Video game controversy Essay Example for Free

Video game controversy Essay Video game controversies are unresolved societal and scientific arguments about whether or not the content of video games can change the behavior and attitudes of a player. Since the early 1980s, advocates of video games have emphasized their use as an expressive medium, arguing for their protection under the laws governing freedom of speech and also as an educational tool. Detractors argue that video games are harmful and therefore should be subject to legislative oversight and restrictions. The positive and negative characteristics and effects of video games are the subject of scientific study. Results of investigations into links between video games and addiction, aggression, violence, social development, and a variety of stereotyping and sexual morality issues are debated God Of War Series – Saudi Arabia The Guy Game – USA 8. RapeLay – Argentina/Indonesia/Malaysia/Thailand EA Sports MMA – Denmark Manhunt 2 – Various Postal 2 http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-infamously-banned-games-around-world. php/11 10 Video Game Endings With Disturbing Implications You Totally Missed Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-video-game-endings-with-disturbing-implications-you-totally-missed. php/2#0LO1TBf6EwdT9Ea3. 99 Heavy Rain: The Neglectful Father Metal Gear Solid 2: The Hangover After the giant Arsenal Gear crashes into New York city and Raiden and Solidus Snake are forced to fight one another (after a myriad of narrative revelations involving pregnancies, double agents and adoption,) Raiden emerges victorious and is reunited with his girlfriend Rose, who is now with child. Aside from a few loose ends, the narrative ends on a nice positive note, with man and his love reunited and a bright new dawn rather insistently represented by the growing life in her belly. But wait†¦ Half of New York is now squashed. People are no doubt dead, thanks to the Arsenal Gear stomping a big hole in Manhattan, and those who survived are likely to take a massive beating from the tax-man in the coming years to fix the damage caused to the Big Apple. It’s rather short-sighted to call this a victory, simply because the hero gets his girl. What about the legacy of destruction, not to mention the giant robot lying in the middle of the city? Noone ever thinks about the clean-up job. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-video-game-endings-with-disturbing-implications-you-totally-missed. php/3#t8VahiJ4DfS6AhYp. 99 Medal Of Honor: Warfighter – AWOL Warfighter caused some serious controversy – not least when it was revealed that seven members of Naval Special Warfare Development Group who worked as consultants for EA had been disciplined for releasing classified information – and the ending was another of those modern â€Å"Horrors Of War† endings that sought to make the player think. EA decided to have Preacher weighing up whether to report back for duty, or desert to fix his family life, despite the formerly gleeful embrace of the mythology of the soldier (the idea of them as supermen.). The idea might be half-baked, and slightly odd considering the trajectory of the rest of the narrative (and the presentation of characters specifically) but it was an interesting way to leave the game. But wait? Doesn’t desertion still carry a fairly hefty punishment? Honour and dedication to his family is one thing, but winding up locked up in prison for ignoring a mission (which is presumably what awaits if he were to answer his mobile) is a fairly counter-productive solution. The key thing is that Preacher’s desertion would weaken the unit, especially in deployment, and his punishment would presumably be greater than any â€Å"normal† soldier. There’s also a further implication. Though he’s seen some serious action, and untold horrors of war by the end of the game, and the ending suggests he has had his fill of duty, Warfighter is keen to stress that the soldiers involved are action-hero-like thrill seekers, as opposed to particularly patriotic men. And if Preacher cannot get his thrills from his own army, which he may or may not desert (the implication is he does,) he may find himself tempted to go mercenary, which would presumably be deemed joining another force while AWOL. That’s often called treason (depending on the client,) and the penalty for that tends to be fairly severe†¦ Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-video-game-endings-with-disturbing-implications-you-totally-missed. php/4#ILEhM7Obvv7HWdJY. 