Thursday, December 8, 2011
Opinion Piece
In recent years video games have been used as scapegoats for issues that include child and adolescent violence. Too many people are quick to point their fingers at the gaming and virtual reality industry whenever a young adult or child is involved in a violent crime. I believe that it is the individuals themselves and poor parenting that are the under lining cause for these occurrences . In order to stop this more emphasis should be put on identifying mental problems amongst teens and children.
Research that has been done on the psychological effects of playing violent video games has proven that they do cause increased aggression, but it only affects a small part of the individual’s emotions. In other words, it won’t turn you into a trained killing machine like many anti- gaming activists believe. As video game sales have continued to rise from 1995 to present day the number of adolescent crimes has dropped. This is surprising because video games have come a long from the simple blocky-looking textures to a sort of realism that isn’t too far from reality. Far more violence is depicted in today’s video games then the games of yesterday. It comes down to the ability of an individual to distinguish between virtual reality and the real world. It they don’t express this idea then there is a far deeper issue at play and appropriate measures must be carried out to identify the person’s problem. Parenting comes into play as well because who else knows the child better then the parents. They have the authority to decide what their children should and should not be playing. The ESRB rating system provides good information on the content that certain video games exhibit to help parents to decide what games are appropriate for their children.
I for one indulge in video game entertainment from time to time, and I would have to say that I have never had the slightest inclination to go out and commit some violent crime after playing a violent game. For the most part I think there are far more positives to this sort of entertainment. Such things as XBOX live and Playstation Network allow people the ability to play with other gamers across the globe and participate in social chats. I’ve met many new people through playing online as well as being able to play with some of my best friends. Virtual reality has also helped improve many industries such the Medical field and the Air force in training new generations for the sort of work they demand. Children with attention deficiencies have also benefited from video games because they are allowed the opportunity to stay fixed on a certain objective they must complete.
Instead of being quick to judge, people should pay far more attention to the mental state of an individual. Schools and Institutions should take it upon themselves to identify individuals with mental problems and act accordingly to solve the problems. Parents should be able to control what their children see when comes to virtual reality.
References
Anderson, Craig A. "Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered
Questions."American Psychological Association (APA). Web. 09 Sept. 2011
<http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx>.
Anderson, Craig Alan, Douglas A. Gentile, and Katherine E. Buckley. Violent Video Game
Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford UP
What's in a Game? Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment : Hearing
before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights of the
Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second
Session, March 29, 2006. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2006. Print
"22 Charts & Graphs on Video Games & Youth Violence - Video Games - ProCon.org."
Video Games ProCon.org. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. <http://videogames.procon.org
/view.resource.php?resourceID=003627>.
Genre Analysis
Video game and media violence has been a hot topic in recent years with many supporters on either side. Today’s form of video game entertainment has become far more immersive and graphically appealing then predecessors of the past decades. Many have come to question if today’s video games have gone far enough as to cause real life aggression, social independency, and violent acts upon humanity. An article done by Dr. Craig A. Anderson for the “America Psychological Association” concluded facts about many Myths that are associated with the Topic of video game violence. A YouTube video that highlights a news story from a local news station describes studies done by psychologists as well as getting opinions from people who engaged in video game media. Both these individual genres outline the violence of video games, but the YouTube video insists that the information given by the article is inconclusive and broad.
Audience and Opinions
The article has more meaning toward an audience that believes video games are a cause of violent acts such school shootings, murder, and domestic violence. This may include concerned parents, political representatives, and religious peoples who’s intentions are to create laws that’s inhibit strict regulations for companies that work on violent engaging titles. The evidence presented in this article proves facts about common myths of video game violence that is helping in fueling arguments among the intended audience. The article is quite intense in the information presented meaning that people will really have to study the facts in order to really understand what it being conveyed by these studies conducted by psychologists. The information is very detailed and conducted by professionals, which is one main reason why this sort of audience would really find this article appealing on the position they take. The purpose of this article is to inform the audience by providing factual evidence that video games do provoke aggression amongst young individuals.
