, longer cries at their deaths, and stronger anger at their losses. For example, Red Dead Redemption II`s (2018) protagonist Arthur Morgan is diagnosed with tuberculosis around halfway through the game`s story. After that point, his condition gradually worsens, with his face getting visibly more gaunt and sickly as the game goes on. As well as that, if you were to check on Arthur`s health in the character menu at any point, you would be met with a skull symbol, indicating his inevitable death. After this, players searched every store in the Read Dead world for some sort of tonic to save Arthur, but to no avail. When he eventually dies in Chapter 6 of the game, it can go one of two ways, depending on the choices the player made in-game. In one ending, Arthur slowly passes, watching the sunset. On the other, he has his face blown off with a revolver. The way that the player has a part to play in Arthur’s end only serves to make his demise even more gut-wrenching.

One aspect of this debate that isn`t arguable is that children can be exposed to vulgar language in games that they then choose to repeat in real life. Whether the source is a scripted cutscene or another real person in multiplayer, children hear these words in a game they love so think it is okay to say them. Multiplayer written chats do have banned words, usually resulting in a line of asterisks where the foul language was, but voice chats are harder to regulate. Verbal abuse can be considered violence, hence why I feel it is relevant.

To summarize what has been stated, there is no evidence that real-life violence is directly caused by the violence seen in video games. Almost all modern games feature an aspect of violence, so it is sometimes hard to weave around it. Games that do feature violence do not exclusively feature violence, but can also hold heartwarming stories and characters. A child isn`t a psychopath for enjoying killing people in-game but is rather being affected by instincts that once protected us from harm. However, there are negative issues that can arise from young children playing games meant for an older audience. Nevertheless, the origins of the idea that video games cause violence (concerned parents) lead me to believe that violence in its more extreme forms abuse, murder, and lashing out cannot be sourced back to violence in video games.

Over the years of its existence, gaming has encouraged nothing but peace. Throughout history, there have been countless things that become antagonized. Whether it be types of dances, music genres or media. It seems like every time something new comes around it is inevitably misunderstood. One big form of media that has been misunderstood is gaming. In recent years many people have made claims that video games have been the root violent acts that have taken place. Video games are fun, creative, bring joy and encourage positivity. Some of the best selling games are neither mature nor violent. Recent statistics have proven that gaming has had no correlation with crime rates. The false accusations are made by people that do not really know what they are talking about. Most have never even picked up a controller themselves. The majority of them are just out of touch completely.

As mentioned by Adhiti Bandlamudi, “like many myths, it’s commonly repeated. On Sunday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was interviewed on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures in the wake of the shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.” (Bandlamudi 3). The lies and false facts are constantly repeated. It scares those who also do not have the first-hand experience into believing their claims as facts. People are being brainwashed into believing these things through constant repetition. Violence is not meant to be encouraged from gaming nor does it do so at all. Like many things, there is a community behind gaming. Within the community itself, there are smaller communities consisting of many specific things. They can be based on game series, genres, specific games, even down to specific characters. These different things bring harmony. They bring mass amounts of people together from all over the world. Especially in events like PAX- East, E3, EVO or just normal gaming tournaments. Events like those showcase and celebrate everything gaming. No matter if the gaming experience is casual or competitive, differences mean nothing. They encourage fans to get together and enjoy the things they love. Video games also promote creativity. Games like Minecraft, Super Mario Maker, Dreams and Little Big Planet, are all famous for giving the players great amounts of creative power. Those kinds of games help the player make almost anything they desire. Some even give enough control to reinvent the games itself, or even make games within the games. All different types of creations can be shared and played all around the world. The creativity and community provide for each other. The never-ending cycle of imagination and inspiration keeps the positivity in gaming alive. Gaming is also known to relieve stress rather than encourage violence. Especially with the creatively focused ones previously mentioned. Some games can just put players in a peaceful or tranquil state. Games can be calming for multiple reasons like their puzzles, music and sometimes simple challenges or tasks. Some Video games are simply designed to be peaceful as well. According to ProCon.org, “A peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health found that children, especially boys, play video games as a means of managing their emotions: ‘61.9% of boys played to ‘help me relax,’ 47.8% because ‘it helps me forget my problems,’ and 45.4% because ‘it helps me get my anger out.’ (Youth Violence? 6). Some gamers just play video games to feel better. Even the younger generation which usually gets video games blamed by the media does so.

The community aspect of gaming does play a big part in creating positivity. Gaming gets millions of people involved in something. Something that matters to them, something important, something that they all collectively care for. Things like the previously mentioned events, characters, and franchises. Those beloved things draw people together constantly. All communities within gaming can come together in person at a single place, or anywhere across the globe through online play. People are involved by playing games or even watching others play. There are countless ways someone can get involved in the gaming community. In some genres of gaming, there are two main communities. The two are known as the competitive and casual communities. Although competitive players can sometimes be extremely serious especially if they play for a living, they still have respect for casuals that play just for pure fun. People within the gaming community have mutual respect for each other no matter their views on the medium. Pretty much everyone is welcome. With the help of the internet and online play, it is really easy to spread the mass of positivity. Gamers share their creations, achievements, gameplay, experiences, and stories. This is all done through social media platforms and platforms provided within the games themselves. The constant flow of sharing these things help many people grow.

There are many people that would not associate gaming with personal growth. Gaming can help a lot of people grow, especially during our early years of life. There have been many accurate studies that have proven that video games help children develop. They help expand their imaginations, which leads to more creativity, and that leads to a stream learning. Although there are plenty of educational games for kids, there are a lot that have educational aspects without meaning to do so. Like problem-solving, logical, puzzle or creative games as mentioned previously. Games like Tetris, Minecraft, or even The Legend of Zelda can make for some good cognitive training. The Association For Physiological Science noted that violence or difficulty within gaming has no such effects to cause violent behavior (Study Finds 2). Although some people get angry over the challenges in gaming it is alright. The same thing happens with real-life challenges. Challenges can make us angry but are not something that makes humans violent. Players always get out of the frustrated state eventually. Games are designed to be challenging, completed and rewarding. Games are designed to be rewarding whether it is the sounds, music, achievements, or trophies. People enjoy feeling rewarded after beating the challenges. Just when they think they reach their limit, they begin to push further. They start to notice patterns or gain techniques. They all begin to grow. The cognitive training can be especially great for someone’s mental health.

Just like anything else, gaming has an effect on mental health. For the most part of what reliable researchers have found, it has a positive impact for multiple reasons. The challenges within video games clearly help our thinking abilities. Along with the creativity but, creativity also aids stress relief. The peacefulness and positivity helps a lot. Many games just have simple challenges to overcome or calming music. The tone of a game can really affect the mood of someone. For the most part, it is usually relaxing to play videogames in general. It is part of a lot of what most people consider leisure time. Although some people can become aggressive, no one ever really gets violent. “many people had aggressive thoughts simply because they lost When they have conducted more nuanced studies to explore these other hypotheses, they have found that the violence was not the critical variable.”, claimed Andrew Fishman (Fishman 2). A lot of gamers just gain stress relief from playing. It is similar to reading a book, watching a movie or television show. The countless rewards and awards also help. They bring happy and positive feelings after achieving a goal or completing a challenge. Everyone enjoys being rewarded and feeling it too. It helps a player feel confident, accomplished, productive and positive. Although many of these things are true, there will still be people that give gaming a bad reputation.

