The Last Of Us : A Review

From prehistory to 21st century, violence and warfare permeate human existence. Tribes, cities, and nations have pitted their youth against one another in hopes improving their position. However, these Soldiers regularly fall short of maximizing their killing potential. In the book On Killing, Dave Grossman scrupulously examines war throughout recent history; specifically the human element in killing. His thorough assessment of the psychological factors associated with homicide is vitally important to individuals who wish to successfully lead their Soldiers during and after combat. Its ultimate value clearly visible in light of four major facets: the background of the writer, the general points of the book, analysis of essential concepts, and the insight provided.

Rod argues, through his use of violent diction and ethos, that violent video games creates an erroneous of what is right and wrong. Millions of children these days have in their possession games that simulate violent

Video games are an ever-growing franchise that is constantly undergoing change. Ever since the dawn of video games, new consoles, games, developers, and teams have come together, fallen apart, triumphed, and failed. What is it that has allowed some to thrive where others failed? Several different factors have changed and influenced the world of gaming, including the history that is continuously being written, the people who have built the games behind the scenes, and, of course, the actual video games themselves. Numerous video games have been more successful than others, but identifying what components set the successful apart from the unsuccessful is something definitely worth observing.

Throughout history man kind has always searched for ways to entertain himself, each time developing new activities and games. Video games have become a very popular way to spend time and have fun from the 1970’s up to now. With new developments appeared different video game genres from adventure to racing, but the violent video games appear to be the most popular ones (Shin, 2003), for example: shooters, fighting and video games where you have to eliminate, destroy, or kill your enemies.

In Raiders of The Lost Ark, the violence is abundant from beginning to end, - a death tally of 63 (allouttabubblegum) -- but we accept it because it is always the “bad guy” getting hurt -- a greedy guide is skewered by a bed of nails, a relentless thug is chopped by a plane propeller, and numerous Nazis meet their comeuppance by having their faces melt off (Raiders). The violence is often gory and realistic. According to the study,

Violence expression is not new to daily life; furthermore, it is seen in the popular activities that include video games. Players of video games spent many hours engaging in acts of violence that include fighting, shooting, booby traps, and assaults. Yet, these games are in a cartoon like format that attempts to approximate real life. This form of violence is unrealistic; however, it satisfies the need for violence in a positive way using non-living things. In the article, “8 Misconceptions Non-gamers Have About Video Games, there is an emphasis on the point that gamers focuses on the skills necessary to master the game, rather than the video violence. Nonetheless, this video violence is ramped in our society with much time, money, and thought put into developing the next level of violence. If there is a reason for videos leading to violence, then it is due to psychological and sociological issues (Alert). This is very much the same reasons for violence in the Crucible as the people were thinking and acting in violent ways. In my opinion, violence is a problem when becomes destructive. Knowing the limits of violence is important, especially when the lives of others are involved. While video violence is entertaining, it is important to ensure that it is

In doing so, he portrays loss of innocence through war by way of Rodwell’s ordeal and eventual suicide. However, it is important to note that the innocence lost is not only Rodwell’s, but that of other soldiers as well. In Part Three of The Wars, the narrator of the story notes that “Some of them were madmen. This was understandable, perhaps… Rodwell, being Rodwell, had tried to stop them… Half an hour later, Rodwell wandered into No Man’s Land and put a bullet through his ears” (Findley 135). Because of the war, these men have been damaged beyond repair and reduced to a primal urge to kill, taking their instinct out on helpless animals. Rodwell, in his innocence, tries to stop them, but, upon witnessing the senseless death of an animal at their hands, is entirely disillusioned. The realization that men not only disrespect life, but actively eradicate it, is too overwhelming - it rips him from his idealistic views. Unable to cope, he goes against all he believes in and, in committing suicide, destroys life himself.Thus, by causing humans to act irrationally and out of instinct as a result of war, Findley again makes loss of innocence a huge factor in its toll on humanity. Even though senseless cruelty is a recurring theme in war, Rodwell is unable to come to terms with this. He goes from believing that “[Humans] survive in each other. Everything lives forever. Nothing dies”