The YouTube video has more meaning toward an audience that insists video games have little or no affects toward emotional aggression amongst today’s youth. Large gaming corporations, young adults, and media outlets may find this video as supporting evidence for their side of the story. This audience will probably have already extensive knowledge in the video game industry such as the creation of the products and personal use. The research done by the college professor clearly states that video games may cause increased aggression, but has little effect on the person’s overall emotional being. As a result of watching this video, the audience has picked up valuable information on their argument for video game violence. This video is clearly trying to inform the audience by introducing a real psychologist to confirm research findings.
The article and the YouTube video both state research findings on video games increasing violence, but the article is far more scientific in its approach. All though many anti-gaming organizations may see this article as clarification for banning violent games the information provided doesn’t express any sort of biasness. The video essentially takes what was said on the article and expresses through the words of a college professor.
Rhetorical Issues: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
The article was done by a psychologist working for the America Psychological Association, which emphasizes the credibility of the research information and statistics that was obtained from work done in the field. This article may spark an emotional response from the audience such as a sense of satisfaction and confidence that will allow them to continue in supporting anti-gaming ideals. The sort of evidence that is used to support the article’s information is experiments and surveys done by professionals that work in the study of human psychology. This is appropriate in that it uses scientific techniques and rules to acquire solid observational and statically data to prove that violent video games do cause increased aggression.
The YouTube video is the recording of a news topic done by a local news station that is probably tied into one of the larger news networks such as MSNBC and ABC which helps to establish its credibility. This video may provoke the audience with emotions of satisfaction and gratitude by being able to prove that video games are not underlining causes for people committing crimes to humanity. The evidence provided by the interview with the college professor that was involved in field studies insists violent video games only cause minimal increased aggression in the youth that play violent video games.
The article and YouTube both are backed by credible sources that support the ideas that are being conveyed. They both strike emotional stances among their audience who support either side of the argument. Evidence is presented within both genres that back-ups the information given by both psychologists.
Structure
The article was set up as a scientific research paper with data represented to break down myths with factual evidence. Multiple paragraphs make up the introduction of the paper along with a numbered list of Myths that each had information disproving them. The limitation to this article is its reading time because a lot of data is being presented, and may take multiple read-through’s to comprehend.
The YouTube video is set up as an interview with a college professor explaining research data about violent games causing aggression. The organization is organized well with visuals of video games and historical data that relates well with the audience. The time of the video is small, but has just enough info to cover an interview that really conveys the information.
The structures of these two genres are far different, but both are able organize their information in a fair manner. The time of which the audience must observe these genres is also very different with the video able to express itself in a fraction compared to the article.
Style/Language
The YouTube’s language is far more informal expressing the information as an everyday conversation that is easy to comprehend for the audience. The special vocabulary includes popular video game titles such as “DOOM” and “Mortal Kombat” that are both violent games that have been criticized by anti-gaming supporters. Visuals are included from “Grand Theft Auto” which shows violent acts such as shooting at civilians.
One genre is formal while the other is informal, but the video is far easier to understand for those trying to get quick information on the run. With the article you really have to do your homework and read through it carefully to comprehend the information.
Conclusion
Overall, the two genres are well done in presenting information about the theory that violent video games cause increased aggression in today’s youth. The article gives a far more detailed perspective on this issue with research backing it up. The YouTube is short, but to the point on what information has been obtained for ongoing research on this topic. There is no real verdict on which is better because audiences from both sides of this issue can use these genres effectively to protest their views on violent video games.
Reference Page
Anderson, Craig A. "Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered Questions."
American Psychological Association (APA). Web. 09 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx>.
"Violent Video Game Research - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 09
Sept. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnWO09q2nnw>.
Video Game Violence: A Review of the Literature
Abstract
Video games have become quite a popular way of entertainment for millions of people of any age group. But recent video game titles with high levels of violence have made it a hot topic amongst parents and politicians. Some see these violent games as a cause for today’s youth causing terrible crimes against society. Others see them as a freedom of speech which many companies pour hundreds of man hours into programming them. The military, medical field and the workforce find them beneficial in helping to train and teach new participants.