99 Uncharted 2: Shambhala Destroyed. As the events of Uncharted’s excellent sequel come to a head, Nathan Drake is thrust onto a journey of vengeance when Elena (his new lady friend, obviously) is almost killed by a grenade just after the pair discover the invulnerability applications of the blue resin found at the Tree Of Life. Drake gets to the tree just after the nick of time, and watches his latest mortal enemy drink from the tree’s sap and become almost invincible, before deciding the best way to kill him is to explode the sap and then leave Lazarevic to be killed by the Guardians of the secret, sacred city of Shambhala. He dies, Nathan and Elena kiss, and sunsets are ridden off into. But wait†¦ Much like Indiana Jones – the single most careless archaeologist in the history of the subject, thanks to his tendency to destroy previously perfectly preserved artefacts – Nathan Drake is awful at his job. He is supposed to be committed to discovering and preserving articles and locations of historical significance, and yet his destruction of the Tree Of Life pretty carelessly destroys the wonderful kingdom of Shambhala. Rather than sharing the spiritual significance of the place, or helping its inhabitants (such as those Guardians) escape, Drake blows the entire place up, and enjoys a sexy kiss to seal the deal. Quite how he deserves his reputation in the industry is beyond me. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-video-game-endings-with-disturbing-implications-you-totally-missed. php/5#2v72bY4C1ojLYBPL. 99 Freedom Fighters: The Russians Are Coming (Back) Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-video-game-endings-with-disturbing-implications-you-totally-missed. php/7#8VePctXW3iZsJJUx. 99 Hurray, we killed the Russians and stopped them from invading Good Old America! Just like Hollywood always promised us we could. We’ve saved democracy, and hot dogs, and Mountain Dew. It’s time to party, since there definitely won’t be any come back from defying a nation of the might and malevolent will to invade the Greatest Country In The World EVER! But wait†¦ It’s not over. Like termites temporarily pushed away from their quarry, the Russians will inevitably return, and in greater numbers with greater force. They are not to be denied, and though they were once defeated, they won’t be again, with the morbid realisation then being that America is not long for this Earth. It might be a victory party by the end of Freedom Fighters, but there’s no chance it lasted long, as Chris himself points out in the clip below†¦ Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-video-game-endings-with-disturbing-implications-you-totally-missed. php/7#8VePctXW3iZsJJUx. 99 10 Outrageous Sexy Moments Hidden In Video. Games Read more at http://whatculture.com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-games. php#MLJkrZvCm3CV6eOt. 99 1. San Andreas – Hot Coffee Mod Where else could we start? San Andreas’ Hot Coffee Mod was the moment that realised ever adults’ fear that their GTA-loving children were playing something not altogether wholesome. As if murder, soliciting prostitutes and revelling in a life of crime weren’t enough San Andreas included the remains of an ultimately cut sex mini-game that cheeky modders found and duly shared with the world. Okay so admittedly it’s pretty difficult to actually do anything other than simulate sex with all of your clothes on, but the grinding was probably more than enough for prudish mothers everywhere to explode with righteous indignation when they discovered their sons playing through the mini-game. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-games. php#MLJkrZvCm3CV6eOt. 99 Pantless Meryl – MGS A classic. If you followed Metal Gear Solid’s Meryl Silverburgh into the toilet quickly enough when she was disguised as an enemy soldier and you’d catch her with her pants down. Naturally upset, Meryl pulls a gun – which is probably even more understandable given that this is actually the second time it’s possible to catch her in her underwear in the same game. Earlier, when you enter the B1 lock up it’s possible to watch her doing exercises in her pants, provided you’re willing to keep exiting and entering the vents to spy on her – and apparently some gamers were more than willing†¦ Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-games. php/2#5thdRWFtCM0EsfdW. 99 3. SiN Hottub Scene. It’s not exactly the greatest shooter series in the history of the genre, but the Activision published SiN series, which ran on the Quake 2 engine was remarkable for an easter egg that allowed the hero John Blake to break through some walls and spy on the enigmatic and villainous Elxis Sinclaire, owner of biotech firm SiNtex enjoying a bit of bath-time fun. By noclipping through some walls, the player could walk in on Sinclaire in her hot tub (wearing a bikini despite her assumed privacy), rubbing herself and shouting â€Å"sexy† phrases. To be honest, the â€Å"sexy talk† isn’t exactly top notch, by any means, but back in those heavily pixelated days, we had to make do with what we could get. And the site of a nubile sprite fondling her own slightly squared breasts while saying â€Å"rub-a-dub-dub† was about as sexy as it got†¦ Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-games. php/3#FSghlsiY5BXEMz5J. 99 Metroid Sexy Reveal Talk about obligatory semi-nudity! It probably says a great deal about the way gamers and developers think that one of the most profound revelations in the early days of gaming came in the shape of Metroid’s â€Å"secret† female hero. Completing the original game revealed that the hero we had just guided through saving the galaxy was in fact a girl, and just to almost entirely wipe out the Girl Power sentiments of that narrative twist, the developers decided to objectify her just a little bit by having her strip down to a bathing suit for those lucky enough to complete the game. Do it in under three hours – which was basically impossible – and Samus would strip a little further, revealing more skin in a bikini to show her gratitude to the gamer for being so incredibly talented, in a very much not sexist at all manner. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-games. php/4#DqTImrz17SoMY3zF. 99 Banjo Kazooie’s Dirty Geography Spend enough time exploring Terrydactyland from the air in Banjo Tooie and you’ll see the unmistakable sight of an ejaculating penis carved out of the landscape and coloured conspicuously in emerald green, just in case you missed it first time. You might think it’s just a coincidence, even despite the very obvious design, if it weren’t for the fact that Banjo has previous, and the hidden adult-appropriate secrets hidden in the games could probably run close to the hundreds. It all gets forgiven as Rare’s British sense of humour and fun, but is it really appropriate to have an ejaculating penis is a game so obviously marketed at a younger audience? Well no, but that doesn’t make it any less hilarious. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-game s. php/5#LV3tCq31g4DwjvCx. 99 GTA IV: Stripper Bonus One of the most notorious GTA moments from the history of the franchise, and facilitated by the move to greater graphics, GTA IV’s stripper sequences were about as authentically sexy as the series had ever got. Sure, up to this point the player had been able to use prostitutes (and kill them for their money,) as well as some cheeky devils gaining access to the Hot Coffee mod previously mentioned, but that was all just pixelated suggestion compared to the rampant sexuality on show in GTA IV. And it was fairly difficult to explain to the girlfriend why you were sitting watching what amounts to a bunch of very cleverly arranged squares making sexy moves – especially when access to the internet and real naked ladies was but a few simple clicks away. Not content with offering â€Å"normal† stripping services, the game’s Pink Triangle Club also provided special services like the particularly colourful dance session below†¦ Read more at http://whatculture.com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-games. php/7#leuecMuobHdGjsgx. 99 10. Tomb Raider Nudity Strictly speaking, this one doesn’t quite fit with the others, since the infamous Lara Croft Nude cheat code was in fact a great big hoax and resulted in the slinky archaeologist exploding in a shower of limbs, but that doesn’t in any way dillute its infamy or its impact on the controversy-hating communities of complainers who pick up on anything a little untoward. Ironically, the Tomb Raider devs’ trick actually convinced hackers to create a mod that allowed PC gamers the opportunity to see Croft naked, and though it wasn’t hidden in the actual game, the genesis of the mod, and the crucial part the developers played in pulling the switch means the nude mod actually qualifies for this list. Sadly, the closest we ever got to legitimately seeing Lara naked was this ever so slightly titivating, but all too murdery shower scene from Tomb Raider 2. Seems something of an over-reaction to us just hanging around in the bathroom†¦ Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/10-outrageous-sexy-moments-hidden-in-video-games. php/10#m1TTIw1UmUll01c4. 99 GTA V: 12 Dirty Hidden Secrets And Easter Eggs You Probably Missed Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php#Ih5PUmoxVDvwArlt. 99 Don’t Be A Perv Taking selfies is a big thing in this Rockstar world, and the fully functioning camera on the player’s phone can lead to some hilarious situations, as we have already pointed out in our recent run-down of the best GTA V selfies we’ve seen so far in the game. Slightly bucking the trend of naughtiness at the same time as reinforcing it, it is possible to take pictures of the topless girls partying at the Playboy Mansion. Unfortunately, and somewhat confusingly, the girls won’t actually react as positively as they would in a real, legitimately organised photoshoot with a photography professional as opposed to a crazed man running through the grounds of their haven with several high-powered weapons and a worrying look on their face. Taking photos with your phone without request will lead to the girls kicking right off, calling you a creep (understandably) and then getting their boyfriends to pick a fight with you. This is clearly only a minor disruption, since fully automatic weapons are far more powerful a dissuasion tool than disgruntled boyfriends. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/2#Ffq5iVE9orj3vs8E. 99 Obsessed With 69? There’s nothing childish about Grand Theft Auto’s concept – in fact, it is provocatively anti-childish, and its controversy comes largely because of the way the franchise invites players to enjoy adult activities in a fundamentally child-like way. It’s perverse, occasionally puerile, and hugely entertaining, and it’s mostly thanks to the commitment to story-telling, the vast open-world and the characters – but then you start to notice the little jokes and nods that add a whole new level, such as Rockstar’s apparent obsession with the number 69. It’s nice to see the commitment to furthering the school-yard fascination with the number, and its sexy (and logistically quite difficult) implications, peppered throughout the GTA V world, like the graffiti tag on the back of the Vinewood sign, or the fact that the game has 69 main missions. And if you’re looking even closer, you might find some tittering in the fact that the Los Santos Country Club has a hole length of 169 yards. This of course all follows on from the presence of Area 69 in San Andreas, which was far less sexy than it initially sounded. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/3#otq0FVM4OyWlaxqS. 99 10. Goatse 9. The Naughty Gnomes Not even the simple world of the garden gnome is left untouched by the sordid pervery of Rockstar’s developers. Out in Vinewood Hills, on the edge of the desert, not far from the runaway bride’s home, there is a small collection of garden gnomes, posed harmlessly by a white fence. It all seems pretty picturesque – an idealised version of the American suburban dream – as you look at the first two gnomes, painted and posed traditionally, one with a fishing rod and the other with a lantern. And then you see the third gnome, bent over, with his pants down, and clearly spreading his cheeks. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/5#vHMHQ7hpqcPIoMIO. 99 Some Easter Egg hunters have suggested that the dirty little devil might be presenting ready for penetration, or that he’s simply offering a cheeky moon to anyone lucky enough to find him. But it’s fairly obvious, given the Goatse reference previously mentioned, that the distasteful spreading action is another nod to that unfortunately viral, bottom-based activity. Elsewhere in the game, the same gnome is posed bending over in front of another of his less naughty-looking friends, giving the impression, as in the image at the top, that the two have been rumbled about to make sweet, sweet porcelain love. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/5#vHMHQ7hpqcPIoMIO. 99 Sexy Yoga Rockstar’s dedication to bringing in more past-times and leisure activities to while away the hours within GTA V’s world is one of the reasons why the game is so successful: it has become more than a simple endeavour to complete missions, it’s more like a second life style game where the real world simulations are engaging mini-games and side concerns in their own rights. And chief among those past-times is the ability to take yoga lessons under the private tutelage of Master Private Yoga Instructor Fabien LaRouche, whose particular brand of Yoga differs somewhat to the traditional, tranquil set-up yoga fans might be accustomed to. Positions include the Punching Starfish (requires slow entry, in case the partner weeps), the Downward Facing Camel (encouraging the third eye to open to increse the flow of divine love) and the Lucky Triangle (which often requires a safe word). It’s pretty clear from the positions (above) and the descriptions alluded to, that these are particularly sexualised versions of normal yoga poses, and that LaRouche is just as sordid as the rest of the GTA cast of characters. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/9#DcTR5MZymzFUJaOg. 99 Sexy Golf Following on from GTA V’s sordid version of yoga, there’s also a reference to an altogether more dirty version of golf than you might be used to, if you’re a fan of dragging a heavy bag of metal around a giant field and unsuccessfully navigating big holes full of sand. This one isn’t actually taken from the game itself, but rather the Los Santos Blaine County Travelogue, which hinted at what GTA V players could get up to in the game ahead of release. Under the country club section, the Travelogue talks about the progressive club, which ignores the usually limited rules on gender-bias in the sport of golf, as suggested in the message below, which accompanies the image above: â€Å"Thanks to equality laws passed recently, the LS Country Club has announced the admittance of two carefully selected women. Of course all are welcome to enroll for membership, though the selection criteria are kept confidential for legal reasons. † Clearly that means adding strippers to the course to make aiming for the hole a whole new ball game. Now, that’s probably not the kind of behaviour that your normal, run-of-the-mill golf course would accept, and there was certainly very little mention of it in Bagger Vance, and it probably explains why the country club comes with a hefty price tag of $150,000,000 for anyone who wants to sell out for that type of luxury. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/10#A41YkISjRuzdTIW3. 