Gaming’s true colors deserve to be shown and can be. In the end, it is just down to all of the repetition of false information. The lies of many people have given video games the bad look it has to some people. Many of the claims are backed by poorly performed experiments. Over the years people have said multiple studies prove video games cause violence. As it turns out, all of those studies are poorly performed. They are known to not give enough playtime to the test subjects. The researchers just use the noted aggression seen by some players and just say it makes them violent. Sean Rife noted, “universities and grant agencies such as the National Institute of Health take a rather dim view of experimental research that results in actual acts of violence being inflicted on others.” (Rife 2). In the properly performed studies that have been done, it is shown that the variable of violence is never found. Sure players got frustrated but no one was ever violent. If more studies were properly preformed it would show everyone what gaming is really like. The simplest way to open someone’s eyes is for them to pick up a controller, and play for themselves. After a good while of trying different games, they will eventually understand. Especially if they get involved in the community, or find something they really enjoy, they will reveal the truth to themselves. They could spread the word of that truth and help others at least get a better perspective on gaming.

There are many things that are misunderstood throughout society’s existence. Without these new things, we would not really grow so much. There would not be much change, creativity, learning, inspiration, sharing or any joy. Video games bring all of those things to the table. Video games do a lot of different things cause many emotions. But one thing video games will never be proven to cause is violence.

Works Cited

1. Fishman, Andrew. “Blame Game: Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Violence.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 16 July 2019.
2. Bandlamudi, Adhiti. “Debunking The Video Games Cause Gun Violence Myth.” WAMU, WAMU 88.5 – American University Radio, 27 Aug. 2019.
3. “Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?” Procon, 7 Sept. 2018.
4. “Study Finds No Evidence That More Violent, Difficult Video Games Spur Aggression.” Association for Psychological Science – APS, 5 Aug. 2019.
5. Rife, Sean. “Violent Video Games Do Not Cause Real-World Aggression.” Learn Liberty – Explore the Ideas of a Free Society, 22 Mar. 2017.

Introduction

​In 1947, Thomas Goldsmith and Estle Ray Mann invented the first arcade game, which allowed a user to control a vector-drawn dot on the screen to simulate a missile being fired at targets (Wolf, 2008). Since then, the video game has received more and more attention and support, becoming an indispensable part of the entertainment industry. According to the data collection in 2019, the video game market was valued at 75 billion and its users have exceeded 1.3 billion (Christina, 2019). From this fact, we can conclude that video games are growing at an exponential rate and significantly influence our daily lives. To be specific, after working for more than 8 hours, people need some entertainment to release the pressure from the heavy workload. In this case, video games play an important role in reducing stress and adjusting moods.

Consequences

Since video games have exerted profound impacts on individuals’ lives, we have to carefully consider the consequences of this kind of technology. First, video games have brought significant benefits to education. Video games have the capacity to engage children in learning experiences, helping them to improve their skills. For example, a mobile game called “geospace” allows students to manipulate or rotate 3D objects (Warburton, 2009 pp.25). Through this game, students will practice their understanding of multidimensional spaces. Also, teachers will receive more active feedback from students since students are more interested in video games rather than books. Therefore, if educators can combine education and video games in a harmonious way, this can be regarded as a milestone on the path of education.

Moreover, video games also can practice our multitasking skills. During the play, users not only need to pay attention to changes in the screen like incoming attacks but also required to move joysticks or press to adjust the characters’ movements. Therefore, with this constant training of hand-eye coordination, people will gain an improvement in multitasking. Not only this, video games can also be helpful in establishing social connections between people. Games like League of Legends can no longer be regarded as a tool for entertainment, they are more likely a social software because people need to communicate with each other about strategies to win the game, which will enhance the relationships between people.

However, there are some potential drawbacks of playing video games. First, it will indirectly influence your rewarding system. The motivation of playing games for most people is to seek reward and this kind of reward is short but stable (Wilmer, 2017 p.9). Nowadays, people do not have much patience or time to acquire a long term reward like romantic relationships, and they prefer something more direct and easy, such as smartphones or video games. If people are constantly addicted to video games, their rewarding system will undergo permanent changes, which will make them more and more unwilling to seek long-term rewards.

Furthermore, video games can also negatively impact our health. First, people will suffer a high risk of myopia, which will significantly influence their daily life. A national vision report in 2015 said around 500 million Chinese suffer visual impairment and most of them are fond of playing mobile or video games (Warburton, 2007). Thus, playing video games may be correlated with the growing rate of myopia.

Moreover, addiction to video games can also influence students’ academic performances. According to the experiment conducted by Jancee Wright, individuals who indicated that they did play video games had a much lower GPA. If students spend more than 4 hours on video games every day, they will not have time to do homework or prepare for tests. Meanwhile, students cannot fully focus on the study due to endogenous interruptions. Specifically, it is the user’s own thoughts that drift toward game-related activities (Wilmer, 2017 p.10). Thus, video games can be regarded as one of the biggest obstacles in the way of educational achievements.

Cognition

​I think the relationship between video games and our cognition can be described as mutually elaborative. First, video games shape our cognition both in positive and negative ways. On one hand, video games can improve our coordination, enhance multitasking skills, and increase our brain speed. On the other hand, video games may distract our attention, change our mentality, or lead to poor academic performance. Therefore, video games exert profound impacts on our cognition. Meanwhile, our cognition also affects the development of video games in some ways.

To be specific, the motivation for playing video games is often cognitive, like seeking entertainment. And this kind of demand grows as the pressure from the work or family. In this case, video games can help us to settle this problem. Thus, our increasing demands for entertainment boosts the growth of the gaming industry.

Personal opinion

From my standpoint, video games can be seen as “good” technology. Some critics may assert that playing video games may cause violent tendencies or influence our health. I think this argument is ridiculous because the video game is just like a tool, and whether it is good or bad depends on users. For instance, if you shoot somebody with a gun, the responsibility is on you, not the gun. Therefore, educators should promulgate the awareness of self-control to children, instead of banning this type of technology. For me, I have played video games for 5 years, and it does not influence my study because I strictly control the time spent on it. I only play games on weekends, and its duration is about 3 to 4 hours each day. Thus, if students can well manage the balance between game and study, there is no problem at all. And the government should think about how to increase students’ awareness, not prohibiting this technology. Besides, we cannot ignore the benefits of video games like improving skills and enhancing social connections. Nowadays, whenever parents mention video games, they always describe it like a poison. However, people should judge it from a neutral position without any prejudices. Therefore, if governments can utilize the benefits of video games and figure out solutions to deal with the drawbacks, the future is promising.

