What started out as a disagreement between mother and son has led me into the controversial world of Grand Theft Auto. My fifteen-year-old son desperately wants this game. All I can hear are the stories of violence associated with this game, which causes this mother’s heart to shudder. So began the search to back up my denials for his ownership of this game. The Grand Theft Auto series of games has been surrounded by controversy, however the research does not always back up public opinion as will be demonstrated in this paper.
Grand Theft Auto got its start in 1998 with its original title released for the PlayStation One. The game was controversial from the get go with many countries protesting it and Brazil even went so far as to ban it. Interestingly enough, all this controversy caused the sales of the game to skyrocket and it became the biggest selling PlayStation One game that year, with sales to date reaching over 65 million copies worldwide (Gamesradar.com).
The original title did not rely heavily on graphics and they were visually unappealing. The premise of the game was there with the goal being running over pedestrians, selling drugs, picking up prostitutes, stealing cars, and running from the police. The games all have these themes in common, often taking place in realistic cities with music and dialogue.
In October 2001 Rockstar North, the game developer, released GTA III for PlayStation Two, with one big change, 3-D. Now the games had a more realistic environment with the more advanced memory on the new system. According to the reviewers at Gamesradar, “The city feels alive, almost real.” This newest game allows you to play many different ways: as a driver for the rescue squad, putting out fires with the fire tru...
... middle of paper ...
...nd drug use. The warning is right on the package. My son thought I would change my mind after doing this research but I have found that it only further solidifies it. As with any form of entertainment, moderation is certainly important, but when it comes to children, parental notice of what their kids are doing is vital.
Works Cited
Colwell, J., Kato M. "Investigation of the relationship between social isolation, self-esteem, agression and computer game play in Japanse adolescents." Asian Journal of Social Psychology (2003): 14-158. Journal Article.29 January 2012.
UK, CVG. Games Radar. 25 April 2008. Web. 29 January 2012.
Zin Teng, Scott, et al. "Grand Theft Auto IV Comes to Singapore: Effects of Repeated Exposure to Violent Video Games on Aggression." Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking 14.10 (2011): 597-602. Journal Article. 29 January 2012.
Grand Theft Auto IV promotes hetronormative hierarchical distinctions between feminity and masculinity through its framing of female and male bodies, its presentation of females as objects of the male gaze and its encouragement of players to adopt and act out a hypermasculine role. It is of vital importance that we do not exclude race, gender or sexuality from discussions of videogames, because as Leonard (2006, pp. 84) asserts, doing so ‘contributes to problematic, if not faulty, understandings of video games and their significant role in contemporary social, political, economic, and cultural organization.’ Instead as players we must engage in discussion regarding videogames and, as Jenkins writes, we must ‘find a way to move beyond our existing categories and to once again invent new kinds of virtual play spaces’ (1999, pp.
Kutner, Lawrence Ph.D. and Cheryl K. Olson, Sc.D. Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do . 1st. Simon & Schuster, 2008.
In Grand Theft Auto IV (GTA IV), you play the role of an Eastern European immigrant who has come to Liberty City to visit his self-proclaimed ‘successful’ cousin, Roman. After making the journey, Niko finds that his cousin is actually stuck in a cycle of debt and struggle and has been lying about his large mansion and beautiful women. After spending some time with Roman, Niko finds that his cousin is being harassed by local loan sharks. Niko must commit illegal activities for the loan sharks in order to eradicate Roman’s debt. As a result, he must enter the underground world of drugs and violence. Soon after, Roman discovers that his girlfriend is cheating on him with Niko’s boss, Vlad, and is heartbroken. When Niko confronts Vlad, he shows no remorse and Niko decides to take revenge on behalf of his cousin. Niko ends up killing Vlad which leads to both Niko and Roman being kidnapped and forced to work for Vlad’s boss. After this episode, Niko reveals to Roman that he did not actually come to Liberty City to visit his cousin; he came to seek vengeance against an army companion who betrayed Niko and left him for dead along with the rest of his company.
Barlett, C. P., Branch, O., Rodeheffer, C., & Harris, R. (2009). How long do the short-term violent video game effects last? Aggressive Behavior, 35, 1–12. doi:10.1002/ab.20301
Kulling, Matthew. “GTA:Link between violence and video games lacks a smoking gun.”. marquettetribune.org. 15 Nov 2013.
Scott, D. The Effect of Video Games on Feelings of Aggression. The Journal of Psychology. March 1995 v129 n2 p121-132.
Since the 1970 video games have become more popular than ever before. Generating 11.7 billions of dollars of sells every year or more, the video game industry is considered one of the largest industries in this century. However, video games have been a topic of controversy. With the sales of violent video games going up and the increased violence in schools and teenagers, video games are always to blame. Many people speculate that video games are the cause on why many teenagers have developed aggressive and violent behavior, are desensitize to violence, and the increase violence in schools and public places. In contradiction, video games have little or no fault in teenagers’ violent behavior and shouldn’t always be blamed.
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review on existing articles relating to the possibility of violent video games promoting aggressive behavior. The hypothesis set forth was that people who played non-violent video games displayed more Prosocial behavior versus those who played violent video games displayed more antisocial and aggressive behavior. A search was conducted on regular search engines on the internet, and on EBSCOhost using the title “can violent video games promote aggressive behavior.” The research articles presented are obtained from five case studies each focusing on different measures that were obtained, methods used, the participants involved, the designs of the study, and the results of the studies.
Scott, Derek. “The Effect of Video Games on Feelings of Aggression.” The Journal of Psychology 129.2
Video games have been a rapidly expanding industry since their inception in the 1970s. Along with their growth have come concerns about violent video games and their effects on aggression and violence in young people. The endless numbers of school shootings have pushed this issue to the forefront. These events brought about the question: do violent video games induce aggression in youth? That’s the question I set out to answer by looking at research. The research shows that there is a link between playing video games and increases in aggression in adolescents. What implications does this fact have ethically? It means that video game producers and distributors need to be held responsible for their releases and the way they end up in the hands of kids.
It is true that many of the popular games are violent, however there are also many popular games that are non-violent. Games such as Myst, Gran Turismo, The Sim collection, Pinball, Breakout, and Tetris are all popular games that contain little to no violence at all. Some people may question why there are so many violent games, and the answer is simple. Violence sells. People enjoy the action in violent games. The American audience craves violence and advertisers and producers create more violent games because it is apparent that Americans would rather play a violent game than something non-violent.
“90% of pediatricians and 67% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that violent video games can increase aggressive behavior among children” ("Do Violent Video Games Contribute to Youth Violence?”). Pediatrics and parents are aware that kids that play violent video games see a change in their behavior. Many cases they see the kids with anger problems and causing them to do violent acts. Violent video games have been around for many years where some older titles, such as ‘Mortal Kombat’ and 'Grand Theft Auto’ both are some of the most controversial ones. The video game industry has been growing and with the large amounts of violent video games being produced. “Total US sales of video game hardware and software increased 204% from 1994 to
Several studies display that video games with violent content are related to more hostile behavior in teens. This is a concern because most of the popular video games contain violence. Part of the upsurge in aggressive behavior is connected to the amount of time children are permitted
In the editorial “Video Games Pro Con”, author Steven Markoff gives a compelling argument and uses many ethos and logos. The information he uses helps his argument and his information is current. Using the “(2008) study Grand Theft Childhoo...
Teng, S., Chong, G., Siew, A., & Skoric, M. M. (2011). Grand Theft Auto IV comes to Singapore: effects of repeated exposure to violent video games on aggression. cyberpsychology, behavior & social networking, 14(10), 597-602. doi:10.1089/cyber.2010.0115