The Effects of Violent Video Games
Video Games have been a hot button issue since their conception. There are many video games in today’s store that contain overwhelming amounts of violence. These games have been reviewed by the Entertainment Software Rating Board and have been deemed not suitable for children. The violence in the games that have been deemed not suitable for children will have negative effects on children and young teenagers. Parents and guardians should not let children be exposed to this type of material at all because the consequences could be terrible.
In some video games, extreme violence is the sole purpose. When thinking about excessively violent games, the Grand Theft Auto series comes to mind. There are a total of seven games in the Grand Theft Auto series. According to vgchartz.com, three of the Grand Theft Auto games are in the top 5 American selling games of all time. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City occupies the top spot with 8,116,750 copies sold, followed by the more recent Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas which has sold 7,785,750 copies. Coming in fourth on the all time American selling list is the game in which both Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas were modeled after, Grand Theft Auto 3 which has sold a total of 6,499,000 copies (VG Chartz).
The Grand Theft Auto series is known for having copious amounts of extreme violence. Furthermore, it even rewards violence according to extremity. In Grand Theft Auto 3 a player will receive virtual money for every violent act committed within the games environment, such as, stealing a vehicle. The player can then add to the virtual money gained from stealing the vehicle, by crashing the stolen vehicle into other vehicles. Then, to further increase the virtual money gained, the player can run over and murder pedestrians with the vehicle. This is not the only case of extreme violence being rewarded within the game, nor is it the most extreme. With the virtual money gained from stealing, crashing, and murdering with the vehicle the player can shop at one of the many in game ammunition stores. There a player can buy any range of guns, including a sniper rifle. If the player chooses to purchase a sniper riffle with the virtual money earned, then even larger amounts of virtual money can be collected by climbing to the top of a high building and shooting pedestrians. Not only will the player get points for killing a pedestrian, if a shot is delivered to the head of the target, a fountain of blood with squirt high into the air (Grand Theft Auto 3). This is the kind of violence in today’s video games. Games, such as those in the Grand Theft Auto series, have been thoroughly by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
The Entertainment Software Rating Board, or ESRB, is the company in charge of rating video games and issuing them ratings according to the video game’s content. Before releasing a game all video game publishers are required to fill out the proper forms and submit the games content to the ESRB for review. The ESRB then contacts the publisher and informs them of the video games current rating. At this time, the publisher has the opportunity to edit the video game and resubmit for review again or accept the initial rating. Once this step is completed the publisher will then complete the production of the video game. When the final version of the video game is complete, it is once again sent back to the ESRB. The video game is once again checked over to make sure that the rating issued still applies by having game raters play through the video game and check its content. At this time the video game is released for sale with one of the following ratings: Early Childhood, Everyone, Everyone 10 and up, Teen 13 and up, Mature 17 and up, and then there is the Adults Only rating. Only 23 video games have ever been released containing the Adults Only rating, most of which are not carried by any store and can only be purchased online (Entertainment).
The rating system clearly indicates in plane view what each video game contains. This system has been put in place so that parents can decide what games are suitable for their children. So, with that said, it is a matter of parenting when it comes to video games. Parents need to be able to judge what games are suitable for their children. However, because some children and young teenagers are still able to attain these adult oriented video games, it is very important to research and discover what effects these types of games may have on them, if any.
Video games do not have any lasting effects on healthy adults. Aggression may be temporarily raised, but adults understand that what is going on in the virtual world supplied by the video game is false and can deal with the aggression appropriately (Muscari). The fact that adults realize the difference between what is fiction and what is nonfiction gives them the responsibility to teach this to the next generation. It is important that children and young teens are not subjected to adult oriented video games when they are still incapable of completely understanding the difference between fiction and nonfiction. Dr. Mary E. Muscari, professor and Director of Forensic Health/Nursing at the University of Scranton, in Scranton, Pennsylvania, says the following:
Children under 6 cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy, between news or documentary programs and fantasy programs. As you recall, your preschooler lives in fantasy land, so TV is real to her. She can't tell what's pretend and what's not. Plus her ability to understand that one thing can stand for another won't be developed until age 7. She believes that the fictional characters act and feel as portrayed, and that they somehow live in their television or other fantasy world in between shows. Even school-age children have difficulty understanding that actors only pretend to be characters and that writers create programs for them (Muscari).
This shows that children need to have their access to video games monitored because they can be very easily influenced by the subject matter. It is vital that all parents and caregivers understand this. Telling a child that violence and mistreating others is wrong and then letting them play a video game that awards violence is a very effective way to thoroughly confuse them.
According to the American Psychological Association's (APA) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, playing violent video games can increase aggressive thoughts, feelings, and actions within the player. This is true in both laboratory tests, and real life settings. So, why is it that researchers tend to focus more on violent video games as apposed to violence in television programs or movies? Well, according the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, video games may be more harmful because the video games involve the player much more than a television show or movie does with the viewer. The player of a violent video game is forced to identify with the aggressor and interact in violent ways with the video game’s virtual environment. The authors of the study are quoted as saying, “This medium is potentially more dangerous than exposure to violent television and movies, which are known to have substantial effects on aggression and violence” (Anderson and Dill).
It may scare some that video games are now being used as a recruiting tool for the Army. The Army recently released a first person shooter game known as America’s Army: Special Forces. The game pits two teams of players against each other to battle in realistic worlds, also known in the game as maps. The equipment and physics in the game are made to be as realistic as possible. Players use virtual versions of real weapons to kill each other in battle. The Army logo is portrayed all over the menus in the video game, and also its official website. Both the game and the website have links directing the players to the Army’s official recruiting website as well. According to the America’s Army official website the game has 8,212,945 registered players (America’s Army).
According to Mary E. Muscari video games may have some positive effects, such as increased hand-eye coordination and creativity (Muscari). However, this does not outweigh the fact that video games have been shown to increase aggressive thoughts, feelings, and actions within the player (Anderson and Dill). So parents should absolutely not let their children play violent video games. They should pay close attention to the rating system. That is what it is there for. Also, they should review the video games content themselves before letting their children play them. This does not mean that all video games are bad for children though. There are games made to entertain children. Some are even made to be educational. These are the types of games that parents should introduce to their children, not games filled with violence.
Washed up sitcom star
Ree's staying home this weekend, lame. Micky D said if i dont go out his goin to kill me
Originally Posted by The Joker
We have bowling and Steak & Shake. Bring beer. I like beer.
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