Reference

1. Wolf, M. J. (Ed.). (2008). ​The video game explosion: a history from PONG to Playstation and beyond​. ABC-CLIO.
2. Christina Gough. (2019). Game statistics and facts. ​https://www.statista.com/topics/1680/gaming/
3. Warburton, D. E., Bredin, S. S., Horita, L. T., Zbogar, D., Scott, J. M., Esch, B. T., & Rhodes, R. E. (2007). The health benefits of interactive video game exercise. ​Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism​, ​32​(4), 655-663.
4. Wilmer, H. H., Sherman, L. E., & Chein, J. M. (2017). Smartphones and Cognition: A review of research exploring the links between mobile technology habits and cognitive functioning. Frontiers in psychology​, ​8​, 605.
5. Warburton, D. E., Bredin, S. S., Horita, L. T., Zbogar, D., Scott, J. M., Esch, B. T., & Rhodes, R. E. (2007). The health benefits of interactive video game exercise. ​Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and
6. Metabolism​, ​32​(4), 655-663. https://www.statista.com/topics/1680/gaming/

Since the start of video games, its sole purpose was to bring delight and the creativeness to children around the world. It was meant for a way for kids to interact with others and enjoy the fun a virtual reality could be. However, over time and into today’s world, video games are seen as a source as to why children act out and become violent from minimal to dangerous levels. I believe that many tend to be opiniated when it comes to this and I think that people should realize that video games are vary depending on many factors. There are multiple games that truly help children and that are actually not violent compared to a shooter game. There are people who play games to help another family member or entertain for fun and there are even people who play video games professionally and become a role model for others who if they want to play games they can. They give them that ability to express themselves on a platform and hopefully even influence others to be creative and full of hope and dreams.

Therefore, if people can have hope and dreams which is good does that make playing video games good and not make children violent? Well this topic came up In a video by “AsapSCIENCE”, a YouTube channel which talks about various topics and uses science, as implied by their name, and also uses any research that has been done so in other words, “statistics”, and uses these resources to assess whether or not the question at hand is true or not or simply answer whichever argument is trying to be made. In this video it talked about whether or not video games make you violent. The first look into it you can see they use drawings to show you any sort of statistics they use or any research results in a visual form. They also get information from all sides whether it was reports done by scholars or simple scientific studies but it is mostly on the factual side and not so much opiniated. For the Ethos part of this video, the source is reliable since the information brought forth isn’t just some random notes and is instead more detailed and well organized. The place where it’s coming from is also fairly good, although it may be from YouTube, it is a reliable channel that has been around for some time so it is well known and they also don’t take a side. This video shows that kids are the ones who are mostly affected and are the ones who usually play games which is why they are the top affected individuals. Now with any video they make they always use a various amount of statistics and do tons of research to get this. Furthermore, when watching the video, you can see that they use a lot of reliable information and tell you from where they got it from while explaining whatever it is they are proving. The whole Video overall is well put and brings forth everything needed to target whoever and whomever it may concern. The creator makes sure that not one detail is missing and makes it so that it is well supported and doesn’t have the “opiniated” sound to it.

Of course, with a topic such as this there is always going to be other platforms that are going to put out their say in all of this just as CBSNEWS did. Being published August 9th, 2019 you can see that this is a recent article and it touches a bit on the mass shootings that happened in El Paso and Dayton, and also brings in President Donald Trump in how he had said that the glorification of guns and violence in games must come to an end. It goes on to say “Many had been quick to blame video games for real-life acts of violence, but experts say there is no such link”, and I have to say with this so far it seems that it targets a lot of the younger audience and how games should be banned or be restricted of a sort, so that heinous acts never happen. However, throughout the rest of the article it does bring in more of a real-world wide problems and factors for what is the real cause for violence and for that it’s more of a “everyone” sort of target. This article does use some statistics and support it fairly well but there isn’t too much of it and because of that it gives less a credibility to it and doesn’t make it a very good article to use to prove a point. It is published by CBSNEWS so it does make it a source that is well known therefore making it something you may look into whenever trying to get some information on a topic such as this, but of course because it is published by a news organization it also takes a bit off of how creditable it actually is since it could be opiniated information that is being provided.

Both sources talked about whether video games make you violent however, one was better than the other in the sense that they provided more context in their argument and supported every claim they made with statistics or any factual research/tests made to get the results which gave the definitive answer to their argument. AsapSCIENCE, the YouTube channel, made sure to back up everything with scientific research and tests that were done on people which gave their conclusion a more believable sense. They also showed with visuals the examples they presented which helped with understanding the claims they were making. With the CBSNEWS article they also gave good research and examples but had never presented anything that was definitive to really give their argument a finishing touch. They used only one person’s research on the matter which could’ve been well thought research or just opinions. Instead of backing up their own claims with a copious amount of examples/statistic/research, they just decided to lead with one professors’ findings and use simply him as the base to their argument against the matter. So when it comes to which source was better in how they presented their claim I would have to say that a source such as AsapSCIENCE is the way to go when it comes to how your claims should be presented and formatted. Both did present clearly what they felt or how they felt on the argument of Do video game make you violent, but CBSNEWS even being a news cast that can provide information about world-wide events, is probably not the best source to get information for a topic such as this.

Introduction

A survey found that 92% of children, ages 2-17, play video games. According to parents, children, between the ages of two and seventeen, spend almost 6.5 hours a day in front of TV and computers playing video games. The study also revealed that 83% of children, ages 8-18, have at least one video game player in their home, 31% have more than 3 video game players in their home, and 49% have video game players in their own bedrooms. But not all category of video games are under attack. Games featuring shoot and kill came under fire when President Trump stated in response to the school shooting in Parkland, Florida quoting “the level of violence (in) video games is really shaping young people’s thoughts”. Some say such video games containing these level of violence should be banned, which many disagree since there aren’t any strong evidence supporting the statement.

It’s not True At All

I personally think playing video games containing violence doesn’t turn one into a violent or an aggressive person. “Video Games Cause Violence’ argument has been brought up by many politicians and use it as a scapegoat when something terrible takes place such as public shooting, especially in the USA. But there has been no research done to prove this irrational claim. This is because video games doesn’t represent the real life. Video games doesn’t represent real life, the universe is entirely fictitious. Let us take the popular game “Fortnite”; 200 players’ parachute into a small island, scavenge for armor and weapons, and then kill or hide from other players in an attempt to be the lone survivor. Fortnite is inherently violent; the primary goal is to kill other players and it has a strong fan base and 125 million active players regardless of age and gender. So does that mean the gamers will behave aggressively? No, because playing a violent game seemed more prone to acting or thinking aggressively than those who played a non-violent game for an equivalent amount of time. Playing a game that features violence can make them have violent thoughts and more easily/frequently access violent ‘scripts’ when deciding how to behave but that doesn’t mean they will turn violent person, due to the moment of heat, after which the person will be back to his/her normal mindset. A test conducted on 2014, participants played a video game for 30 minutes and were given hot sauce test. The results were people who played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (a violent game) put more hot sauce into the cup than people who played LittleBigPlanet 2 (a non-violent game). The people were aggressive only while he/she was playing a violent video game since he/she has to be aware about the video game’s surroundings, which can be pretty rough.

Best way to unwind oneself and other benefits

According to a study by Texas A&M International University associate professor, Dr. Christopher J. Ferguson, states, people who plays violent games tend to handle stress better than the ones who plays non-violent games. This means people who plays video games after work or school, they do it just to relieve themselves. A test has been conducted with 103 participants who were given a frustrating task and later were told to play a non-violent game, a violent game or play no game at all. The results shows that, the people who played violent game showed reduce in depression and hostile feelings in players. Apart from relieving stress, video games loaded with action-oriented sequences can even enhance motor skills, which can increase speedier reactions during road tests on driving simulation software, according to researchers in New York University Shanghai.

