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Violence in Videogames and You
Written: 05/07/06
For more than a decade, video games, and the violence depicted in
many of them, have been a scapegoat for many of society’s ills.
Since then, many studies have been conducted, and as of yet, none of
them have been able to show any direct correlation between the
consumption of any violent media, including video games, and a
subject’s resultant behavior thereafter. In fact, several studies
over the years have shown that, contrary to popular opinion, gaming
as a hobby can be highly beneficial in many ways.
Almost since the inception of the industry, video games have been
under scrutiny for the violence depicted in them. As far back as
1976, a game called Death Race, released by Exidy as an arcade game,
fell under fire. News reports from CBS’ 60 Minutes and NBC’s
“Weekend” news show led the charge at decrying the images depicted
in the game. While the object was to use a vehicle to run down
fleeing “gremlins”, many felt that the stick-figured objects
resembled men, and so the controversy began.
Sixteen years later, Midway would release an arcade fighting game
by the name of Mortal Kombat. Popular for it’s extreme amount of
violence, blood and gore, the game was called out by then Senator
Joe Lieberman in a senate investigation into violence in video
games. Also under scrutiny by Lieberman was Night Trap, a Sega CD
game by Digital Pictures utilizing live-action scenes in full-motion
video displaying implied sexual themes and violence. These two games
led to the creation of the ESRB, or the Entertainment Software
Ratings Board, a self-regulating entity that places ratings and
advertising guidelines on video games, much like the MPAA does for
the movie industry.
Once again, game violence became a hot topic when Columbine
killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were reported to have
extensively played first-person shooters such as Doom and Quake for
several years. Just this year, medical malpractice attorney Jack
Thompson, has been leading the charge against video games, decrying
games such as Grand Theft Auto, for their excessive sexual themes
and violence. Yet over these past three decades, have any studies
shown a correlation between playing these games and becoming more
prone to violence?
Before we delve directly into such studies, it’s helpful to think
of the broader spectrum of behavioral science. For years, scientists
have debated the merits of whether we as people are shaped more by
our genetics or by the influences in our environment. Ultimately, it
seems that the truth lies in the middle. While genetics and factors
such as mental disposition predispose us to act and react in certain
manners, our environment definitely acts as a catalyst to said
natures, and more than likely helps to influence one’s development.
The balance between both depends highly on the situation. The chief
factors are the perceived severity of the environmental influence
and the current emotional, mental, and physical state of the person
affected.
With that said, the question then lies with the severity of the
environment imposed by violence in media. As comparative case
studies, Canada has the same amount of violence in their media, as
well as more guns per capita than the United States, yet
proportionally only have a fraction of the killings. A similar case
study can be found in Japan, a country where fictional violence is
arguably far more widespread than in the U. S., but the country’s
murder rate is about 800 per year in a population of 130 million. In
comparison, New York City alone had close to six hundred murders in
a population of eight million in 2003.
Over the years several studies have been done on the effects
violence in media has on behavior. The common thread to all these
studies is that while there is a link between violent behaviors and
reactions when subject to extremely violent media, the relationship
is a casual one. That is, there is no evidence that there is a
direct link between violent images and violent behavior in all
media, including video games.
In fact, many studies show that when it comes to video games,
there also seems to be a casual link to a decrease in violent moods
and behaviors after playing a violent video game. This shows that
for many, video games may serve as a cathartic release for
aggression they cannot release under normal circumstances.
Following many of the killings that have been widely associated
with video game violence, such as the infamous Columbine school
shootings, several cases have been brought to court against
companies such as Nintendo, Sony, and Take Two, for publishing and
developing these games. Yet, in every case, judgement has been
passed in favor of the defending companies without invoking first
amendment rights. These judgements have supported the idea that
whether or not there is some effect on behavior when exposed to
violent games, ultimately the responsibility of those behaviors lies
with the individual. Bearing all this information in mind, the
question becomes: if all these studies are inconclusive, what has
been found concerning the effects of games on individuals?
Thanks to continuing study in this field, there has been some
evidence that there are benefits to playing video games. One such
study by Professor Talmadge Wright at Loyola University, showed that
there was evidence that the high level of social interaction led to
an increase in group skills. In his report he states that, “games
such as Counter-Strike that rely on trust and co-operation give rise
to strong communities and good friendships.” Once again, he
reinforces the idea of cathartic release by stating that, “it offers
you a way to play with things you may be scared of in a safe way
where there are very few consequences." One British study showed
that those who had played games for at least five years were on
average, “highly intelligent, motivated, and achieving people”. A
follow-up study revealed that those same people found success in
scholastics and worked at more demanding jobs than the average.
Ultimately, the effects of violence in all media, particularly in
video games, seems to have been sensationalized by the news media.
While regulation and the implementation and enforcement of ratings
for games is a welcome development in protecting and informing the
general public, the idea that the inclusion of violence will lead to
an increase in violent crimes and violent behavior is not supported
by the evidence currently available. In fact, that evidence
currently supports the notion that video games largely benefit
individuals in society. As video games grow and mature as a media,
one can hope that acceptance for it will come much the same way it
did with music, theatre, and film in the past: with time.
Andres Rojas, Staff Writer
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