It is said that this concept is mainly observed in minors however some people believe that even the developed brains of addicted adult players can become so immersed in these violent games that they, too, fall victim to the impacts. In my opinion, violence in video games may and can have an effect on their respective players; however the effects are not exactly how they are being portrayed.

Supporting Opinions and Facts:

The video game industry is approximately 50 years old, with the first game being release in 1958 which was a tennis game. However it was not until the late 20^th century that video games began to contain violence. It was because of the ever growing impact of the media that games containing violence were released upon the market. Some argue that the multi-million dollar industry of video gaming is not supposed to be about violence or other inappropriate scenes, instead they state it is about entertaining. The pathological acts of video games of course have very complex and unpredictable reactions. Many people argue that they play video games all the time and have never once committed a crime but others stand by the fact that exposure to violent video games does return in more aggressed behaviour, attitude changes and in general more violence in their everyday behaviour.

There have already been numerous studies showing that violent videos games do correlate to violence in real life. There have been many studies showing that if a student is exposed to the violence of modern day video games then they are more potent to take part in physical or verbal fights at school or at home whether it is with a fellow student, teacher or even one of their parents. Another main study that has been undertaken was to see the long term effect of being subject to violent video games. In a particular study 430 students from grades 3, 4 and 5 all underwent this study. Psychologists stated that the students in general became more aggressive and their attitudes changed over the school year and they also became less helpful to others. A third major research method has also taken place in which a subject would get randomly fed a violent or nonviolent video game and their behavioural actions and patterns would be compared to each other. From this study it was concluded that the people playing the violent video games showed more aggression every time they lost or something went wrong compared to those who played the nonviolent video games.

Refuting Opinions and Facts:

Although there are many opinions supporting the fact that violence in video games is condoning and influencing people to commit more violence in their everyday life, there is also a large quantity of research programs that have occurred to prove this fact incorrect.

Research has shown that well designed games and addicting games are caused by the increase of dopamine in the body. Dopamine acts as a neurotransmitter and it primarily increases the heart rate and blood pressure of a person. Whilst playing video games the body generates more and more dopamine which gets the body going on a “high” and makes the players addicted the games. However, it has also been proven that whilst games do make the body produce more of this addicting drug, the occurrence of it is only obtained from playing the game. Once the player seizes to play the game then the dopamine levels gradually drop and body returns to its “normal sate”. Therefore once a player is not playing a game anymore they feel more calm and collected then when they do which leads onto the conclusion of that the use of this technique of harnessing the body’s natural substances in a marketing pitch is not illegal nor harmful to the player physically or mentally in short term or long term.

Another recent study has shown that the playing of violent games occasionally acts as an “exhaust” for minors, and in particular, boys. The study explains to us that the use of playing violent video games is more likely to help teenage boys and they are less likely to get into trouble at school. The two Harvard university graduates who founded this research claim that the only reason everyone is against violence in video games is because they fear the players will turn into some sort of criminal. They then went on to explain that there was no evidence proving that theory and instead they showed that there were a lot of positive points about playing violent video games.

The study was taken upon 1250 students and 500 parents over a 2 year period and it detailed that there was no direct relation to violent video games to violent behaviour; instead they actually stated that adult-related games and content is more likely to have a negative impact on the behaviour of its viewers. However, the founders of this research stated that it was unclear whether or not adult-related video games influence the behaviour of its players to act more violent or whether it was just that violent players are simply attracted to adult-related games.

Recently, a psychologist studied the behaviour of the players of violent video game players, and he stated that just because they play violent video games does not make them violent. In the study it was shown that there are more factors to take into consideration. Violence in the media is everywhere today and it is hard to escape it. “When you switch on the TV and you see a sport on that has violent actions is that any less of an effect than violent video games?”, Dr Kutner stated. “So why should video games take the penalties?” He also went on to elaborate on the idea that more violent kids are already attracted to video games than those who are not.

Overcoming and Conclusion:

The overall conclusion about this certain topic is hard to distinguish at this time. Most latitudinarians have always thought that violent video games and video games containing other related content should not be sold. However using pure scientific research and surveying, many people have found opposing and supporting arguments. Those who support this argument mostly think that the only way in which we can completely eradicate this problem is to remove all violent video games off the shelves and put no further such material in any future games. People who believe that violent video games do not have much of an impact simply state that the longer and more intense a child or player has been subject to the game, then the more they will be affected by the game and they should be restricted. Furthermore violent natured people should have even harsher and more restrictions in place. So far this subject has been rather subfusc but the latest release of GTA (Grand Theft Auto) amongst other things has really begun to start a fire in the community about whether or not such acts should be legal and if these types of games should be sold to minors. So far though the efforts of those who disagree have been strongly disregarded and not much action has been taken upon the ‘culprits’ of this catastrophe. However it has been said many times that they will not stop this argument until fetters are placed upon these types of games or stronger restrictions are in place. The big head corporate of these games have nothing to say and so far have taken no notice or umbrage to the many rumours, arguments and lies that have been spread about them and their games.

Sources

· “Video Games Controversy”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game_controversy

· “Violent Video Games OK for Boys”.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23670369-29277,00.html

· “Violent Video Games Can Increase Aggression”.

http://www.apa.org/releases/videogames.html

· “Violent Video Games Don’t Create Killers”.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/05/09/2239780.htm

“Violent Video Games – The worst of the worst”

http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/107909,violent-video-games–the-worst-of-the-worst.aspx

· “Why Video Games are Good for Your Soul” – James Paul Gee, Published 2005

· “The effects of Video Games on Children” – Barrie Gunter, Published 1998.

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