War action video games can improve social and communication skills and can help in strengthen bonds between players. The reasons are, video games containing war like scenario, especially in multiplayer mode, demands communications to survive and win as a troop as well as to take down enemies through various tactics. Another benefit of playing violent games is problem- solving skills, you see, most video games have certain rules and that means players must think beforehand and decide how to finish objective successfully by following the rules given on the game. There will be scenarios where players need to make decisions in split of seconds if he/she wants to accomplish the objective/level of the game. And this is where fast and quick reflexes come in, as mentioned before, players would come across scenarios where they’d have to make decisions in split of seconds, and because of this, players will learn to respond to situations quickly, this would help the brain to receive multiple simulations and it will force it to work continuously to interpret different scenarios.

Does it seem dull and boring waiting for time to pass by? Even though some have better plans to do, there are some that do not have the same plans to do. For the time to pass by, the other thing they can do is relax at home and enjoy their video games. Although, there are others that say otherwise. There are some people that can argue that video games are bad for a person due to in-game violence. Also, some parents say that it causes behavior problems for their kids. For others, that is not the same case. While some do not agree with the idea, video games do not cause behavior problems and can bring a calm nature, increase their own awareness, and can bring friends closer together.

First, playing video games provides benefits for teens and younger kids. It brings a calm nature for them to fully diverge into the world of gamers. Also, it provides another way to relieve themselves of any stress when they come home from a long day of school and work. It is enjoyable during their spare time if they want to stay in and have their own entertainment at home. Another thing that video games do is they can enable people to challenge their friends in a friendly match. “Playing a co- operative game together also has been shown to increase prosocial behavior.” (Greitemeyer) They are able accomplish many goals needed to progress through the game. It engages everyone to focus on the main objective.

On the other hand, those benefits can quickly turn against them. People will start to take advantage of what will be available and buy any new content. When the new content arrives, soon all their money will soon be spent. Without any money, they soon begin to try and get money from parents, friends, or close relatives. Not to mention, it will not always be calm when it comes to going against other players. When going against other players online, there is bound to be people swearing out loud. Most of the people they meet would yell out threats and get angry for no reason. However, the only way reason they get angry is because some cannot understand losing and will end up breaking their console or their controllers. People win and lose from time to time, but most gamers learn how to be better from that moment. According to forbes.com, “Video game violent is different from real violence so most of the gamers would not know how to actually act in that situation” (Kain). That means all the violence they see in games are not the same as violence in real life which means they do not experience the same response towards conflict.

Another reason why video games are good is because they can improve a person’s awareness. Some might not know but video games can key into a person’s subconscious reflexes. By doing so, it improves a person’s memory enabling them to learn new things quicker. Studies show that there is an increase of grey matter which is a major component of the central nervous system. Only a short amount of time their video games can bring better improvement to a person. “Some researchers have taken note of this criticism in recent years and begun exploring alternative hypotheses for the differences found, such as that the violent games chosen were also harder to master and that many people had aggressive thoughts simply because they lost.” (Fishman) What this means is that some of the games are harder than they thought, which means that it would require more focus. That being said, their peripherals and hearing becomes enhanced in real life. It only takes a short amount of time if they plan out when to fit in the time for video games.

However, the more screen time they have, the more addicting it becomes. There are some people who feel that these games are more important than anything else. If they cannot focus on the important task at hand, they begin to fall behind in school and stop going to work. Not to mention, their behavior problems start to rise because of this. Some people view video games as an outlet for their emotions and will not try to solve this themselves. The negativity brought upon them will begin to build up and lead towards outbursts at home and at school. Parents should be more careful with seeing what their kids are doing in their spare time. Although, research dictates “in reality, most well-adjusted children and teenagers play violent video games, all without ever exhibiting violent behavior in real life.” (Markey) That proves that nothing bad can come from these games.

Another thing is that video games also include social interaction and activities. It brings another way for friends to go against each other whether they are in the same house or not. The idea is to bring friendly competition between friends and acquaintances. Accordingly, “The current study also extends previous research by showing how playing violent video games may affect subsequent decisions to cooperate or compete with other individuals in high-stakes situations.” (Sheese) That would indicate that these video games ultimately lead to teens being able to work together. Many close friends can benefit from this experience and greatly improve their likelihood of them staying close in the future.

Nonetheless, some friendships can end through their “friendly competitions”. Some will not handle losing and the other brags about winning to everyone they know. Such sportsmanship can break the friendship that they have. According to Game Analytics (EL-Nasir), individuals depends on the player’s progression of the game. Meaning, the cooperation between the players may vary based on their own skillset. People hardly show their face so there is no way of knowing who the person is, although, most gamers choose wisely when deciding who to cooperate with. People take the time to consider who to cooperate with and prove to be a worthy co-op partner.

In conclusion, the effects of violent video games do not lead towards behavior changes on teens and kids. The behavior effect does not change those who can be mature about the games they play and can be sure that they can handle it. Those individual mindsets are different depending on the difficulty of the game and the type of people they encounter online. It is only to be used as a way of self-entertainment. Nothing bad can happen if the gamers make the right decision. It is also a way to blow off some steam. It mainly resides on the choices that they make that can change what can happen to them in the future. Video games evolve and people learn to adapt to anything new.

Video games have been around for quite a while now. Violent videogames are being targeted by the media and politicians. No studies have shown a connection to video games and violent crimes. Videogames do not make people do anything it is entirely their choice. Older generations do not understand what video games is therefore they are the problem. Violent video games are not the cause of violent crimes.

Violent video games are specifically targeted by politicians and media. Politicians attack violent video games because they do not actually understand the full picture. They must make up an excuse to blame violent crimes on something that is easily targetable such as violent videogames. The media has a tendency to report what they want as fast as possible in order to get the highest views even if what they share is not true. Politicians and the media target video games due to the fact that they do not completely understand them as a whole. It is also basic human nature to think something that is different or new is bad just because it is different.

The blaming of new technology or even inventions is an idea that has been going on for generations. For instance MTV was first launched in August of 1981. The first song they played was Video Killed the Radio-The Buggles. Of course the teens of that era thought MTV was cool but their parents felt threatened by it because it is new and basically destroyed their form of musical entertainment. Most of the past generations do not like videogames because they are a new form of media entertainment therefore not good. Most of the people who play video games are from the ages of thirty-five and younger. A minority of people who actually play video games are thirty- six and older. With the big age gap difference that means that this new form of media is a threat and will not be accepted. It will be looked down upon with such great hostility.

Many people try to connect violent video games to violent crimes. Many of these crimes are the same crime such as mass homicide. The media also plays a role in this in order to push their own political views even though they are supposed to report facts and evidence not their opinion. The media blames mass shooting on violent video games because most of the time the criminal is a white male between the age of twenty to twenty-nine. This is a great way for the media to get away with lying because of the statistics showing how most gamers are from the age of thirty-five and younger. Writer Tanya Basu wrote an article called “The connection between video games and mass shootings isn’t just wrong—it’s racist”. The subtitle read “When a perpetrator is a young white man, people blame video games. If he’s black, people make up a troublingly racist narrative” (The connection between video games and mass shootings isn’t just wrong–it’s racist). She goes on to explain how the media has blinded and misguided people to make such quick assumptions based on nothing but race. The media also refused to declare that the largest mass shooting in US history was committed by a sixty-four year-old man. (Race, Violent Video Games, and the Grand Theft Fallacy)

People always have a choice no matter what decision they make good or bad they still have a decision. Suspects will claim “Video games made me do it” in order to try and justify their actions although this was not the case. The game itself is an inanimate object and has neither life nor freedom of choice. It is a non-sentient object therefore has no life or any capability to think for itself. The same can be said about nicotine products. People are addicted to them yet blame them for their addiction even though they made the choice to use it.

