The Effects Of Video Games On Society

Many theories are speculated of what drove people to create such massacres and harm to innocent victims. One of the most popular is that violent video games have an influence on these attacks. However, Matt Peckham, in “Researcher Says Linking Video Games to Gun Violence is a ‘Classic Illusory Correlation’” explains there isn’t much evidence to prove that theory and researches haven’t found a reasonable link between the two. Actually, on the contrary video games seem to benefit a person mind rather than harm them according to Mary Flanagan, in her article “Don’t Demonize Video Games for Violence.” Video games don’t influence a person’s mind because there is a psychological explanation to these occurrences therefore violent video games has no contribution to violence incidents across the nation.

In the year 2016, more than 10 million copies of Grand Theft Auto were sold. Grand Theft Auto, among other video games focus on illegal crimes. For example Grand Theft Auto, frequently makes references to drugs, murder, and robbery. Even though video games are much more violent than they were in the 1990’s, video games over the years have managed to make an impact on American culture. Some ask why violent video games are such a concern for America? Well according to Times Magazine,“The average U.S. gamer age 13 or older spent 6.3 hours a week playing video games during 2013.” With people becoming addicted to video games, others begin to worry if videogamers will start to blur the line between the virtual world and reality. In the book Columbine, the author David Cullen states media reporters, partially blamed video games for the Columbine Massacre. “When he was eleven, id Software released the video game Doom. Eric found the perfect virtual playground to explore his fantasies.” (Cullen,114) The shooters Dylan, and Eric before the Columbine Massacre fantasised about murder, and in the video games they played they were allowed to be killers. Although, media reporters stated that videogames, were a reason the Columbine Massacre occurred, David Cullen addresses that video games had nothing to do with the shooting. Although, video games had no effect on the Columbine Massacre, other shootings such as Sandy Hook has been linked to them. As video games grow in popularity and

The most extensive argument many have argued toward violent video games affecting one’s behavior can simply be described as that many shooters were fans of violent video games before committing the shootings. A common example people making this argument raise are the Columbine shooters, who were big fans of the video game Doom. While many believe that Doom’s excessive gore and violence led the two teens to perpetrate the mass shooting, that is not the case. What those who argue against video games fail to realize that those who commit these crimes had a history of other conditions. After many mass shootings, researchers often discovered in autopsies that the suspect had a long history of aggression or mental health problems that gaming was not responsible for. Patrick Markey and Christopher J. Ferguson, writers for US News, wrote

But there are certain things that have happened where they believed people were influenced by games such as the shooting at Columbine High School in Jefferson County, CO on Apr. 20, 1999. “The two teenage shooters were revealed to be avid players of the weapon-based combat games Wolfenstein 3D and Doom.” [1] Karen Sternheimer, "Do video games kill?", contexts. Feb. 2007”

Violence in video games has been proved to raise the aggression on video gamers in the short and long term, whether it’s in their language, attitude or actions. Also video games not only cause this but they also decrease prosocial behavior and empathy (Anderson, 2010). Violent video games have been one of the main reasons why students decide to shoot everyone in an educational institution like the well known Columbine Massacre in 1999. “[They] liked to play Doom (a computer game) in the afternoons”,“No one can say for sure why...theories including...violent video games (Doom)” (Rosenberg, Unknown). As we can see very clearly violent video games

“According to data recently released by The NPD Group, in 2012, U.S. video game software sales reached $6.7 billion (174.8 million units) and computer game sales were $380 million (13.2 million units)” (Improving Economy). To many, the violent video game industry has turned all adolescents into mass murderers. However, they’re absolutely wrong. Very seldom do adolescents who play violent video games commit acts of violence, and the ones who do usually have a mental disorder. Instead of blaming the tragedies that occur on violent video games, the news media should explain to people that a large percentage of young males play violent video games, indicating that the two are uncorrelated. They should alternatively research other possible solutions to the crisis. In lieu of negatively affecting people’s lives, video games could potentially improve their lives!

Video games have become a major occupation of majority of the youth these days. They spend hours on end concentrating on video games, some of which are apparently very violent, yet this is actually the whole idea. Coming from the horse's mouth is an argument in support of video games coined from a video programmer's point of view, stating that violent video games allow people to do what they can not do in reality- virtual reality. ( http://www.theroc.org/roc-mag/textarch/roc-15/roc15-08.htm ) For instance, someone said to be having a bad day could use a violent video game to release stress by shooting down a couple hundred bad men than actually taking an AK-47 and spilling down a few brains down the

As the level of violence in video games increases, so does the level of concern for those who play them. Some people are quick to blame school shootings on games just because the kid played a “violent” game. “The topic of videogames and violence can be compared to the chicken or the egg question, which came first, violent games or violent behavior”(Violence and Videogames). However most kids in mass shootings tend to have easy access to guns and are mentally unstable.

