Do Violent Video Games Make Videogamers Violent?

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Introduction Within the last few decades as video games have become massively popular, an abundance of slander has been attacking the video game industry. One of the accusations is that violent video games make gamers violent. This obscure claim would be like saying sports games cause gamers to exercise. Much of this misleading information comes from people trying to find an easy answer to some of society’s most horrific acts of violence. A fairly recent example would be the Sandy Hook tragedy. An unnamed veteran law enforcement officer said that the killers’ motive was to rack up ‘points’ and “they feed on it until they go out and say, enough of the video screen. Now I’m actually going to be a hunter" (Lupica, 2013). The misconception that violent videogames causes gamers to act violently forces a great deal of negative media attention surrounding violent video games. Results of this negative attention can be detrimental to the video games industry in many ways. Game classification may be stricter which would decrease the demographic range. In conjunction with these effects, (bad for marketing etc) This essay aims to elucidate that violent video games do not cause violence by providing evidence that video games reduce stress, gamers are able to distinguish between reality and fantasy, aggression in video games are derived from difficulty rather than violence and that high risk youth (those with symptoms of depression or Attention Deficit Disorder) are less likely to become aggressive bullies or delinquents. Cause of Aggression in Video Games A study by Przybylski and colleagues (2014) has shown that aggression from video games is derived from the level of difficulty and frustration rather than violence. This is a major argument... ... middle of paper ... ... get my anger out” (Olson and colleagues (2012). These findings demonstrate that a majority of gamers play games to manage their emotions and to supress and dissolve any aggression they have. Bored linked to aggression The most popular video game for the boys was Grand Theft Auto at 44% popularity and second to most popular for the girls. Grand Theft Auto being a game that features blood and gore, intense violence, strong sexual content and use of drugs, disproves the idea that violent video games cause violence because the game is being played to have the opposite effect. Distinguishing Between Reality and Fantasy Like all good literature, it should make the readers/gamers/viewers to Gamers are able to distinguish between reality and fantasy. A perception of being in control has been proven to reduce emotional and stressful responses to events (Goldstein 1998).

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