People have a tendency to blame video games for desensitizing the youth. Well the same people also have no problem allowing their adolescent children watch movies such as Friday the 13th, John Wick 3 Parabellum, Mad Max. These movies contain an overtly amount of violence to a graphic extent. The music industry also has a part to play especially rap culture which is usually talking about drugs, sex, money, and murder to a disturbing extent.

Parents do not watch and understand what their kids are doing or playing. For example a mother walks into her son at the age of eight and notices him playing a game with cars and asks what he his playing yet the child responds with oh a racing game. Little does the parent know that he is playing Grand Theft Auto 5. Then suddenly the child starts talking to his family describing how we ran over people in a car yet the parent did even know he was playing a game that is rated M for mature. Parents need to know what they are buying their kids. Games have a rating system for a reason to keep more mature elements of games away from those deemed too young to view them. Call of Duty is a game series that when it was first launched was a tribute to those who served in World War II. This game series was meant to have graphic content in it to show their target audience what war was like in a mature fashion. But parents do not seem to bother looking at the game label that shows and describes what content is in the game they are buying.

A popular argument made is video games cause a rise in aggression therefore cause violent crimes. Aggression is not the cause because people still a have a choice whether or not to play. People do not blame cars for road rage incidents because it is the person’s fault. Video games can raise aggression but so can everyday things in life. Such as getting stuck in traffic, someone cutting another person off while driving, getting into an argument with another person. For example, a man fatally stabbed another man because he cut in front of him in line at a Popeyes restaurant. Video games are not the only things in the world that cause aggression and the media does not seem to report that.

In conclusion videogames do not cause violent crimes. The lack of parental supervising and knowledge leads to exposing the youth to mature themes. Everyday life can cause just as much if not more aggression than video games. People have a choice on what they do or do not do. Older generations like to blame bad actions on new technology that they do not comprehend. The media does not accurately report crimes the way they should be reported. No actual legitimate studies have been conducted to link violent video games to violent crimes such as mass shootings.

Sources

1. Basu, Tanya. “The Connection between Video Games and Mass Shootings Isn’t Just Wrong-It’s Racist.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 16 Sept. 2019, https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614317/the-connection-between-video-games-and-mass-shootings-isnt-just-wrongits-racist/.
2. Calicchio, Dom. “Suspect in Popeyes Fatal Stabbing Arrested, Reports Say.” Fox News, FOX News Network, 14 Nov. 2019, https://www.foxnews.com/us/suspect-in-popeyes-fatal-stabbing-arrested-reports-say.
3. “Character & Context.” SPSP, http://spsp.org/news-center/blog/grand-theft-fallacy.
4. Fox, James Alan, and Monica J. DeLateur. “Mass Shootings in America: Moving Beyond Newtown – James Alan Fox, Monica J. DeLateur, 2014.” SAGE Journals, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1088767913510297.
5. “U.S. Average Age of Video Gamers 2019.” Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/189582/age-of-us-video-game-players-since-2010/.
6. “Yes, Violent Video Games Do Cause Aggression.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/our-changing-culture/201212/yes-violent-video-games-do-cause-aggression.

Abstract

My theory is that violent video games by itself don’t cause violent tendencies, which means that if a person is not in a violent environment, to begin with, the video games most likely won’t cause ideas for the person to act upon, but if the person is in a violent environment, for example, there is a lot of fighting around the neighborhood, this can affect the person when they do play violent video games, which the games will give them ideas on what they can do. I hypothesize that violent video games on its own will not cause the person to have violent tendencies, because the games are meant to be a stress relief for people not adding onto stress. The independent variable is violent video games, where the experimental group will play violent video games, while the controlled group will play no games at all. The dependent variable is the violent behavior that may or may not happen during the experiment, this will show if violent video games will cause violent tendencies. The confounding variable would be the environment the person is currently in. When they are in an environment that has violence already, that may cause the person to already have violent tendencies, to begin with, violent video games may cause the person to act on those violent thoughts, and violent video games may give the person ideas on violent acts. The people who would benefit and/or be interested in this would be people who do play violent video games or people who play video games in general. Parents would also be interested in this because they want to make sure their children are not having violent tendencies, causing violence when they somewhere outside of the home and/or at home. Also, schools would be interested because they do not want students to be causing violence at the school, especially to the staff and other students, they want schools to be a safe environment for everyone at the school.

Violent Video Games

This was the first article ‘Violent Video Games Don’t Increase Hostility in Teens, but They Do Stress Girls Out.’ This article agrees that violent video games don’t cause violence. The impact of violent videogames on youth remains unclear given inconsistent results in past literature. Most previous experimental studies have been done with college students, not youth. The current study examined the impact of VVGs in an experimental study of teens. Participants were randomized to play either a violent or non-violent video game. Teens also reported their levels of stress and hostility both before and after video gameplay. Hostility levels neither decreased nor increased following violent gameplay, and Bayesian analysis confirmed that results are supportive of the null hypothesis. The stress level in boys decreased after playing violent video games. By contrast, VVG exposure increased stress, but only for girls. The impact of VVGs on teen hostility is minimal. However, players unfamiliar with such games may find them unpleasant. These results are put into the context of Uses and Gratifications Theory with suggestions for how medical professionals should address the issue of VVG play with concerned parents. This article shows that violent video games don’t cause people to be violent, and since this was a study on teens, it shows that even teens won’t be affected by VVG’s either. Violent video games cause stress on females only in this study because of all the gory things that happen in the game. Parents should keep an eye on what types of games their children should be playing, because the games can be very gory, and not safe for children at a young age, to see all the graphic scenes. In conclusion, violent video games don’t cause violence but increase stress in females

This is the second article which is called, ‘The lone gamer: Social exclusion predicts violent video game preferences and fuels aggressive inclinations in adolescent players.’ This article is against that violent video games don’t cause violence, but causes violence instead. Violent video game playing has been linked to a wide range of negative outcomes, especially in adolescents. In Study 1, 121 adolescents were randomly assigned to manipulation of social exclusion. No such effect was found for included participants. In Study 2, both inclusionary status and video game content were manipulated. After manipulation of inclusionary status, 113 adolescents were randomly assigned to play either a violent or nonviolent video game. Then, they were allowed to express their aggressive inclinations toward the excluders. Overall, these findings suggest that exclusion increases preferences for violent games and that the combination of exclusion and violent game playing fuels aggressive inclinations. Though this article shows that kids and teens show aggressive behaviors, they do not gain violent tendencies. They may show aggressive behavior such as cursing, and slamming the table, but that is because video games in general cause stress depending on the game, and it also causes ‘rage’ which is the part with cursing and slamming. That doesn’t mean that kids or teens will suddenly go cause some type of violence outside the video game world. Though video games, not just violent video games, do cause some form of stress or anger issues, but not violence.

