Drew Perry
ENC1101
1 December 2014
Are Gamers Really a Threat? Within the last fifteen years, the video game industry has grown exponentially and is now arguably one of the most robust industries in the entertainment world. Video game sales have more than quadrupled in this time as well, which accounts for this multibillion dollar industry. Inside this enormous industry, hundreds of genres span the base of the industry but a few genres make up the core. Within this core are game categories, such as FPS (First Person Shooters), which have some aspect of violence to it. The popularity of these violent video games has risen greatly within the last 5 years. In 2008, from the age group 12-17 in the United States, 97% of them played video games, and 10 of the top 20 best-selling video games in the United States contained violence (ProCon.com). These violent video games are attributed to the cause of increase in school shootings as well as increases in domestic and youth violence. Critics of these violent video games argue that the because the violence is encouraged to do well in the game through reward, that the player becomes desensitized towards the violence and will teach children that violence is an acceptable way to resolve conflicts (ProCon.com). Video game advocates claim that the research is deeply flawed because there has been no link between video game violence and that of social violence. Many argue that the game actually relieves anger and aggression in a safe outlet (ProCon.com), as well as it keeps kids occupied and off the streets and out of danger.
With all the new consoles and mobile platforms, as well as the price being in a stable and affordable state, it is now very easy for a younger child or teen to get involved playing these violent video games, some being rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) as intended for Mature (+17) audiences only. The younger a child begins seeing and controlling these violent simulated actions, the child will more likely believe that the violence is socially acceptable and will mimic the actions because the young child hasn’t completely developed the moral conscience to know the right from wrong. If this behavior continues for a while without it being corrected, youth violence will become a concern for the individual. One of the largest events that sets fire under this controversy each time, is a mass shooting, particularly if the shooter is a teenager that targets a school. One of the first infamous school shootings occurred in 1999 at Columbine High School. The two perpetrators, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were avid players of the violent video games Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. In fact, “A 2000 FBI report includes playing violent video games in a list of behaviors associated with school shootings” (ProCon.com). Following the incident, “176 newspaper articles across the country focused on the allegation that video games were the cause of the tragedy” (ProCon.com). Alleged reports came out the one of the perpetrators had roughly built the Columbine High School in Doom and the two formulated their plan and practiced beforehand. In other cases of mass killings, people have linked the violent video games as a “Training Simulator” for their violent acts before actually committing them (Jaccarino). “Violent video games can train youth to be killers. The US Marine Corps licensed Doom II in 1996 to create Marine Doom in order to train soldiers. In 2002, the US Army released first-person shooter America's Army to recruit soldiers and prepare recruits for the battlefield (ProCon.com). One example of a possible “Training Simulator” is the “No Russian” mission from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In this mission, the character you are controlling is in an undercover role with a squad of 4 Russian terrorists. The entire mission is the character controlled by the player and the terrorist group shooting at all the civilians in a crowded airport terminal. Once outside the terminal, your objective is to kill all the police reinforcements to get to a vehicle and escape. Throughout the mission you kill and witness hundreds of civilians killed and then the same of policemen, all within a span of about 10 short minutes. This is a real world fear and a very possible action that was put into the game and many people played that mission, most of age but also some younger children. The publisher, Activision, and developer, Infinity Ward, of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, caught a lot of controversy over this mission because “in some cases, murderers appear to have been reenacting specific video game episodes when they killed in real life” (Jaccarino). This was a real danger to the younger more impressionable children because they are more likely to be confused by real world violence and fantasy violence (ProCon.com). Evan Ramsey, a school shooting perpetrator, admitted that playing violent video games warped his sense of reality (Jaccarino). Another infamous shooting that happened in 2012 is the Sandy Hook Elementary S a classic bchool shooting committed by Adam Lanza. Lanza killed 20 children and six teachers. Reportedly Lanza had a rather extensive and expensive collection of violent video games. Lanza would spend hours at home each day playing these violent games, perfecting his shooting skills, all playing with the windows blacked out (Jaslow). This displays the extreme effects on a person that plays violent video games, and with the gaming industry on the climb, and more games becoming more violent and graphic, the chances of people losing grasp of fantasy violence and real world violence could easily increase. That could mean more school shooting or acts of terror all because of some violent video game.
