Video Game : Role Playing And Video Games

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

Violence is everywhere in our world, and when teens and children play violent role-playing games, it says “violence is acceptable”. In the article “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out” by Guy Martin a high school student says “I’m looking for some good massacres early” in reference to their high school's annual end of year game, “Killer”. In this game, the students team up and take on the role of assassins, out to kill all others. These are only high school students, 14-19 years old and Killer is only a game, but they are using violent terms like massacre like any other word. They use it like mass killings are acceptable, and that attitude is what is hurting the world. In the same article, Martin said, “Since the start of the game, the twelfth graders had been sleeping on futons in vans borrowed from their parents, the better to pull off a stoop-side ambush and avoid being ambushed themselves.” They are not even adults, yet they are treating a game so seriously, sleeping in a car, talking about waiting to ambush. Yes, they are using tactical thinking, but there are plenty of non-violent opportunities to use that skill, like in chess. Teens need to stop because violence is never acceptable.

Did you know that according to Dr. Bret Conrad, the majority of gamers believe that video game violence has few, if any harmful effects on them personally? Well, many people today play games with simulated violence ranging from games like “Killer” to games like Grand Theft Auto. One example, “Killer”, takes place in multiple New York City high schools at the end of the year. It consists of two teams, each student is assigned a person to shoot and they have to shoot them before they are shot. The students have to use water pistols to shoot their person. Once they are killed, their game is over. While some agree that games with simulated violence are perilous for teens, games with simulated violence are beneficial for teens because they help kids with problem solving skills, keep them busy and helps them help others.

Some people think kids shouldn’t play violent role playing games because they think it gets kids to stalk other kids, but i think it’s good because it promotes teamwork, strategy, and espionage, all three of which will help the student in the future. At St. Ann's high school a game lasts two and a half weeks and has built up a seventeen-point rule book, a map of the safe zones around the school, a judge, and an entry fee, all for a harmless water pistol game. In the end this was all just about Killer, a last-man-standing game of water-pistol ambush, just because people considered it a violent role playing game even though it teaches the kids a lot and is just a water pistol game and if you still disagree with me go out out and try it for yourselves

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.

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.

Many mass shooters past reveal an obsession with video games or a fictional character. For example; Aaron Alexis, who committed the Washington Navy Yard massacre, had an obsession with video games. He played for a typical 5 hours a day without sleep or breaks. His favorite games were first person shooters, and he was known as the “ headshot king “ to his online friends. CNN conducted a survey in 2013 about the violent tendencies of college students and video games. “Violent games also decrease helping behavior and feelings of empathy for others. The effects occurred for males and females of all ages, regardless of what country they lived in. The effects of these games go beyond making players more aggressive. In our research, we found that people who played first-person shooting games were more accurate than others when firing a realistic gun at a mannequin -- and more likely to aim for and hit the head.” ( Bushman 3 ). With the rise in the popularity of the gaming for younger children, could the next American mass shooter be the 9 year old neighbor you have next

Games with simulated violence are perilous for teens, because the teens participating are going through other people’s personal information, attacking people in public, and, more generally, are more violent when they are older.

Can violent video games truly be a cause of real violence in our adolescents? Can they really lead to such terrible tragedies and massacres like the one at Columbine high school? That is exactly what writer John Leo is suggesting in his essay, “When Life Imitates Video.” He starts us off here by pointing out the similarities between the actions taken during the Littleton massacre and the events of video games like the two shooters often played; and he criticizes the plethora of shooting games available today and how realistic they are. These games that are played by so many today, Leo warns, could “blur the boundary between fantasy and reality.”

In the world today, more and more school shootings and acts of violence are occurring and an alarming number of these shootings are by students under the age of 18. One of the causes that many people believe is the amount of violent role-playing games kids play, but is this truly the case? Recent studies have found out that violent role-playing games have not made the difference that many people have thought in the past.

To some people, games with simulated violence are hazardous to their life. Some of these games are computerized, while others are physical. Guy Martin, writer of the 2009 article “High-Jinks: Shoot-Out,” stated that high schoolers in Brooklyn run around town “killing”their peers with water guns. This game is known as “Killer.” These manhunts teach kids that it is okay to break laws, promote criminal activity, and to have bad and aggressive attitudes.

As technology as progressed, more people, especially youth, take part in playing video games. There has been an steady increase of video game usage because of the fact that video games have become more life-like and realistic. While they have become more realistic in aesthetic ways, they have also become more violent in content as well. Games like Call of Duty

Aggressive role playing and video games have been revealed to be popular among a lot of school shooters and terrorists. One of the games, called “Killer” or “Assassin,” is a tradition during the end of the year for many high school students. In the game, people fight each other with water guns, getting eliminated if hit. The reward for such a violent activity is a prize pot, made up of all of the entry donations. The downsides of this game, is that students will go to desperate measures in public to get a competitive advantage or to perform eliminations.

Runescape is one of the first massive multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) that many gamers have started with. Released in 2001, there were no games like it out there for its time. For many of us gamers, Runescape was the beginning of an amazing journey. The game was free to play on your web browser, no download necessary. Once your account was created you were able to start your adventure in the exploration of Runescape, there is no better game you can get lost in. Runescape is the missing piece of achievement, adventure, and connection that you are searching for.

“I like video games, but they’re really violent. I’d like to play a videogame where you help the people who were shot in all other games. It’d be called Really Busy Hospital.”-Demitri Martin. Role playing games have been a source of fun and entertainment for children and adults. There are more safe and calm games such as Just Dance, and there are more Perilous games such as Call of Duty. Role playing games such as killer are perilous for school age children putting them in danger, teaching violence, and teaching reckless behavior.