This is the third article, ‘Video games and health: Sorting science from popular beliefs: Many believe games cause gun violence.’ This article is saying that violent video games don’t cause violence. What is less agreed upon is whether video games are an overall benefit or hindrance to players and society. Many Americans continue to believe that video games cause gun violence, with the issue raised again after recent U.S. mass shootings. The 2017 Pew study found that 65% of adults believed video games contribute a great deal or a fair amount to gun violence (Warnick, 2019). The belief was even higher among people 65 and older, with 82% of seniors making the connection (Warnick, 2019). But what people think does not always line up with what science finds. Harvard University researchers recently examined three meta-analyses that make conflicting claims of video game and aggression research. Their resulting study, published in June in Perspectives on Psychological Science, found that while conclusions from researchers may vary, the available data are essentially in agreement–video games may be associated with a small but potentially negligible increase in aggressive behavior. But research on video games, as a whole, says almost nothing on video games and mass violence, according to Maya Mathur, Ph.D., co-author of the analysis. Beyond aggression, there are also growing concerns about video game addiction. The problem is widespread enough that the World Health Organization included internet gaming disorder in its 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases, which goes into effect in January 2022. ‘Usually, the drive to excessive gaming comes from something outside of games, not the game itself,’ he said (Warnick, 2019). The positive effects of video games have also been documented by science. Some games that require motion by users provide more intense exercise than unstructured outdoor play, according to a 2015 study in Games for Health Journal that tracked players with accelerometers. Sports video games such as bowling and golf call for users to emulate moves of real players and dance games require users to perform vigorous activity. Video games can also provide meaningful activity for people with disabilities, according to Able Gamers, a nonprofit organization that provides specialized gaming equipment. A third of the respondents said that video games helped with pain management. ‘If you enjoy video games, they’re effective at reducing stress,’ Ferguson said (Wanrick, 2019). Other studies on video games have studied cognitive effects. They found that video game players scored higher in tests of attention, perception, cognitive flexibility and spatial cognition. Eighty percent of children ages 2 to 10 play video games, averaging 14 hours a week, according to an August report from EEDAR. ‘Our children would be much worse off without games,’ Gray said (Wanrick, 2019). A 2014 study in Pediatrics found that an hour of video game play per day is ideal for children. However, benefits disappear if game time extends to three hours or more. This is telling us that games have benefits to them, but if played for a long period then it starts losing its benefits, but it still does not cause kids to be more violent.

Method

To start the experiment that will be conducted, there should be participants, and the participants should be carefully picked out. The experiment needs people who usually don’t play video games at all, especially non-violent ones. The observers randomly select 80 adults who work typically work for long hours. The participants are then explained what is going to happen in the experiment that they will be participating in. The observers explain that there will be one group playing video games, specifically in the violent category, and there will be another group who will be playing no games at all. These groups will be called the experimental group and the control group. Then the observers added that the experimental group will play games for at least 1-2 hours a day, for a month. The games will be free of choice, but it has to be in the category of violence. Before the experiment there will be questions to get an understanding of how you are now, then after the experiment, there will be questions again to see how you are then. After the experiment is done there will be a debrief telling you how the experiment went. The participants may leave if they do not want to participate, and if they wish to continue, then they will have to sign some papers saying they understand the experiment and wish to proceed. There were 80 participants at the beginning, 30 people left because they didn’t want to be a part of this experiment, now that leaves 50 people for the experiment. The participants are then asked questions separately, in a private room. They are asked questions about how they are feeling, how life at home is, how work is, how old they are, and what kind of neighborhood they live in. To get a sense of how they live and how they feel because the observers don’t want people who are already in a violent state of mind. Most participants are mostly stressed instead of having any violent thoughts while being questioned, and the participants are around the ages of 30-40. Most live in a decent neighborhood, where there aren’t high crime rates. There are 30 males and 20 females, and they will be randomly put into the experimental group and control group. There will be more people in the experimental group than the control group. There will be 20 males and 10 females in the experimental group and 10 males and 10 females in the control group. Once the people are in their groups, they are told that the experiment will be starting. The experimental group is provided consoles to be able to play violent video games, they are also provided violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto, Call of Duty, etc. While the control group won’t be allowed to play any games at all, not even non-violent games. The experimental group is allowed to play any game, they can switch between different games, the only thing they have to do is play the games at least 1-2 hours a day. After a month, the observers gather the participants to ask them questions individually. The experimental group said that they experience some anger, like yelling and cursing, but only the games that are competitive, such as PvP games (PvP means Player vs Player). The games helped with stress levels only for the males, it reduced their stress level by 40% and that some participants played more than others, some played for 5-7 hours a day because it helped with stress, and no participants in the experimental group experienced any violent thoughts at all. Females, on the other hand, experienced a little more stress instead of reducing stress. At first, the violent video games were hard and confusing, since they never experienced these games before, also some of the games that were provided were uncomfortable to play because of the graphic scenes that were introduced, so they added that teens shouldn’t be playing those types of games. The control group experienced the same stress they had or more stress than before, but none had violent thoughts, but this may lead to violent thoughts if more and more stress is added to them.

In conclusion of the experiment, violent video games do not cause the individual to have violent thoughts and act upon them, but it can cause stress. It can also cause anger only for a short period, usually during the time they played games, but after there was no anger. All types of video games may release some stress off of the individual, but it is not guaranteed, violent video games are graphic, so that may also cause discomfort to the individual. Overall, violent video games do not cause violence. This was also explained to the participants, so they can see how the study went, and see how video games can affect them, in a good way and bad way. They got to hear the results of the study.

References

1. Ferguson, C., Trigani, B., Pilato, S., Miller, S., Foley, K., & Barr, H. (2016). Violent Video Games Don’t Increase Hostility in Teens, but They Do Stress Girls Out. Psychiatric Quarterly, 87(1), 49–56. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aclin.org:2443/10.1007/s11126-015-9361-7
2. Gabbiadini, A., & Riva, P. (2018). The lone gamer: Social exclusion predicts violent video game preferences and fuels aggressive inclinations in adolescent players. Aggressive Behavior, 44(2), 113–124. https://doi-org.ezproxy.aclin.org:2443/10.1002/ab.21735
3. Warnick, A. (2019, October). Video games and health: Sorting science from popular beliefs: Many believe games cause gun violence. The Nation’s Health, 49(8), 1+. Retrieved from https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.aclin.org:2443/apps/doc/A603632157/HRCA?u=auro06185&sid=HRCA&xid=94f01196

Introduction

Video games were introduced to society back in the 1970’s. A game called Pong was developed in the year of 1972 gaining a lot of popularity. Back then video games were played on arcades and people had to put in quarters to be able to play the game. Now there are many different consoles that people can play video games on without having to pay each time they want to play a certain game. There are more than one million video games that vary in genres. They go from innocent games to ones that are not so innocent in another’s point of view. These not so “innocent” video games are ones that are violent. Ones that involve shooting and killing that a lot of people find so entertaining. Games that contain violent content affect those who play it because of the graphic actions they partake in. Showing images that should not be shown to young children whose brains are still developing, even though they are cartoon-like they still represent the same things that unfortunately can happen in real life. People can experience a change in behavior, thoughts, and even the way they feel about reality. Violent video games lead to increased violence in the real world and influence violent behavior in a person which is why there should restrictions when it comes to these types of games.

