Violent Video Games

Since video games have been introduced, video games have been accused of contributing too many atrocities, and acts of violence. News outlets paint video games as being a source of which some acts of violence happen. Yes, violent video games have become more popular, meanwhile becoming controversial, but still there exist no links between aggression and video games. The University of Bologna says that “owning videogames does not in fact seem to have negative effects on aggressive human behavior” (Koffler par.7). Meanwhile, news outlets keep on missing the point on how beneficial video games are. Video games do not contribute to violence, can be educational, and they can improve us in different ways.

This article is a very useful source. Is useful because it answers the question, “Do violent video games cause an increase in aggression.” The question is answered thoroughly by the author because they cited recent studies, examples, and peer reviewed or scholarly sources that all concluded that violent video games cause an increase in aggression. The author is objective because they countered their argument by stating that

Over the past few centuries,video games have become a great leisure and hobby among kids of all ages and cultures. With the advancement of technology, video games have advanced highly in its realism and genres. This high type of advancement brought the video game industry to a multi-billion dollar industry. However, with realism, comes negative effects as well. Ever since the creation of violent or “mature” video games, there has been a constant debate on whether it will increase violence in the player. Although, not all video games are violent, and just increase skills in a player such as hand-eye coordination. Nevertheless, there is research going on for the link between violent video games and youth violence. The question is which event happens first in the sequence, do violent video games aggravate a person’s violent behavior, or does a person get rid of their anger through playing violent video games? Either way, violent video games are not beneficial to our society.

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.

Video game opposition also includes the theory that violent video games have a more negative impact on relationships that players of such games form with others. Exposure to violence in media--particularly video games--is also believed to be related to “decreases in pro-social behavior, empathy, and sensitivity to aggression” (Albanese). It is believed that violent video games can lead to behavior issues and detachment from others, leading to possible aggression. This can be viewed as the truth, but it has its shortcomings. This argument solely focuses on the negative and has no method of measurement as to how the behavior is negatively impacted. There is no authentic support that video games lead to negative relationships with

While there are many people who believe that violent video games promotes violent behaviors, the issue is much more complicated than that. In the scholarly article, “Denying Humanness to Others: A Newly Discovered Mechanism by

A significantly large portion of the video games created within the past 5 to 10 years contain some form of violence. On top of that, some of the most popular video games out in the market today are extremely violent and warrant an “M” rating for mature. Video game developers are well aware of this trend and continue to produce more graphic, interactive, and realistic content. Therefore, there is a concern that the vast amount of violence in video games is changing how youth develop and what they perceive as normal. Many researchers believe that there is a link between video games and increased aggression in the people who play them.

Still think violent video games are harmless and fun? Consider putting down the remote control and listen up. December 14th, 2012. At Sandy Hook Elementary School a day of learning was interrupted by the sounds of gun shots. That day 20 year- old Adam Lanza shot over 20 children between the ages 6-7. Such a horrific event that had a cause of what seems an everyday occurrence to teens and kids. Violence simulated video-games. These games can cause a negative mindset that violence is okay. Look at the Sandy Hook Shooting, the murderer was proclaimed to play too many video games. That is just one example of how these video games can create that ambiguous mindset that violence is just a game. Let alone it also shows how the influence of constant

Researchers state that, “the most frequently cited mechanism by which the games can result in aggressive behavior is the social learning theory” (Sherry 413). The researchers go on to argue that since game players are rewarded for performing violent acts in the video games adolescents may transfer this to the outside world. Another mechanism researchers cite for the effects of violent video games is the general arousal method. This method says that the highly violent games provide the arousal that is necessary to become more aggressive (Sherry 413). These arguments are valid and open up the controversy on video game violence, which has been going on for years.

Throughout the history of video games, one of the most important parts of having a video game is the controller. For years ever since video game consoles have been invented it has had a controller to operate all of its features.Without the controller you would not be able to operate the video game console because the controller is like a beacon to the console,it does whatever the controller operates it to do. The controller structure is a very unique design and model. It is built into a way that it can be held and it fits the grooves of your hands so that you can manage to operate all the buttons on the controller to perform the actions that transfer to the game system which shows up on the television. Although due to failures in the video game, the controller becomes the most frustrating aspect of the game.

Video Games have come a long way since their first introduction into the main stream. With video games becoming more sophisticated and using advanced technology, it seems as if video games are closing in on the gap between games and reality. However, as video games become ever so life-like it brings up the question of if the violence associated with video games is having a negative consequence. There have been many accusations over the years over the harm video games are causing children and teenagers. Experiments have been conducted trying to associate a link between video games and aggressive behavior. Even the media has been known to point fingers at video games for the cause of children

Many outsiders look at video games and judge them for violence and injustice but, as said by the article Is video gaming bad for you? The science for and against, “Last year, psychologists claimed that video game players who favor violent 'shoot-em-up' games are more likely to be aggressive and ferocious when offline” even though this was claimed there has been no real pattern to link aggressiveness and video games.

Since several video games contain some sort of violent content, it has been hypothesized that gamers nowadays tend to be more aggressive. Gentile also states that “playing violent games increases aggressive behaviors, increases aggressive cognitions, [and] increases aggressive emotions.” This is an intense list of negative consequences, but what makes violent games instill such hostility? Many video games today include multiplayer in addition to classical single player modes. With real life opponents, gamers are much more competitive and inclined to demonstrate dominance over friends and real life opponents. Whereas facing a computer can be competitive, there may be a stronger feeling of satisfaction after defeating a nonvirtual enemy which could translate into real life aggression towards real people. Though correlation does not mean causation, the fear that violent video games may increase problematic antagonism is clearly not misplaced.

Are violent games danger to the consumer/player? The violent video game is causing the consumer/player to mental problems by doing bad things and think that is alright. Violent video games are harmful because it allows the consumer/player to actively do crime without being punished. We should increase the age of the consumer/player so they won’t be able to purchase these violent games and some of the consumer/player isn’t mentally stable and if they get shooting fighting games would mess with their mental state even more.

“Recent contents analyses of video games show that many as 89% of games contain some violent contents” (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, Walsh 3). More than half of video games being sold around the world contain some form of violence. All of the violence involved in the video games being played by children is a pattern leading to aggression. Aggression can be caused by many things; however, violent video games are the main cause of aggression in young adults. “If a child began playing violent video games at a young age, then he might think that violence in real life is the same as the game violence and that it doesn’t have a real impact on others” (Gilad, Alto 1). Thinking that violence in the virtual world is the same as in the real world is the first step to showing aggression. Aggression in children caused by video games is the biggest effect parents and researchers worry about. Violent video games teach children that shooting and killing people are