Many advocates of video games believe that video game violence has been selected by the Media as a scapegoat. “Within hours of the Virginia Tech shooting on Apr. 16, 2007, attorney and anti-game activist Jack Thompson appeared on Fox News to blame the tragedy on the violent game Counter-Strike… however, it was later revealed by the Virginia Tech Review Panel that the shooter did not play video games” (ProCon.com). If video games filled with violence did indeed cause youth violence, why has “the arrest rate for juvenile murders fallen 71.9% between 1995 and 2008? [And what about] the arrest rate for all juvenile violent crimes [that] has declined 49.3%? In this same period, video game sales have more than quadrupled” (ProCon.com). Christopher Ferguson says that one issue in not finding a link between video games and violence is because many past research studies done on the relationship of the two, is simply that “aggression” is defined very broadly in many studies. Fournis and Abou could not find “a clear relationship between an individual’s exposure to violent representations and criminal acts.” Tassi found a new study out of Oxford that proved that violence in video games had no correlation in aggression. The study had two forms of a game: one game had no violence and no instructions on how to play; the other game had violence but did have an instructional tutorial on how to play the game. The group that played the version with zero violence but no instructions displayed more frustration and aggression. This is because it is human nature to try to master the game and the more difficult to master, the more aggression was displayed; the violence or lack thereof had little effect on the game.
One question that should be raised is: why are video games the one to blame? Violence is all around our society, and honestly society can’t get enough of it. Violence is in books, movies, television series, and very prevalent in the media. Television series, such as the Walking Dead, Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy, have much more violence than most video games. ProCon.com found that “a 2004 US Secret Service review of previous school-based attacks found that one-eighth of attackers exhibited an interest in violent video games, less than the rate of interest attackers showed in violent movies, books, and violence in their own writings.” Video games are a way to keep kids of the streets and out of trouble. Adolescent boys use video games as a substitute for rough play and a 2007 report showed that 62% of the boys played to relax and 45% played to get anger and frustration out (ProCon.com). Through the internet, playing video games has become a social experience of its’ own. Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network have become a way gamers can talk to friends that have moved away and even make new friends in different areas. Most video game players are mature enough to understand that it is just a game and don’t confuse the realities. Video games are a healthy and safe alternative, compared to a kid that could get involved with the wrong crowd or involved in drugs or gangs.
The other side says that these games are very impressionable on children but ESRB put out statistics on the average gamer. One of the most important stats in this graphic is: “The average age of a gamer is 34 years old”. This alone shows that video gamers are higher of age and aren’t as impressionable as young children and can differentiate between fantasy and reality. Another important stat has to deal with the economy: Video games made $10.5 Billion in revenue in 2009. Last year for the release of Grand Theft Auto V, the game brought in more than $1 billion in the first three days of sale (Nunneley). GTAV sold millions of copies that first day, and a year has went by and not but one or two reports show people trying to play GTA in real life. If video game violence did effect and cause social violence, more reports would have happened, especially with that game being the biggest launch for a video game in history.
The debate between violence in video games has be alive and well within this last decade. Many believe that the violence is too much for a younger child to handle and that they could confuse fantasy and reality, or see violence as a viable way to handle their issues. They also believe that the games with cause youth violence to rise, but contrary to their belief, youth violence has declined substantially while the sale of video games has boosted to an all-time high. Psychologists have yet to put out any research that has found a link between video game violence and violence in real life. It seems that the only aggression in video games is the inner struggle with human nature to master the game. Works Cited
Ferguson, Christopher J. "Is Video Game Violence Bad?" Psychologist 27.5 (2014): 324- 327. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Fournis, Gaël, and Nidal Nabhan Abou. "Violence, Crime, And Violent Video Games: Is There A Correlation?" Psychiatric Times (2014): 1-4. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Jaccarino, Mike. “'Training Simulation:' Mass Killers Often Share Obsession With Violent Video Games.” Fox News. 12 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Jaslow, Ryan. “Violent Video Games and Mass Violence: A Complex Link.” CBS News. 18 Feb. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2014. < http://www.cbsnews.com/news/violent-video-games- and-mass-violence-a-complex-link/>
Nunneley, Stephany. "Grand Theft Auto 5 Reaches Worldwide Retail Sales of More than $1 Billion in Three Days.” VG24/7. 20 Sept. 2013. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
Tassi, Paul. “At Long Last, Video Game Aggression Linked To Losing, Not Violence.” Forbes. 8 Apr. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
“Video Game Industry Statistics.” Entertainment Software Rating Board. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.
“Violent Video Games Pros and Cons.” ProCon. 6 Oct. 2014. Web. 1 Dec. 2014.