Children are more vulnerable when it comes to violent video games because their brain is still developing and their persona is shaping with them as they get older. A child who at an early age is playing violent video games, sees it as just having fun, something that is just normal. According to Craig Anderson he states “ Children who see a lot of violence are more likely to view violence as an effective way of settling conflicts.” This goes to show that at an early age children who are exposed to violent content see violence as a way to solve any problems that they have. They find it to be behavior that is allowable and when they get older these violent habits may still be present. Children then can become violent towards their peers and towards their parents or even any adult. It also affects the way they think of the world. They can come to think of it as an unsafe and dangerous world as Daniel J. Flannery states. The social development of a child can also be affected negatively. Restrictions are a good way to prevent children from being impacted by violence in video games at such an early age.

Violent video games mostly don’t show good things to young people. They show violence towards others and show criminal-like actions. For example Grand Theft Auto (GTA), is a game where the character steals cars and tries to escape from the police. That could give them the wrong idea of how the real world works, mixing virtual gaming with reality. Wiliam Sears, the author of Violent Video Games are Harmful to Young People, states “By the time typical American children reach the age of eighteen, they have seen 200,000 acts of violence and 40,000 murders on some sort of screen.” A child may even lose empathy towards another person because when they are playing a video game they don’t process what they are actually doing. Not only are children just being affected so are adults. One study says that college students experienced aggressive behavior after playing violent video games for 20 minutes for three days consecutively. They then are more accepting to violence because of how many hours they sit seeing it on a tablet, phone, or a console. There are studies that find that there is a correlation between violence in video games and a child’s violent behavior.

Conclusion

Not only do video games that contain violent content cause violent behavior, teach children bad things, it can also affect their mental health. Teens stay up playing video games and then the more they play the more they can’t stop and won’t stop. There are more than 60% of kids who say that when they go to play video games they play longer than what they were supposed to play for. Children have side effects from playing these types of games which consist of fatigue, headaches, nightmares and they even stop eating. According to William Sears “Some studies have even related seizure activity to violent screen time.” The cardiovascular system gets worked up and blood pressure elevates. Another effect that a child experiences is a high amount of dopamine that is called the “hype hormone.” David Greenfield, a psychologist from Connecticut says “ About 6 percent of gamers are addicted, doing poorly in school and becoming withdrawn as a result.” Violence can cause many problems to a young person therefore there should be additional restrictions on violent games and parents should even monitor their kids on what they play.

Mediums of entertainment have only been able to withstand the test of time by experimenting in new forms and creating sub-genres that makes the medium more accessible to a wider range of consumers. In comparison to other forms of entertainment, the cinema is a new form of entertainment only being around for a few hundred years and only being classified as an art form for a few decades, compared to that of literature or art which has been around for a few millennia. With the rise of free internet culture and online streaming services, modern day cinema is dying, this has been the case for the last decade, with the constant influx of reboots and remakes, these large “blockbuster films” attempting to capitalise on the new fad that is nostalgia is slowly destroying the franchises that we once loved. Year after year we see 70’s, 80’s and 90’s classics dragged down with the dying media that is Hollywood. It is clear that Hollywood needs to adapt, it needs to evolve into something new and something fresh in order to survive. The constant creation of disposable films rather than creating long lasting masterpieces is causing Hollywood to constantly keep adapting beloved franchises in order to stay relevant and profitable. With every generation the attention span gets shorter and shorter to the point where entertainment such as memes will have a shelf-life of a few weeks at best, compared to that when memes first started in 2010 where they would last for months even years. In an interview with The Guardian in 2019, Philipp Lorenz-Spreen who worked on a study on how the attention span of society is slowly shortening stated that “Content is increasing in volume, which exhausts our attention and our urge for ‘newness’ which causes us to collectively switch between topics more regularly.” In contrast to cinema, another “new” medium of entertainment is that of video games. Video Games are able to tell long and complex storylines, similarly to TV, a known advisory to cinema, and develop characters in a way that cinema can’t simply do due to runtime limitations. As video games and video game technology advance its clear to see a parallel between cinema and video games, and how the future of the two will probably coincide.

As mentioned previously, in order to survive, entertainment has to adapt and evolve with the current culture. Every year, we get a new better way to view cinema, be it with higher resolution screens, more realistic audio and even hyper realistic visual effects. It is obvious that as time goes on, cinema will become more and more digitised in order to create crazy fictional settings in a hyper sense of realism. Cinema isn’t the first medium to evolve into hyper realism. French theatre practitioner, Antonin Artaud, also believed in this sense of hyper realism. His ideologies, originally birthed in surrealism, soon evolved into what he titled “Theatre of Cruelty”. Artaud grew tired of traditional theatre; he saw the world around him and the theatre in dire need of changing as they had become conditioned by society. Artaud attempted to alter theatre in numerous ways, one of his conventions was that Artaud wanted to bridge the gap between audience members and the play; making the audience another part of the story. In his collection of manifestos titled “Theatre and its Double” (1938: 96) Artaud wrote “We abolish the stage and the auditorium and replace them by a single site, without partition or barrier of any kind… A direct communication will be re-established between the spectator and the spectacle… from the fact that the spectator, placed in the middle of the action, is engulfed and physically affected by it.” Video games are able to adhere to this ideology of placing the audience member into the action. As Video game technology has advanced, with the use of virtual reality, a form of technology that can transform the world around the user into the virtual world; placing them in the middle of the action. It excites the player in a way not known by other mediums of entertainment. Allowing the player to become one with the story heightens their sense of watching the unknown and inadvertently heightening the primal ideology of voyeurism. Voyeurism as a hole is why cinema and TV are so popular, allowing the viewer to watch into another character’s life, seeing aspects of lives and stories that would usually be hidden away from the spectator. Laura Mulvey, a British feminist, confirms that this deep passion that mankind has for wanting to watch these hidden lives, she states “The cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking… Here, curiosity and the wish to look intermingle with a fascination with the likeness and recognition… the relationship between the human form and its surroundings” (Laura Mulvey 1999: 836). Films such as “Hardcore Henry” (2015) the world’s first First Person POV feature film, excite this sense of being centralised in the action. Compared to that of traditional cinema where the camera would be a tool to allow the spectator to watch the action from afar rather than be centralised in it. Virtual Reality and cinema are already starting to coexist, with short cinematic VR experiences being accessible for everyone on YouTube; VR experiences such as “Invasion!” (2016) a short-animated VR experience that ended up being an award-winning Emmy winner in 2017.

Another way that cinema is breaking that partition between the audience and the action, is with the rising trend of choose your own ending stories. In the past decade, video games have introduced a new way of storytelling to the mainstream. By allowing the player to make decisions that affect the overall arc of the story, introducing multiple endings, choices that can change the characters present or even the location of the story it gives the player complete control. Games such as “Life is Strange” (2015), “Telltale’s The Walking Dead” (2012) even open world games such as “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” (2011) allow players to complete story arcs as they wish. With games like this on the rise, it wasn’t too long after that cinema had started to create similar projects to that of choose your own ending stories. In 2019, YouTuber Markiplier released a short film called “A Heist with Markiplier” an interactive cinematic experience where the spectator follows Markiplier in order to complete a heist. What is special about this is that “A Heist with Markiplier” (2019) is the most ambitious choose your own ending film; with over 34 different endings. Even more mainstream companies like Netflix have started jumping on this trend releasing “Black Mirror Bandersnatch” (2018). This sense of controlling a character to do as you please, Laura Mulvey once again references something similar with this with ego ideals and how “the other demands identification of the ego with the object on the screen through the spectator’s fascination and recognition of his like.” (837) This ego ideal references how the voyeuristic nature of the spectator extends to that of wanting to see themselves not as they are but as they want to be. This correlates perfectly with the ideologies of choose your own ending stories, and VR experiences as the spectator can now transform themselves into being someone they are not.

