What effect does the violence in video games have on the users? So what effect does videogame violence have on children or older users, We have PlayStation’s 2, Nintendo Gamecube’s, Xbox’s, PCs, and more. All of these mediums offer people of all ages, including children, access to interactive violent experiences such as driving around a detailed simulated world and be free to run over or to get out and beat a civilian with a bat. From the media’s favorite example “Grand theft auto” which the above example comes from, video game violence is showing to be more common than ever. The biggest concern when it comes to video games of this nature is if having them available to younger audiences will lead to real-life problems. More specifically, can and does video game violence increase aggression in young children.
There has been much debate on this subject, largely between researchers against the media’s availability and possible influence and the game players who feel the connection simply doesn’t exist. But the idea that video violence can increase aggression is easily supported through the experiences of many young gamers. A group of my friends who are dedicated gamers, around 17 years of age and each shared stories about aggressive events resulting from game play experiences. One of my friends said once he remembers of playing a game witch was very difficult and after a long period of trying the frustration got to him so he picked up the control and threw it across the room and turned the thing off. Another example includes my friend constantly loosing to another friend and as a result he got aggressive at the other person and not the game itself. These experiences reflect how violence in games reflects across violence in real life.
What percentage of violence is accredited to video games? Gamers can get so into games, the issue of increased aggression comes down to whether the player can distinguish between the simulated violence and violence in real life. As this distinction becomes blurred, so does the awareness of real life consequences and ethics. This reasoning can either lead the to young users neglecting or forgetting how to act in real life, or forgetting the difference between the simulated world and the real world during play. If this is true, then it can be assumed that violent video games can actually teach some children that violence is not only acceptable, but also necessary.
Violence becomes the solution to problems outside the gaming environment and in the real world. The link to increased aggression is obvious. There cant be an actual value placed on the percentage of violence in video games in relation to real life, basically because many people believe there inst solid evidence to believe that videogames don’t really increase violence in players. The reality is that different people react to situation differently for example a young child who plays and dedicates a large amount of time to play a fighting game is more likely to go outside with his friends and pretend to simulate what he did in the game. This is true because I remember when I was little this was a common thing we did, we played according to what we could do in games we liked. Another example is older games around the ages of 20-30 they usually play games to relieve stress they play casually so they don’t get into it, and as a result they simply don’t get aggravated or frustrated in what they play so violence in those instances cant be linked to video games.
What are some cases where video games violence has been the cause of a real life violent acts? To see what were some real life effects of videogames I conducted question to ask to my friends. Subject A This person said once he was feeling angry so he decided to play a fighting game. He though this would calm him down, while playing he noticed himself getting frustrated with the game, loosing to the computer got to him. Instead of calming him down playing the game increased his anger and he blamed the machine for his increase in frustration. The result was that he cursed out loudly and got even angrier than he was to start with. Subject B This person Was playing a shooting game with his younger brother, who was winning at the game.
Loosing to his younger brother mad him angry so he said this was no fun anymore and threw his controller at his brother lightly. Subject C This subject was playing an internet game. It involves soldiers shooting each other and when you kill someone you win money and when you die you get no money (not real money).
This person regarded himself to be very good and he boasted his skills so when he lost one time he punched his keyboard. Subject D This person when he was younger loved to play wrestling games and when he was not playing he was doing what he could in the games to his little brother. One time he took it too far and really hurt his brother, which he believes is a result for simulating the moves in the game.
With these test it is clear proof that in some cases videogames can be the direct result to short term violence, such as swearing or anger outbursts. Most of the subjects said that the amount of violence in video games has decreased since when they were younger. This could say that younger users have higher chances of distinguishing from the virtual and real world. What is the conclusion of the issue of violence in relation to videogames? In the end, the view that video games and increased aggression can sometimes be linked and a result of are not so hard to believe.
Some people against this idea say it is a lack of evidence to prove otherwise, alternate explanations for what would be links between the two, and even theories to suggest a benefit from video games over all. With each conflicting view of video games aggressive influence being supported so well, for one to become universally accepted over the other would be impossible. Instead, the truth must lie somewhere in the middle. Looking at both sides of the debate, as well as looking at my personal experience, I will now come to what I feel is the final answer.
The conclusion will be based on what’s currently going through my head after weighing all of this information and more.