Video Game Technology's Negative Effects on the Next Generation

Call of Duty, Mortal Kombat, Grand Theft Auto, and Doom. Many know these games for their violent nature, stemming from their graphic scenes or gameplay involving shooting or beating up opponents, and these factors have caused these games to stir up quite a bit of controversy. For the last few decades, people have debated the effects of these games on the people who play them. Many believe those who play the games become more aggressive as a result of their violent nature, while others argue that playing the games has no effect on one’s behavior. Society should realize that violent video games have, at most, minimal effect on players’ behavior.

In the new era of kids, more and more people have started to play video games. There has been a lot of controversy about the effect that video games can have on users, both mental and physical. Many parents have a child that will play, have played, or are playing video games. Video games being very prominent in most children and adult lives have many different affects

Gentile, D. (2005). The effects of video games on children: what parents need to know. Pediatrics for Parents (6th ed., Vol. 21, p. 2). Bangor, Maine: Pediatrics for Parents

The earliest studies into the effects of video games arose in the mid-1980s. These studies tended to focus largely on the correlation of aggression in teenage students and their tendency to play video games. Two studies utilizing similar methodologies, one in 19841 and another in 19852, ended up producing nearly opposite results. The 1984 study found that physical aggression increased relative to the playing of arcade games while the 1985 study found that video games actually had a calming effect and allowed players to discharge aggressive behavior in a safe fashion. Both of these studies utilized questionnaires of 250 and 208 teenagers to assess their relationship to video gaming and their behavior. This of course highlights an issue with many types of studies of

Video games over the years have developed into graphic bloody sources of ideas for adolescents. The games kids play today has large physiological effects that can really mess with one 's mind. Violent video games have a long history of provoking aggressive behavior which can ultimately lead to people getting hurt. The realism gives the players more power by making them immune to the reality of the situation.

The origin of the harmfulness of video games originates with pong; the first video game invented. “How is pong harmful? It’s a ball with two vertical bars.” It had nothing to do with the content of the game, but the addictive nature of it. The Surgeon General at the time, C. Everett Koop, was the one who made the comment about the games addictiveness. He believed that, because of the addictive nature could turn players violent. According to a study performed by the Washington D.C. based Pew Internet and American Life Project, more than half of the all American adults play video games, with one in five playing every day (Marcovitz 13).

From the inception of Pong to the latest chapter of the video game series Assassin’s Creed, virtual gaming has been scorned and shunned as a detriment to society. Older generations speculate that incessant gaming in young children insinuates violence, antipathy, lack of creative initiative, and develops an unhealthy isolation from the real world. However, in recent years, these postulates have been put to the test; a number of scientists have conducted experimentation in order to discover whether not virtual gaming affects children in negative ways, and the results could not be farther from their original hypotheses. These studies have shown that videogames can be used for educational purposes, as well as for conducting psychological and medical research and advancements, and that speculations regarding their destructive nature and violence-inspiring tendencies result in no conclusive evidence. In fact, video games may even be developing into the newest art form, as many provide insights into political and philosophical discussion using gameplay and graphics. In other words, the development of virtual gaming over the past twenty years is not detrimental to the upbringing of adolescents in our society, and can actually be beneficial in a multitude of areas.

The rapid growing technology influences the creation of many sources of entertainment. According to a U.S Study by Rideout Et Al (As Cited in Anderson & Bushman 2001.a), the popularity of video games is rapidly increasing. In a U.S study by Butchman & Funk (As Cited in Anderson & Bushman 2001.b), Around 60 percent of 4th grade girls prefer violent games and about 3 out of every 4 boys with a similar age also prefer ferocious ones. This essay will argue that violence in video games should be censored. For the purpose of this essay, violence can be defined as the physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something, and censor may relate to the act of supressing unwanted material (Oxford Dictionaries). The three main points of this essay are that exposure to violent video games leads to aggressive behaviour, the negative impact caused by ferocious video games on the society, and how ferocity in video games collaborates with affecting the psychology of individuals negatively.

