Modern technology has vastly improved over

the years, including video games. With a new

digital world, video game industry is
competitive and focused on the bottom-line.
Video game companies are striving to capture
this growing market share of young customers,
namely children and teens. Mature-rated
games are popular and are being marketed to
children under 17 years old

The debate over violent video games can be

traced back to the 1976 release of the game Death
Race. The object of the game was to run over
screaming "gremlins" with a car, at which point
they would turn into tombstones. Controversy
erupted because the "gremlins" resembled stickfigure humans, and it was reported that the
working title of the game was Pedestrian. After
protestors dragged Death Race machines out of
arcades and burned them in parking lots,
The debate on video games is forever ongoing,
production of the game ceased, another violent
are they really leading people to go out and
game such as Armageddon which came out in
act violent, or is it the way we are. Violent
nighty ninety seven, also caused controversy, it
video games have been blamed for school
contained zombies with green blood or robots with
shootings, increases in bullying, and violence
black oil instead of people
towards women. Critics argue that these
games desensitize players to violence, reward Theres has been many theories behind the
players for simulating violence, and teach
controversy of video games, one of them being the
children that violence is an acceptable way to
hypodermic needle This theory suggests that, as
resolve conflicts. There is an increasing taste
an audience, we are manipulated by the creators
for the majority of people now within the video of media texts, and that our behaviour and
game industry, males age eighteen to thirty
thinking might be easily changed by media-makers
being most likely to play games and an
meaning that the audience suck in every bit of
increase in female popularity for women over
information when playing video games.
thirty five being also gamers. Broadly
The violence in video games is different from the
speaking, there are two opposing research
violent games in a real life. The violence in video
camps in the field of gaming studies. There are
games can be categorized along different
those who believe their scientific research
dimensions, whether it involves fantasy characters
demonstrates a causal link between the
or representations of human. There's also how it
effects of playing video games and subsequent
can be viewed as in the video games, whether
behaviours and those that dont.
first-person or third-person. The context of violent
Craig Anderson, American professor and
stories also vary along dimensions of realism,
director at the Department of Psychology,
involvement, excitement, how violent begin and
conducted research into if video games really
end, whether they are presented in an erotic or
cause aggression, analysing one hundred and
humorous context. All of these issues have been
thirty. Research reports on more than one
studied thoroughly by the researchers in order to
hundred and thirty thousand subjects
understand the variations in the nature of violent
worldwide, proves conclusively that exposure
video games. Violence has always been the main
to violent video games makes more
issue in the media but never in the video games.
aggressive, less caring kids - regardless of
Some even said that the violence in video games
their age, sex or culture. It reports that
would have no effect on the player regardless of
exposure to violent video games is a causal
the degree of violence in a video game because
risk factor for increased aggressive thoughts
they tend to focus on the game's mechanics and
and behaviour, and decreased empathy and
its object, rather than its violence.
prosocial behaviour in youths. Professor
Grand Theft Auto IV is an open world, actionBushman set out to see if its tied into
adventure video game developed by Rockstar
violence, he tried to find out if the gamer had
North. Upon its release on 29 April, Grand Theft
the same perspective as the viewer
Auto IV generated controversy. The game's
In opposition to this, many studies and reviews depiction of violence received mass commentary
carried out by Dr. Chris Ferguson at Texas A&M from journalists and government officials,
International University and his colleagues
occasionally being referred to as a "murder
conclude that claims made by Dr. Anderson
simulator". The ability to drive under the influence
and colleagues are methodologically fail to
of alcohol in the game also received criticism,
show that playing of violent video games has
resulting in a request for the ESRB to change the
any association with serious aggression,
game's rating. There have been a number of
violence, and crime. For instance, there is a lot reported crimes in which the perpetrators cited
of correlational evidence that as the sales of
Grand Theft Auto IV as their primary influence.
video games have increased over the last
On the twenty seventh of June, two thousand and
decade, the rates of serious youth crime have