Video Game Violence: A Review of the Literature
The advent of video games began in1952 when a man by the name of A.S. Douglas created the first graphical computer game-a version of Tic-Tac-Toe. (Bellis) From then on video games have continued to advance through new hardware and software. Such examples include the Wii motion control console, online playing communities like XBOX Live, and voice recognition systems live Microsoft KINETIC. Graphics have come from simple 2D pixels to 3D images that really make the gamer feel as if he/she is exploring a real existent world. But, as graphics and game-play have improved so has the realism in violent images and actions.
Violent video games that allow a player to take life at will through disturbing practices have come to be a very heated debate lately. Many have pointed their fingers at video games for being the leading cause of school shootings and adolescents committing violent games. Some argue that even though violent video games may cause heighten aggression they don’t necessarily turn an adolescent into a violent criminal. In order to understand the full scope of this issue we must analyze and answer these four questions:
1) What is constitutes as video game violence?
2) What are the effects of video game violence?
3) What events have been influenced by video game violence?
4) What measures have been taken to regulate the sales of violent video games?
What constitutes as video game violence?
In recent years violent video games have become the number one selling genre amongst today’s gaming generation. Such titles such as “DOOM, Grand Theft Auto, and Mortal Combat” have been the some of the most popular and criticized games of the past decade. All violent video games originated from the 1976 release of “Death Race 2000” that created much controversy (Greenburg). Even though graphics at the time were crude it appealed a public that was playing “Ping Pong” and Pac man” at the time. It allowed the gamer to run over white or black stick figures that signified human beings. The show 60 minutes did an episode on the topic of psychological impacts cause by video games. All though this game was considered a tame subject matter, it would launch the genre of violence in video games into the future.
In 1992 “Mortal Kombat” was released to the public which would escalate the controversy of violent video games. Graphics at this time showed far more detailed images that didn’t look like the blocky figures of predecessors. Blood and gore was recognizable within the “Mortal Kombat” video game where players were tasked with fighting the computer or a cooperative player’s character to the death. Martial arts were utilized in violent ways where the characters were either beaten to a pulp or decapitated. This game title become very popular amongst the youth, but gained an opposite appeal amongst parents. The outcry sparked the creation of the Electronic Software Rating Board (ESRB), a rating system designed to regulate the age of children given access to certain games (Greenburg). A rating of “M” stood for mature that limited players to the age group of seventeen and above. The rating of AO (adults only) was reserved for games that introduced pornography into their titles which were usually removed from local retail shelves. Take-Two Interactive had this controversy with its “Grand Theft Auto Franchise” when it was subjected to be labeled as “AO” when it included a hidden mission that showed explicit sex. This game was also criticized by the Sex Workers Outreach Project because players could hire prostitutes and later kill them. In 2002 a game called “Ethnic Cleansing” was released on Martin Luther King Day which allowed players to murder minorities such as African-Americans, Latinos, and Jews expressing racial hate through virtual gaming. This rating system helped to regulate the selling of violent games to children, but it didn’t stop companies from continuing to release titles with violence.
The new century brought new possibilities for the gaming industry with new consoles such as” GameCube” from Nintendo, Play station 2 from SONY, and Microsoft’s XBOX. This allowed companies to experiment with new graphics in which they created far more innovated games. The company “Rockstar Games”, producers of the Grand Theft Auto series, released “Manhunt” in 2003 that followed a survival/gang warfare plot. Players could execute enemies through suffocation with a plastic bag, or beat in someone’s skull with a crowbar. The enemies were given realistic sounds of pain whenever they were being executed. The games levels would rank a player based how brutal their executions were as well as how quickly they progressed through the level.
Many adolescents are still gaining access to games that are not appropriate for their age. Parents are still in the dark about how to interpret the rating systems of the ESRB. Many retailers haven’t been warning parents of video games that contain mature content. This has led many to question the ERSB rating process especially when games contain content that falls into the “Adult only” labels. Many companies have learned to take out just enough content to make their games fall into the “MATURE” ratings and some have held back their games. The government has taken initiative to propose policies that would allow control of ESRB and stricter ratings on violent video games.
What are the effects of video game violence?
