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On April 20, 1999, two students entered Columbine High School and opened fire, killing 15 students and faculty. Blame was often put on the violent video games that the students played, but can video games really cause a person to kill? It seems such tragedies should be more common with the video game industry’s earnings growing to an estimated seven billion dollars a year. But such tragedies are not common. Video games themselves do not cause people to become more violent and therefore, more government control on them is not necessary.
Violent media has had a long history. Between 1952 and 1964, violent programming on television saw a 90% increase because advertisers and producers saw that Americans were much more likely to watch violent shows rather then non-violent ones. As video games became more popular, they followed the same pattern (Salamander 10). Today many games involve some sort of violence, and the level of realism is increasing every year. If this is what the consumers want, however, then is it wrong to provide it? Drunk drivers kill many people every year, and yet only the individuals are held responsible, not the industry.
People play video games because they find them fun and challenging. Games that are extremely easy quickly bore players. Games must include some form of challenge that the player must overcome to keep their interest (Games don’t kill people). Gamers enjoy the challenge of games because they gain satisfaction from achieving goals within games, just as baseball players gain satisfaction from getting a hit. In some games, fighting opponents is one form of challenge that players encounter. If that is the case, however, then people who play violent video games would have to find it fun to kill other people. While a small portion of gamers likely do see the simple destruction as fun, most gamers see the violence as an aside, or even a distraction to the actual game (Purdue News). Even most games that have fighting include other challenges as well. Quake, Marathon, and Wolfenstien-3D, classic first-person-shooter games that involved navigating mazes while battling opponents, all include problem solving and exploration. Counter-Strike, an online team versus team game where one team tries to prevent the other team from achieving their objective, includes strategy and teamwork. Therefore, fighting is included as a challenge, not simply for fighting’s sake.
People also play games because they allow them to do things they generally cannot do in real life. People can’t really be super spies, save princesses, or battle mystical creatures, but video games allow them to experience all of these things. Killing enemies in video games allows them to do something they hopefully never do in real life, kill real people. But the realism of games is always increasing, which raises the question why the violence must be so realistic.
The creation of a game could be looked at as an art form. Different artists prefer to create varying levels of realism in their art. The same is true for video games. Different game developers wish to add different levels of realism to their games, making some games appear much more graphic than others. Most game developers do not include graphic violence just to make their game bloodier, they include it for the sake of creating a realistic game (Dudley 30). A live action movie wouldn’t look right if stars flashed during a fight scene, and the same is true for many games. If violence in a mature game is toned down it, makes the game feel unrealistic to the gamer. Gamers expect a certain reaction to their game play decisions, and if that reaction seems geared toward children, then it makes the gamer feel like a child.
It is difficult to determine if playing violent games causes increased aggression. Numerous studies have been conducted on the more general topic of media violence, while only a few have concentrated on violent video games (Video Game Violence). Of the studies done on video game violence, most were inconclusive. The problem most studies had was determining a way to test for increased aggression. Some studies used surveys answered after participants played violent games. It is difficult, however, to get accurate results from generalized questions on how a participant feels. A different study timed how quickly a person repeated aggressive words that were flashed on a screen after playing a violent game. This study is usually discounted because increased aggression does not necessarily translate into increased reaction times. A different study timed how long a participant blasted a horn at people after playing video games. The difference between non-violent and violent games was two percent, and the average blast was a half a second long, which seems far to short to get accurate results (Journal of Personality). Another consideration that each study must make is whether violent video games make people more aggressive or aggressive people play violent video games (Purdue). If aggressive people are the ones that play violent video games, then the video games could be what they use to satisfy their aggressive tendencies. In that case, violent video games could actually prevent real world violence instead of cause it. Mr. Alan Sneed, a parent of one, explains his feelings about video games and aggression: “I don’t feel that video games cause aggression. No more than watching a martial arts movie makes you attack people. Some people are aggressive, video games are simply a way to explain it away.” The fact is that a study that can accurately test the effect of violent video games has yet to be developed.
