Violent Video Games Research Guideline

Violence in the Video Game genre

Table of Contents:

1.     Introduction of gaming media

a.     Evolution of playable media 

2.     Violence in video games and when did it start?

a.     Evolution of violence in this media

b.    Evolution of graphic illustrations and animations

3.     Violent outbreaks across the country

a.     Summary of cause and effect

b.    Culprits (Violent Media)

4.     Studies assessing negative effects of video games (I.E. Violent games)

a.     Samples of studies displaying negative effects on children and adolescents from playing violent video games (Violent Video Games:  The Effects on Youth, and Public Policy Implications, an article by Douglas Gentile and Craig A. Anderson)

5.     Studies assessing positive effects of video games (I.E. Violent games)

a.     Surgeon's erring less by playing video games

b.    "Violent Video Games as Exemplary Teachers: A Conceptual Analysis." Article by Douglas and J. Ronald Gentile.

c.     "Impact of an Active Video Game on Healthy Children’s Physical Activity." Article by Psychologists out of Baylor College of Medicine

d.    Article by Jeffrey Snodgrass that discusses positive side effects of video games.

e.     Study done by Paul J. C. Adachi and Teena Willoughby called "Do Video Games Promote Positive Youth Development?"

f.     Henry Jenkins, MIT Professor, discussion on common myths about video games.

g.    Adam Sessler's (Popular video game journalist) Interview on how violent video games are not the cause of these violent outbreaks.

6.       Argument stance

a.       The medium is the message, Marshall Mcluhan.

                                                                        i.      The medium changes the effect on how one views, interprets, and reiterates  the effect of these games. (Televisions, Computer Monitors, etc)

b.      ESRB ratings

                                                                        i.      What are they?

                                                                      ii.      What do they mean for children and parents

c.       Lack of Parental guidance

                                                                        i.      Making  reference to ESRB and how they are not abided by.

                                                                      ii.      Growing technology allows children to stay busy and less parenting needed.

d.      Lack of understanding of new media for the older generation

                                                                        i.      Easy to blame new technology because of the lack of understanding.

e.      Easy to remember the bad and not acknowledge the good

                                                                        i.      Article about Jacob Hartley killing his son due to interruption of video game playing. This makes it easy to blame violent video games for the problem.

f.        Why not blame horror movies? Crime shows?

                                                                        i.      Horror movie genre like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, etc

                                                                      ii.      Crime shows like Criminal Minds, CSI, Law and Order, etc

                                                                     iii.      Visual  stimulation is the same from movies and shows as violent video games. Medium is key here.

g.       Zero responsibility taken for violence caused by children and adolescents

h.      Possible ways to help with accessibility of children and teens to violent video games.

                                                                        i.      DRM, Digital Rights Management.

7.       Conclusion

a.       The effect of video games more specifically violent video games has little bearing on the violent outbreaks that are happening all over the world. We are a proud country and refuse to be wrong so it is easier to place blame on the uncertainty rather than take responsibility for something that we are doing wrong as a whole.

I will be diving into a very controversial topic which has to do with violent media but more specifically in my case violent video games. In our current society, violent video games come under fire very often due to the outbreak of violence all over the country. A lot of people do not understand the depth of video games and thus see them as a hazard to children and teens. We as a whole do not assume responsibility when something goes wrong and thus blame what we do not understand as a scapegoat. The opposition against the violence in video games do not acknowledge the beneficial gains from video games let alone placing individual responsibility on the games for something that they are not a cause of. I want to enlighten people on both the benefits and side effects of games as well as break down the individual medium (Television and Computer monitors) that is being used to portray the games message. These mediums display visually a different message than say a radio playing the game sounds. This type of difference needs to be known. One of the main reasons I want to tackle this topic is to bring to light the lack of parental guidance that becoming more and more apparent but not assuming responsibility for this lack of guidance. There are video game ratings on the box for a reason and the parents are supposed to oversee this rating. This paper will be geared towards everyone however I believe it would be more beneficial to the people that do not understand what video games can bring to the table so to speak.