Research has been done by leading institutions and psychological associations on the effects of video game violence toward children and adolescents. The American Psychological Association (APA) has gathered quite a bit of information on this topic which has been used as arguments for both anti-gaming and pro-gaming associations. One such article, done by Dr. Craig A. Anderson, takes eleven myths of video game violence and provides facts to prove these myths wrong. Myth number three states that laboratory experiments are invalid and irrelevant it collecting solid data on aggression induced by violent video games. Arguments against laboratory experiments in behavioral sciences have been successfully debunked many times by numerous researchers over the years (Anderson). Examinations of such issues of aggression have been consistently found evidence of validity. Myth six states there are no studies linking violent video game play to serious aggression, but this as well has been proven false. High levels of video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school, and violent criminal behavior (Anderson). Myth seven is different in that the little or no evidence that has been gathered has proven if violent games affect only a small fraction of players. There is no evidence proving if young children are more negatively affected than adolescents, or males are more affected then females. There is some evidence that shows aggressive individuals are affected more than non-aggressive individuals, but this does not consistently occur. The other eight myths have also been proven false and credited with hard evidence that supports the fact that violent video games do cause increased aggression in children and adolescents.
Even though it’s proven that games do cause increased aggression in individuals, psychologists believe that many other factors as well as exposure to violent video games cause children and adolescents to commit violent acts on society. In many cases these individuals have suffered from depression, hostile family environments, and non sociable personalities. Video games have been considered a scapegoat for violent crimes caused by adolescents. One reason why is many adolescents use their heavy use of playing violent games as an excuse for their actions. It most cases though the accused have been shown to have mental health problems that may have had a larger factor that drove them to commit a crime.
Some researchers believe that video games do contain psychological benefits as well as benefits with the work force. So far evidence has shown that video games can help adults improve their fundamental abilities to reason and solve problems in novel contexts. The U.S. military has using simulators to expose soldiers to war- like scenarios in order to simulate real life combat. The idea behind this is to prepare the soldier for the rigors of combat stress and to insure that soldiers are less susceptible to mistakes. The Air Force has used simulators to train pilots to fly all types of planes from bombers to fighters. This has made it much more conventional than having rookie pilots fly billion dollar planes that they could crash and even lose their lives. The medical field has even introduced to the idea of using virtual reality to teach. Medical students have the ability to perform virtual surgical procedures or talk to a virtual patient. Some also think video games help to improve someone’s social skills due to online communities such as XBOX Live” or “Playstation Network.” Video games have also been proven to help those diagnosed with attention deficit disorders. Video games are continuing to show benefits for many aspects of society instead of doing harm.
What events have been influenced by video game violence?
The most infamous and unforgettable event that blamed video games was the shooting that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Two teenagers, Dylan and Eric Harris, enacted an all out assault on the high school killing twelve students and a teacher, after of which they took their own lives. People were shocked to see two supposed, normal boys commit such a terrible crime. Amongst acquired evidence was the computer game “DOOM” in which the boys liked to play constantly. At the time this game was licensed by the U.S. Military to train soldiers to kill enemy combatants efficiently. The evidence showed that the boys had modified their game to simulate an all out massacre. Many people began to believe that the video game’s violent nature may have been a contributing factor in influencing these teenagers.
Attorney Jack Thompson, known as the video game crusader, has been at the forefront of anti-gaming protest. He believes that violent video games are murder simulators that turn adolescents into hardcore criminals. In one such case, 18-year-old Devin Moore shot down two police officers and an emergency dispatcher in cold blood after being suspected of stealing a car. The young man was known for playing “Grand Theft Auto” night and day for months on end. Thompson believes that this violent game trained Moore into lashing out at the police and performing a scenario that to all is too common in “Grand Theft Auto”. Thompson continued to say that if it weren’t for this video game. Moore wouldn’t have had the knowledge to perform this crime. Moore even stated to police that, “Life is like a video game, everybody’s going to die sometime”. One of the officer’s family has sued both GameStop and Wal-Mart for selling Moore the “Grand Theft Auto” video games. The companies say they bear no responsibility saying that they were simply following ERSB rules, and since Moore was 18 he could buy the video game with proper identification. Take-Two interactive, creators of Grand Theft Auto, insist that their video game is not capable of turning gamers into criminals.
