Video Games : A Video Game

It would be difficult to explicitly state that the cause of copycat crimes is the media's influence. However, there is an abundance of evidence that readily indicates that the media certainly exacerbates the effects of sensational, tragically violent crimes. It does little to deter such future crimes from occurring. More significantly, it presents a viable platform to grant maximum exposure to the motive, methodology, and demeanor of the individual who perpetuated such a crime. Although the media cannot readily be labeled the cause of copycat crimes, it certainly increases the likelihood that copycat crimes will occur in the future.

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”

While the disorder could be present prior to viewing mass shootings via media coverage, previous mass shooters’ fame and accomplishments acknowledged by the media acts as the final trigger and inspiration for potential shooters’ actions.As Follman states,“Most of us are disturbed or repulsed by images of a killer posing with a gun or sporting a maniacal grin. But aspiring copycats see an antihero who’s gone from being a miserable nobody to a world-famous somebody with a few pulls of a trigger.”  By the media releasing all the information regarding the shooter’s identity, the chances of the number, as well as the magnitude, of attacks increasing is much higher, as copycat killers will use a predecessor’s fame as a source for inspiration and justification. By decreasing the amount of information released about the shooter and increasing the coverage on how the victims are overcoming the attack, copycat killers won’t be able to obtain the inspiration they seek, as the predecessor will obtain lesser fame than the actual crime and its

The issue of media responsibility in helping to prevent mass murder has been highlighted since the Columbine and Virginia Tech tragedies. It became clear after these events, that some perpetrators were, motivated by the infamy they saw past mass murderers receive via news coverage. Although some news media may be disinclined to admit it, they may often be in the business of searching for the right sort of madness to capture the public's imagination. In reality, it is a difficult task to report the occurrence of a mass murder in such a way that

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

Some scholars argue however that violence in television, films and video games has in fact the opposite effect. As individuals become ‘saturated’ with violence, it can lead to a catharsis where videogames, television and films become a safe outlet to for aggressive feelings and emotions; as a result, individuals become less violent. Naturally, this argument goes against the idea that children are highly influenced by modelled behaviour as they try to replicate what they see (Freedman 2001). The influence of video games is therefore highly complex to resolve. Poole (2000) therefore argues that videogames may simply be part of many factors that lead to violent behaviour. Videogames as films and television may influence real life violence by having a particular style that is imitated. Pool argues that it is possible that the teenage murderers in America may have imitated the way in which people are killed in the video game Doom, however it is not possible to say that without playing the game they would not have killed their classmates. Research conducted in America reiterates this statement,

Similarly, most games involving combat, guns, and other weapons are intentionally violent, as well as the aggressive acts towards women portrayed in the games, with representations of violence and misogyny are becoming all the more graphic as game visuals reach cinematic hyperrealism. The more realistic the games become, the more interesting they are for the players and the more escapism they are experiencing. Violence and misogyny therefore become celebrated. Sometimes, the fake world and real world lines can then be blurred. The possible effects of these type of games have been debated for years. As said in the text, videogames have been charged as being a factor in violent episodes, such as the Columbine High School shootings of 1999. Earlier research linked playing violent video games to aggressive thoughts or hostility, but those suggest that the greater concern should be the personality traits of certain types of players rather than violent video games. Overall, while some people view gaming as a simple leisure activity, the alarms about violent and misogynistic game

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.”

How will tomorrow’s killers be inspired by today’s mass shootings? It is quite simple. These killers gain inspiration and motivation every day. Unfortunately, tragedies, such as mass shootings, gain more recognition for the perpetrators instead of the victims. Gaining publicity will enhance the enactment of these crimes. We crave to find what is the reason behind this “trend”. A trend that induces fear and will continue to until the lineage breaks. But, this lineage appears to be infinite. A lack of understanding and jumping to conclusions only distracts us from the linkage between how the media pursues to deliver the information and mass shootings. The media’s clenching thirst for information will only proceed to more mass shootings, competition

Many believe that violent video games in particular are nothing more than interactive murder trainers for those who play them. It’s a known fact that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the disturbed high school seniors responsible for the Columbine High School Shooting, where avid gamers and gun enthusiasts. While there is no proven direct correlation between violent media and actual violent crimes, this can’t be simply dismissed as coincidence. Investigators found computers with the popular game “Doom” installed in the shooters’ homes, with “Doom” being somewhat infamous for its brutal, violent content. (Daily News, 2012, Apr. 23)

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

In recent years there have been plenty of cases of music, people, games, etc, being used as scapegoats so authorities can jump to conclusions about violent events and blame these as the main reason for such an event to take place. To give people an answer that may not even have any supporting evidence. Nowadays violence in video games is up to the level of killing people as the norm with many popular titles having this apart of the game. In many games that is the one of the main features that add together to create the game. Some game titles that include violence and killing are ‘Call of Duty,’ ‘Halo,’ ‘Grand Theft Auto,’ ‘Mass Effect,’ ‘Battlefield,’ ‘Counterstrike: Global Offensive,’ and ‘Doom.’ All of these games main storylines include the need to attack and kill to progress forward (Mainly with guns). But does this create a bad effect on people? Is this making people more likely to be violent? Even kill in real life? This is the particular ethical issue that violence in video games is having. The argument to prove if video games are really a cause of anger and if they cause a more aggressive and again violent person just by playing. In the world there are over 1.2 billion people that play video games, which is about 44% of the online population (comScore data cited by Spil Games). With majority of games including some form of violence, ranging from being very gentle lego fights to full on gore and guts in 18+

The copycat phenomenon is something that has been a major issue for quite some time. Dictionary.com defines copycat as, “a person or thing that copies, imitates, mimics, or follows the lead of another, as a child who says or does exactly the same as another child.” As it pertains to the phenomenon, anytime a certain crime is committed, the more that it is advertised, the more likely it will continue to happen and at a higher rate than before. In this paper, we will talk about the different events that have happened and that have been said to have been a product of the copycat phenomenon. Different types of the copycat phenomenon include: celebrity suicides, terrorism, and all sorts of crimes.

When the movie 'Friend' became a big hit in Korea in the year 2001, there were concerns about that the violent scenes in the movie could cause teens' copycat crimes - and the concerns became reality. October that year 'Kim', a high school first grader, stabbed a friend to death in front of other friends. Police said that 'Kim' decided to commit murder after watching the film 'Friend' over 40 times (Kim). Crimes that imitate fictional and real-life crimes that are publicized are often committed these days. This type of crimes are called ‘copycat crimes.’ Some credit the year 1912 with the birth of this type of killers. Intense media coverage of the Jack the Ripper murders spawned a multitude of similar crimes, and the term ‘copycat crime’ came into being (Clark). As TV shows, movies and news coverage are getting more and more intense and sometimes glamorizing violence and crimes, copycat crimes are becoming a common news. Media should be regulated moderately to prevent encouraging copycat crimes.