1970s: The Birth of Video Game Industry

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Introduction 1970s was considered as the birth of video game industry, the phenomenon of gaming was growing and home gaming console Home-Pong which was a one-game-only console was invented by Atari, since then, the gaming industry has become very profitable, and more and more genre of video games were created. Although video games have become more and more popular as time changes, it still has to face the criticism, ‘media panic’. Meida panic happens when a new media appears; people will have a highly emotional discussion about it (Drotner, 1999). Just like other media, such as internet, television, movie or even music first appears, video game also has attracted more and more attention. The questions about the negative impact of video games on people, especially adolescent and children have become a very serious concern, especially the violence content of video games. This essay will present the reasons why violent video games have more negative impact on people than other media, which includes involvement, realism, motivation, desensitization, and then it will present a counter-argument that violent video games actually have positive effect on people. Involvement of video games There are several reasons why violent video games can cause aggression; the first one is its influence on player. Violent video games and movies are similar in many ways. First of all, both of them creates a world view especially in role play games, and some action role play games like GTA series, the elder scrolls, god of war, and Diablo series, these games have created a virtual world that contains characters who have their own characteristic and role, also there should be a basic story line that tells player and audience why the violence would hap... ... middle of paper ... ... games can also be used in education purpose. A FPS game called Re-mission was developed to help young cancer patients to understand and fight against the disease. Although there are researches shows that there are positive effects of violent video games, it has not changed the fact that video games have stronger influence on people than other media, few positive effect cannot outweigh its impact on people. Conclusion In conclusion, Compare to other media, such as movie and novel, violent video game has more impact on people because of its involvement, realism, players’ motivation, and the desensitization effect it can cause to human’s mind. There are some arguments that violent video games can increase visuospatial ability and social, and can also be used in education, however, these advantages of video games cannot reduce the influence of violent video games.

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