The story line behind some violent video games includes games in which players earn points by carjacking taxis, scoring drugs from cursing thugs, and mowing down pedestrians.(see http://www.feedmag.com/vgs/duncan.html>) Some cartoonish tag lines in some sadistic video games include : -- "As easy as killing babies with axes" and "More fun than killing your neighbour's cats". This kind of themes definitely influence the players, especially the younger ones, and inflict violent tendencies on them. It is no wonder, that this killing mania in violent games was seen to seep out into the actual world when a high school junior opened fire in his school cafetaria in Littleton, Colorado, killing two of his classmates. The gunman was reported to be an ardent fan of Quake and Doom, some rather violent video games. More proof of the relationship between video games and violence is revealed by a study which clearly reveals how this kind of entertainment affects our lives. Greater details of the history of how high school students turned gunmen in Columbine High School are given, which shows that the effect of video games in their lives was a major source of influence in doing what they did best.

In a world that is centered around technology and the media, it is no wonder that Harris and Kelbold fell into the violent virtual world of video games. Doom, the boys’ favorite video game, displays you as a space marine whose mission is the kill people on the planet. High levels of violent graphics and the Satanic imagery embedded violent thoughts in the boys’ minds (“Nineteen Minutes”). The video, Natural Born Killers, also put aggressive thoughts into the boys’ minds (Rosenburg).. These media images as well as hateful music, planted the seeds of the future massacre in both Harris and Kepold’s minds. In a world of criticism, Peter also turned to the virtual world to escape. His interest turns to HTML code as well as violent music. Grand Theft Auto, his favorite game, ranks points by killing innocent people. He ends up creating his own video game, Hide and Shriek, in which his avatar runs through the school slaughtering jocks, bullies, and other popular kids. (Helium)

Nevertheless, both outcomes would lead to death. His final decision was to play the game and attempt to win instead of taking the easy way out. Another similar characteristic is how the antagonists have the advantage of having people to fight with them. “One almost did win. I eventually had to use the dogs” (Connell 14).

In the novel Battle Royale, author Koushun Takami attempts to highlight two conflicting human impulses; the desire to stay true to moral, and ethical obligations, but also the animalistic desire to survive. The actions of the characters in Battle Royale illustrates the conflict

Saw is an American mystery psychological thriller franchise, Since 2004 till 2017. The torture franchise has been locking up morally-dubious characters in all kinds of gruesome, steel contraptions and inventing creative, new places to hide the keys. “It’s right before your eyes. ~ Saw 2” The creepy puppet-master of the Saw franchise is Jigsaw, and does he loves playing games! And by playing games, it means locking unconscious people inside dank warehouses and giving them 60 seconds to choose between certain death, self-mutilation, or, if they’re lucky, disemboweling a stranger. When people talk about “Saw,” they tend to focus on Jigsaw’s impressive body count. But just as you can pick through a pit of heroin syringes to find the hidden key in saw 2, you can sift through this villain’s deadly traps to find the grander meaning of his games.

Many video games use visuals to mentally immerse gamers into a virtual world filled with seemingly living, breathing people, animals, or cities. According to Michael Samyn and Auriea Harvey, game designers for Tale of Tales, video games increasingly develop into a true medium of artistic expression (Lamb). In just forty years, video games transformed from an abuse of the new computer for entertainment purposes into a sophisticated form of popular art. The development of video games recently produced results that arguably equal other similar, representational arts. Video games share many qualities with other forms of art, but they are also artistically significant in their own way. “This seems to be something

Video games in today’s society have become very popular. Every new game that comes out to be played and conquered by the average gamer has its own category. There are several other types of genres of games that people play but because of big hit titles and the new popular game systems like the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, people become more interested in a game that is well known than a game they have never even heard of before. Every game has its own storyline and own way of how it unfolds and where the game ends according to game play. Some of the biggest reasons people sway to certain genres of games is because of the game titles released under them and the demand of people who want a good game under that category. The top three most

“In video games, the category of “first person shooters” has been controversial with critics concerned about what that means to players who actually perform acts of violence within the games. Instead of merely watching a character perpetrate a violent act, the player is actively encouraged to participate. Gamers will often refer to their characters as “he” or even “I.” “This suggests some confusion is brought on by the intense identification players sometimes feel towards their avatars. Players typically remain attached to a single character they can control; thus they have a very strong following pattern. Game designer, Will Wright, has argued that games may have a unique ability to make players experience guilt for the choices their characters have made in the course of action. Because players are making choices, they feel some degree of responsibility” (242-243).