Entertainment Software Rating Board

first video game to feature life-like violence. Unlike Death Race, Mortal Kombat stayed in stores despite its controversial content because of the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The ESRB is a self regulated organization that assigns age ratings to video games based on its content. Because of the age ratings that

Fast-paced, Violent Games are good for Cognitive Skills At its root, cognitive development is defined as “the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem-solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood” (Rodriguez). Widespread in today’s society is the belief that fast-paced, violent video games may lead to behavioral issues amongst kids who play them. Debates about the effects these games have on kids continues to divide parents, politicians, and

In 2007, Shigeru Miyamoto stated in an interview that “Up until now, the biggest question in society about video games has been what to do about violent games. But it 's almost like society in general considers video games to be something of a nuisance, that they want to toss into the garbage can”. Many critics believe that first person shooters (FPS) video games have an adverse affect on a child’s mental growth and capabilities. However, the same critics have failed to recognize the beneficial uses

taken by storm, as this new type of entertainment caught the attention and imagination of the populace; but as this attention grew, concern and scrutiny weren’t far behind. Controversy finally got its chance in the 1990s, when games finally upgraded to 16-bit, giving them the ability to depict realistic blood and gore in games like Moral Kombat; which was criticized for excessive violence, a reason Congress used to create the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) (Porter & Starcevic 2007). At

how they rate games by not allowing anyone under a certain age to purchase the desired video game. In America, we use the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) and this dictates what some children can and cannot play. The restrictions range from early childhood all the way to adult only; however, a lot of children get possession of such games that are out of their rating is usually because of a parent, sibling or a third-party source such as a garage sale. Video games are becoming increasingly

The dramatic escalation of violence committed by and against people is shocking (Eron et al., 1994). Although according to Federal Bureau of Investigation, the murder rate in the year 2009 dropped almost 7.2 percent in comparison of the murder rate of 2008. Similarly crime rate of crimes like rape and assault had been decreased up to 4.2 percent each and crime rates of robbery and burglary fell by 1.7 percent and 4.2 percent respectively (Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2009) but still the violence

In 2005, Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law into effect for the state of California that would prohibit anyone under the age of 18 from playing Mature (M) rated violent video games. If there were any violators of this law, a hefty fine of $1,000 would have been issued. However on July 23rd, 2011, the Supreme Court did not have enough evidence and revoked this law claiming that it is unconstitutional and violates the 1st amendment (Mears). Even though video game makers scored a huge victory, the problem

are widely played for entertainment and amusement; in addition, they can act as aid in relieving stress. Due to advancing technology, video games have evolved and grown into a large empire impacting those within this realm. Thus many ethical issues are brought to our attention due to this development. As a result, we should recognize how new video games are ethically affecting people who play them. Basically, Gaming Ethics consist of following ethical issues: Violence Rating Education Stereotyping

Video games have always been a popular source of entertainment for people of all ages that are available on many electronic devices and offer various genres. Video games were first introduced in the 1970s with simple graphic that contains only black and white images together with minimal sounds. Later on, video games have developed and come at age which are violent video games, and researchers started to find out whether there were any connection between violent video games and real-life antisocial

With all of the effects of violent video games leaning more towards the negatives, better regulation is required to keep out of adolescents’ hands. In order to keep violent video games from adolescents reach, a detailed and eye-catching label put across the game covers will be beneficial to the problem. By applying this to all video games that fit into the description of violent video games, parents will be more aware of the effect of video games on adolescents as well as be easier to read and be