Table 1
Table 2
Results from a 2007 Poll to the Question: "Do you Think Violent Movies and Video Games Inspire Mentally Unstable People to Commit Acts of Violence Like the Shootings at Virginia Tech?"
On table #1 it gives statistics on video game sales and youth violence through 1996 to 2005. The dotted line shows that youth violence has steadily dropped over the years. Video games have sky rocketed over the years with over 250,000,000 units sold in the year 2004 alone. On table #2 is a poll conducted in 2007 over the question of whether violent games inspire mentally unstable people to commit violent crimes. According to the results most people agree that video games are big factor in influencing criminal acts.
What measures have been taken to regulate the sales of violent video games?
The topic of violence of video games has even begun to reach legislation of the U.S. government. Politicians have begun to set down laws to prohibit the selling of violent video games to minors. Many of these proposed laws though have been struck down by the court systems. The state of California created a bill in 2005 that stated it would be a crime to sell or rent certain fames to minors (Schiesel). Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger along with other representatives insist that these laws will protect children from being exposed to harsh violence that may cause psychological problems for them in the future. A federal judge in San Jose declared the law was unconstitutional affecting the first an amendment, “right to free speech.” Some supporters of the laws have started to question why media violence doesn’t have the same regulations as smoking or alcohol. The Gaming industry on the other hand believes that is they’re constitutional right to create video games with violent genres. They say they there work is no different from authors expressing their rights in books or directors expressing their rights in movies or documentaries.
Conclusion
These four questions are asked quite a bit whenever the topic of video game violence is brought up. It is number one factor when trying to conduct investigations on why young individuals commit horrible crimes against society. Anti-gaming associations say violence in video games and virtual reality are nothing more than murdering simulators, are the underlining cause why these adolescents act out the way they do. Game companies insists that metal illness and poor parenting are the reasons why children and teenagers cause crimes. Either way you see it video games will continue to be questioned whenever such violent events occur.
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Reference Page
1) Anderson, Craig A. "Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts, and Unanswered
Questions."American Psychological Association (APA). Web. 09 Sept. 2011
<http://www.apa.org/science/about/psa/2003/10/anderson.aspx>.
2) "Violent Video Game Research - YouTube." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Web. 09
Sept.2011.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnWO09q2nnw>.
3) "Children and Video Games: Playing with Violence." American Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/children_and_video_games_playing_with_violence>.
4)In Scopus. "ScienceDirect - Journal of Experimental Social Psychology : Chronic Violent
Video Game Exposure and Desensitization to Violence: Behavioral and Event-related
Brain Potential Data." ScienceDirect - Home. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022103105000983>.
5)"The Video Game Revolution: "Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked" by Henry
Jenkins | PBS." PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. Web. 27 Sept. 2011.
<http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerevolution/impact/myths.html>.
6)Anderson, Craig Alan, Douglas A. Gentile, and Katherine E. Buckley. Violent Video Game
Effects on Children and Adolescents: Theory, Research, and Public Policy. Oxford: Oxford UP
, 2007. Print.
7)What's in a Game? Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment : Hearing
before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights of the
Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Ninth Congress, Second
Session, March 29, 2006. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2006. Print
8) Bellis, Mary. "The History of Computer and Video Games." Inventors. Web. 28 Oct.
2011. <http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors
/blcomputer_videogames.htm>.
9) "A History Of Virtual Violence - Forbes.com." Information for the World's Business
Leaders - Forbes.com. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. <http://www.forbes.com/2007/06
/15/games-violence-columbine-tech-cx_ag_0618videogames.html>.
10) Schiesel, Seth. "Video Games - New York Times." The New York Times – Breaking
News, World News & Multimedia. 28 Oct. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2011.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/21/arts/television
/21vide.html?pagewanted=all>.
11) "22 Charts & Graphs on Video Games & Youth Violence - Video Games - ProCon.org."
Video Games ProCon.org. Web. 28 Oct. 2011. <http://videogames.procon.org
/view.resource.php?resourceID=003627>.
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