Mario Kart, Call of Duty, and Grand Theft Auto, are all wildly popular video games. Whether you are killing monsters or trying to amass as much gold as possible, people play video games as an escape into a virtual world from the reality we live in. Over the years, video games have acquired a tainted reputation for the violence often found in many popular titles. Although people view video games to be destructive to children and society, studies have shown numerous medical, social, as well as psychological benefits that strongly outweigh the potential harm.

Researchers found out that high usage of video game has no mental health problems reported. According to any child, parent, or teacher. Results were base base on data from the School Children Mental Health Europe project for children ages 6-11 years old.

In the past few decades research has been conducted over whether video games have an adverse effect on one’s mind. With the advancement of technology in the game industry, many think that gaming has become problematic for adolescents. Moreover, reports show that with the high volume of games that are available nowadays kids now have become highly addicted to video and computer games. As a result, some fault video and computer games to the rise of social behavior and certain long term effects on the brain as a whole. Bavelier, Green, Han, Renshaw, Merzenich, and Gentile give a breakdown of the effects of video games ( online and offline) whether if it’s positive or negative; even if it’s long or short term.

If you read or watch the news, it is not hard to find shocking and dramatic examples of people who harmed themselves or others after playing video games. The American teenagers who committed the Columbine and Sandy Hook school shootings all played video games. In South Korea, where online gaming is very popular, a 15-year-old boy strangled his mother to death and then hanged himself after “a fight about internet games” (Plunkett), and a Taiwanese man died of heart failure in an internet café after playing video games for three days straight (Elise). There is also the more mundane concern that people will become addicted to video games, neglecting their studies and personal lives as a result. Indeed, many mobile app games advertise themselves as being “addictive,” as if this is a benefit. However, it is unclear whether these concerns are warranted. Does playing video games cause otherwise healthy people to become violent and neglect their well-being, or is it merely a symptom of other underlying problems?

Video games are fun to play. Playing video games may help us to forget our stress for a while, but is it really worth our precious time? The popularity of video games is on an upward trend. Every day we see many people playing video games and getting addicted to it. Without caring much about their surroundings, they focus their attention solely on these games. Video games are popular all over the world including the United States. According to the article “Video games,” more than 75 percent American youths have video-game consoles at home, and on a typical day, at least 40 percent of them play a video game (Glazer). The statistics show that the total number of people playing video games is huge. The interesting thing is that the estimates show three-quarters of the population owning a gaming console. Every day people are wasting their precious time sitting in front of Xbox and PlayStation. They seem to be in their own world far away from the reality. They enjoy their virtual achievements more than the real one. Instead of caring about their decreasing grades, they care about their position in the game. Therefore, despite its popularity, these games are actually affecting us in negative ways. The video games have become one of the major problems of this generation because a large number of people are wasting their precious time and hard-earned money in these games instead of doing

Video Games have been around since the early 1960’s, increasing in popularity in the early 1970’s and 80’s and are now more popular and common than before. It forever changed the entertainment world. The phrase Video Game is defined as a game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display screen. Gaming is defined as the action or practice of playing video games. Video games can refer to games played on game consoles such as the PlayStation, Wii and Xbox, or on computers. With its increasing reputation, its sales have continued to grow, as of 2015 total revenues for the video game industry in the U.S. hit $23.5 billion. Current research has shown that, “97 % of American adolescents aged 12–17 years play computer, web, portable or console video games” (Adachi p.1041). However, along with this increase of gaming has come increased controversy on its effects on society. The main reason for this controversy, is whether the content of video games changes the behavior and attitudes of a player negatively, which then effects society negatively. Before focusing on this controversial topic, the history behind what video games are, how they evolved and the efforts that go into making them, should be addressed.

Violent video games have been an epidemic for decades. Furthermore, the violence in video games has increased and has become more realistic. Violent games like Mortal Kombat, Dead Space, Grand Theft Auto and Call of Duty have become common household games. Boys are more effected by video games; thus, video games have made males more violent because they include military techniques, reality based settings, and change people’s behaviors.