Even if playing violent video games did increase aggression, that aggression would not necessarily cause real life violence. The difference between television and video games is television is passive, while video games are active (Purdue). If you wish to act out a scene on a television show, then you would do so in real life, but there is no need to act out parts of video games, because you can actually play it in the game. In addition, video games are generally viewed more as fantasy where as television is seen as more realistic (Purdue). Tragedies caused by television and movies occur far more often than those from video games. Shows like Beavis and Butthead, Jackass, and WWF Wrestling all have caused injuries and deaths due to people attempting things seen on them. Violent video games are usually only considered a possible contributor to a tragedy.
The statistics do not support the claims that violent games cause more real world violence. Millions of people play violent games today, many times more than the number that played in previous years. Yet, according to the FBI, the crime rate has fallen every year since 1992. This is during the time when the video game industry grew by leaps and bounds, and violence in games became far more realistic and prevalent (The Games Kids Play). In addition, video gaming is popular across the world, and yet crime rates in other countries, such as Japan, are far lower than those in the United States.
Some games can still be inappropriate for children. It should be up to the parents of the children to decide what is appropriate or inappropriate for their children. Parents should take responsibility for, among other things, knowing what games their children are playing. Since 1994 the video game industry has had a rating board in place called the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Every game that is sold must be rated by the ESRB first. They assign one of five ratings: Early Childhood, Everyone, Teen, Mature, or Adult. This allows parents to quickly be able to determine if a game is appropriate for their children. In addition, each game is given certain content descriptors that help explain why the game received the rating it did. Games are assigned descriptors that rate the amount of blood, violence, language, sexual themes and various other subjects such as gambling like behavior (ESRB). Information on the rating games receive can be found online, as well as on the box of the games, so there is no reason why a parent can’t find out if a game is appropriate for their child or not.
A major problem is that many parents don’t take the responsibility. A study done by the government found that only two in five parents used the ESRB ratings (ZdNet). Many times parents are ignorant to the level of realism and the amount of violent content in games today. Most parents would not let children go to a ‘R’ movie, yet the same parents buy their children ‘M’ games and do not even know what they are doing (Video Game Violence). Mr. Alan Sneed explains how he feels about parents and violent video games:
“I feel that society is blaming their ills on violent video games, because the quality of parenting has lessened. Now, if a parent loses control of their child, they can say 'Well, he played that violent video game, and watched that violent TV show… I just couldn't make him behave.’ and you have to wonder, why was he playing the game, if you're his parent?”
Therefore, the video game industry should not be blamed for parents losing control of their children anymore then the beer industry should be blamed for a drunk driver.
Video games do not cause people to kill. Studies have yet to prove that video games cause any increase in a person’s aggression, and even if they did, that does not necessarily mean they will kill. Media violence is a hotly disputed topic however, it is something that every individual or parent should decide for himself or herself. The government should not take away the freedom of expression from game developers or the right for consumers to choose their entertainment.
Works Cited
Dudley, William. Media Violence: Opposing Viewpoints. New York: Greenhaven Press, 1999.
ESRB Video Computer Game Ratings. 11 Oct 2001 .
Frequently Asked Questions about "Violence in E-Rated Video Games. 14 Oct 2001 .
Games don’t kill people - do they? 25 Oct 2001 .
“The Games Kids Play.” 20/20. Host John Stossel. Guest Dave Grossman. ABC News. 22 Mar. 2000. Transcript.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 25 Sept. 2001 .
Purdue News: Expert: Video game violence minimally affects kids. 11 Oct 2001 .
Salamander. “Violence and Video Games.” Game Zero Magazine Aug 1992: 10.
Sneed, Alan. Personal Interview. 24 Oct 2001.
Video Game Violence: Deadly or Dead Horse? 25 Oct 2001 .
ZdNet Computing, Game Violence: All in the family? 25 Sept 2001 .