Whilst films have started experimenting with adapting video games into cinema, the same can also be said for video games. The prime example of this is “Quantum Break” (2016). “Quantum Break” decided to focus heavily on the cinematic side of the game. At the end of each level depending on the choices made throughout the level a 30 minute live action episode played developing the plot and character arcs further. Throughout time, TV shows have had an edge on cinema by being able to dive deeper into story arcs and expand on aspects that film would have to rush over. Video Games have this edge on film and TV as they are able to go deeper than both. When creating a hybrid of the two, the level of character attachment by the player is increased significantly with a plethora of story and context, grounding the characters and making them more appealing to the spectator: once again by voyeuristically uncovering deep and hidden parts of the characters. This level of bridging, between the virtual world and the real world is very similar to an aspect of postmodernism known as hyperreality. Hyperreality is the inability to distinguish between that of a virtual world and that of real life. “To dissimulate is to pretend not to have what one has. To simulate is to feign to have what one doesn’t have. One implies a presence, the other an absence. But it is more complicated than that because simulating is not pretending” (Baudrillard 1981: 4) It’s interesting to see that this sense of hyperreality being created throughout “Quantum Break”, using a hybrid of reality and virtual reality, is parallel to that of modern cinema. This is perfectly encapsulated in Spielberg’s adaptation of “Ready Player One” (2018). In which the story revolves around a dilapidated real world and that of the Virtual known as The Oasis. Throughout the film there are constant references to that of how the characters are losing their sense of reality and escaping into the new reality, the virtual world.

As video game technology and cinema technology improves, filmmakers and visual effect artists will utilise this in order to try and simulate that of hyperreality. In recent films, they have even been able to shoot scenes with fully CG environments, using VR headsets to place virtual cameras and even recreate CG characters for the actors have unfortunately passed away. This inevitably brings up an ethical dilemma of recreating dead actors. In late 2019, Filmmakers Anton Ernst and Tati Golykh secured the rights to digitally recreate the deceased James Dean. In his article on the matter, Paul Jones writes “and the sheer arrogance of the words “we decided on James Dean”, as if he is an ingredient to be picked off a supermarket shelf “ (2019) highlights how many are frustrated with the filmmakers choice to capitalise off of a deceased actor, a blatant lack of compassion does however highlight how cinema and video games both are trying to experiment with the use of hyperreality. “One has never said better how much ”humanism, ”normality”, ‘quality of life’ were nothing but the vicissitudes of profitability.” (Baudrillard 1981: 86). Unfortunately, in today’s modern society all that companies care about now is profitability; this is why a merger between cinema and video games is inevitable. Much like books, manga and comics, video games have the exact same appeal to Hollywood; a new demographic to capitalise on. As mentioned previously, the past decade has been constant live action remakes and reboots of all of your favourite franchises. It is what is slowly killing cinema, nothing original is being created anymore and with video game culture being the new main source of entertainment it’s obvious that Hollywood is going to attempt to bring your favourite video game franchises onto the big screen. In his short story “On Exactitude of Science” (1946) Jorge Luis Borges describes cartographers that decide to draw a map, so accurate, that it is one to one and useless occupying the same space as the land beneath it. Eventually the Empire declines and it decays, rotting away leaving the real world, it represents, beneath it. Baudrillard picks this up to begin his book but adds to it in describing his own theories, “Only the allegory of the Empire, perhaps, remains. Because it is with this same imperialism that present-day simulators attempt to make the real, all of the real, coincide with their models of simulation… It is a hyperreal, produced from a radiating synthesis of combinatory models in a hyperspace without atmosphere… It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real” (Baudrillard 1981: 1,2). This describes modern cinema beginning like this ‘desert of the real’. Ultimately, they reconstruct old films and franchises so often that what is left now are just empty signs co-opted for different purposes; the ‘real’ media behind the film has ceased to exist.

In conclusion, it is clear to see that in order for cinema to survive it needs to evolve. I think film is going to take a similar route to Artaudian theatre and attempt to absorb the spectator by placing them into the film. It’s obvious that modern society has a lust to indulge their voyeuristic desires and adhering to their ego ideal. By placing themselves into the action they can finally leave behind the shackles of reality and transcend and upgrade themselves into new realities and new people; they can be and do whatever they desire. It’s obvious that Hollywood and the capitalist companies that run modern cinema are on board with this. A new medium to extort to the masses and gain monetary control. If anything, its very similar to Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” (2018). I believe that Borges story on creating a 1:1 scale map and placing it over the real world and the use of virtual reality are going to go hand in hand. Cinema will no longer be an experience shown but an experience lived by placing the spectator as the protagonist of the story. Baudrillard’s ideologies of the hyperreal will become real and everything he said about “humanism” and “normality” being capitalised will be sold back to the consumer. Entertainment is now becoming more and more digitalised with the rise of video game culture, the ever-improving technology behind cinema and the desire for companies to create believable realistic phantasm will continue to push the two mediums into experimenting in new forms of entertainment. Hollywood is striving to find the next way to create content to sell to the masses, it can’t keep remaking and rebooting beloved franchises. What it needs to do is to adapt and with attention spans being slowly eroded by a bombardment of new fads and content, replayability and long-lasting content is required to help solve this crisis. Video games is that solution and it’s already beginning to happen.

Bibliography

1. A Heist With Markiplier (2019) Directed by Markiplier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TjfkXmwbTs
2. Artaud, A (1938) “Theatre and its Double” New York: Grove Press Inc p96-98
3. Baudrillard, J (1981) “Simulacra and Simulation (The Body in Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism)” University of Michigan Press p1-87
4. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018) Directed by: David Slade
5. Borges, JL (1946) “On Exactitude of Science” in Borges, KL “El Hacedor” (2013), Vintage Espanol p40
6. Hardcore Henry (2015) Directed by: Ilya Naishuller
7. Invasion! (2016) Directed by Eric Darnell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ0fKW5PttM
8. Jones, P (2019) “‘Casting’ James Dean in a new movie is a gimmicky publicity stunt” in RadioTimes https://www.radiotimes.com/news/film/2019-11-07/james-dean-cast-new-film-movie-finding-jack/ last accessed 7th November 2019
9. Life is Strange (2015) Made by Square Enix
10. McClinton, D. (2019) “Global attention span is narrowing and trends don’t last as long, study reveals”, in The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/16/got-a-minute-global-attention-span-is-narrowing-study-reveals last accessed 17th April 2019
11. Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism :
12. Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP,
13. 1999: p833-44.
14. Quantum Break (2016) Directed by: Ben Ketai
15. Ready Player One (2018) Directed by: Stephen Speilberg
16. Telltale’s The Walking Dead (2012) Made by TellTale
17. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (2011) Made by Bethesda Game Studios