Violent video games increase the amount of mass shootings every year. The violence in the video games teach kids and even some adults to do things that they normally wouldn't know how to do, the first person shooter effect teaches kids how to use a gun and more than that, teaches them that it's alright to use a gun anywhere. When kids are playing first person shooter games against their friends, it seems like a game to them, those kids think that it is fun to run around chasing your friend with a gun and try to kill them, these games are also like target practice for them. Teaching these kids those skills prepares them for school shootings, abusing their families, and even causing them to talk back to their parents, other family members, teachers, and any other adults that could stand in their way. Adults who play first person shooter video games could be playing them for fun, what they were intended for, but when ever mass shootings occur like the one in Las Vegas at the Jason Aldean concert, or the one in

Video game effects are relatively new in modern society. Even though these games are often entertaining, the content of the game has been increasingly more and more violent as technology becomes more prevalent. The popularity of violent video games has caused an increase in controversy. Parents and experts feel that some games are just too violent and they demand the government to regulate the sales of these games. However, violent video games do not cause an increase in aggression, in adolescents. The forceful plan by the government is caused by an exaggeration of the effects of violent video games and this plan are indeed pointless.

Dylan klebold, Eric Harris, James Holmes, and Adam Lanza. What do all of these men have in common. To start, they all committed mass shootings killing or injuring from 20 to 84 people. According to Eric Kain in the article “Do Games Like 'Grand Theft Auto V' Cause Real-World Violence?” they all were described as being addicted to video games. Over the years we have all heard from one person to another about videogames being harmful, but are they right? Today video games are as bloody and violent as ever and their violence may be fueling the urges of crimes in the real world. Violent video games can cause harm in the real world and to the people who play them. From suggesting that violence is acceptable, causing aggressiveness in players, and being above all harmful to those with mental illnesses. Violent games as certainly causing a great deal more harm than good.

“Violent video games increase aggressive thoughts, angry feelings, and aggressive behaviors and decrease empathic feelings and prosocial behaviors” (Gregory Ferenstein). Gaming devices not only desensitize us, but it heightens our chances of going out and committing acts of violence. Such as, James Holmes because of the games that he played (Call of Duty, Advanced Warfare and etc.) he believed that for every person he killed; he would receive a point for doing so. “There are definitely games kids shouldn't be playing, she said, for example those where hunting down and killing people is the goal)” (Anne Harding, CNN). After playing these games, many kids feel as if the real world is like a game and killing people to earn points is rewarded. Video games have changed our America to believing that death and violence should be rewarded, but with a twist and that includes handcuffs and a prison

Grand Theft Auto 5, one of the year's bestselling titles, allows players to kill prostitutes and torture characters, which sparked fierce debate on whether game makers have a moral responsibility to their audience.” Critics claim that violence in video games creates negative behaviors in reality but yet fail to accept beneficial soothness that these virtual worlds bring to gamers. But those dangers alone shouldn't discourage people from giving games a chance any more than we should shun television because it traffics in adult themes, not when there's so much to celebrate and still so much room for improvement. Video games are profoundly cognitive in an ideal position of having an adverse effect on the production of knowledge and perseverance. Stereotypically, video games disrupt mental awareness, body fitness, and productiveness. In circumstances of neglect and emptiness of oneself’s individuality in society, video games provide genuine warmth and compatibility in a virtual state. For example, in the same article beforehand, Nicholas Lioa makes this argument, “As both games and those who play them keep branching out, the definition of gaming will continue to change. It's true that gaming's qualities have an underside. The same technology that creates experiences of empathy can also offer escape from reality… the advent of more thoughtful

o Improved ability to rapidly and accurately recognize visual information - A study from Beth Israel Medical Center NY, found a direct link between skill at video

Former CNN Computer Connection producer, Steven Baxter, once said, “You can 't say that video games grew out of pinball, but you can assume that video games wouldn 't have happened without it. It 's like bicycles and automobiles. One industry leads to the other and then they exist side by side. But you had to have bicycles to one day have motor cars.” Video games are important to both the economy and people’s lives and “have been by far the most significant manifestation of interactive media to date” (Haddon 52). The first computers were large enough to fill entire rooms and their technology was originally intended to be used for complex calculations, and as a way of proving artificial intelligence the first computer games arrived. In the late 1940s games such as chess and tic-tac-toe played on these first computers proved artificial intelligence. NASA began increasing support and funding for basic computer research furthering the development of artificial intelligence, in turn this advanced computer technology greatly. Pong, made by Atari in the 1970s, was one of the first video games to reach mainstream popularity. This caused other companies such as Nintendo, a Japanese company that previously sold game cards, to get into the video game business. “In 1982 estimates place worldwide home games of video games at between 2and 3.8 billion dollars. The arcade game business at that same time was even larger, grossing 8 billion dollars” (Haddon 53). The rise in competition of