99 Life Invader Extra Features Not content with simply killing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, Rockstar clearly wanted to bait the king of nerds even more by casting aspersions on some of the social network’s more sordid users, as well as offering a side-swipe at one notoriously failed technological off-shoot of the website. As just one of the immersive, cleverly executed commercials to appear in the GTA V universe, it would be quite easy not to notice some of the details within Rockstar’s in-game ad for Life Invader (the thinly-veiled stab at Facebook) but you don’t have to be particularly attentive to have noticed that the website also has a tablet (a parody of Zuckerberg’s failed Facebook phone, no doubt. ). Read more at http://whatculture.com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/11#UlvHXSGdTeDuXxyY. 99 Without too much explanation, the advert clearly suggests that the tablet allows the user to insert their penis into the tablet, to â€Å"dock† with other users, and while the advert seems to suggest that as a holding technique for hands free typing, the subtler moments, like the artwork of two phalluses coming together, and the inference of the term â€Å"docking† suggests a far more dirty reason. For the uninitiated or sheltered players out there, docking involves the coming together of two penises, in a unique, and wholly inappropriate-for-here manner. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/11#UlvHXSGdTeDuXxyY. 99 The Nudist Colony†¦ Sort Of The presence of a cult in GTA V was heavily publicised ahead of release, and the pay off in the game was oddly sexual, especially if you really like the sight of middle-aged men with paunches and no pants. The Altruist Cult, as they are officially known are a group of old men, with a hatred of both modern technology and underpants, in some cases, who can be fed young drifters (they’re cannibals, obviously) and taking them four people leads to Trevor being taken into the camp at gunpoint (despite an implied history of him bringing regular â€Å"offerings† without incident. ) Trevor then must fight his way out, while being confronted by semi-nude, deranged men with heavy weapons. Some of these men, for some reason are entirely nude, with carefully crafted penises on show, which it is very easy to miss, especially if you don’t spend your time scrutinising the groins of NPCs. This of course confirmed the pre-release rumours of full-frontal male nudity, which appeared after the game’s ESRB rating was unveiled, and mentioned â€Å"non-sexual† male nudity. Imagine the poor intern/work experience lad (probably) who was forced to spend their coding and design days making sure the penises and testicles of the nudists cult members looked and responded in an authentic way. Sadly for some, there is no option to shed your own clothes and embrace the welcoming bond of your fellow nudes. In Trevor’s case, this can only be a good thing. Incidentally, the same ESRB rating that confirmed we’d see male nudity in the game also mentioned one brief reference to necrophilia, which so far has proved elusive. Not that we’re looking too hard, but it’s interesting to see something so openly discussed ahead of the release, and then so difficult to find (no matter how brief. ) Perhaps Rockstar’s DLC is going to be REALLY bold. Did we miss any Dirty Easter Eggs or hidden messages that you think should have made this list? Share your own finds in the comments below. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-12-dirty-hidden-secrets-and-easter-eggs-you-probably-missed. php/13#qYw1X3o7lktHeAtx. 99 7. Lawsuits Against The Franchise Total Over $1 Billion Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-9-facts-that-will-blow-your-mind. php/3#zJ1PsYbf7ted734A. 99 GTA and controversy go together like peanut butter and jam; the franchise is never going to steer away from it, and as you’ll learn in a minute, it often even encourages it. Rockstar’s history in court has been well-documented, perhaps best of all their legal feud with disgraced Florida attourney Jack Thompson, who once referred to GTA as a â€Å"cop-killing simulator†, and has filed a litany of lawsuits on behalf of families who lost loved ones â€Å"because of the game†. You might think these suits frivolous, yet Thompson clearly meant business, filing a $246m suit against Rockstar a decade ago after two teens murdered two other motorists. That’s just one example, though; the man has filed countless suits in the name of his self-righteous crusade, yet they never seem to come to anything. Still, as it stands, Rockstar’s combined lawsuits surrounding the franchise total over $1 billion, which little – if any – they’ve ever had to pay out. Let’s see how many more games it takes them to reach the $2 billion milestone†¦ Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/gta-v-9-facts-that-will-blow-your-mind. php/3#zJ1PsYbf7ted734A. 99 7 Reasons We Should Be Worried About Video Game Violence Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/7-reasons-worried-video-game-violence. php/2#KwUUcZepH9gdxhEP. 99 7. High Level Of Graphics Realism Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/7-reasons-worried-video-game-violence. php/2#KwUUcZepH9gdxhEP. 99 Games today are far more aesthetically pleasing and with this often comes a greater degree of realism. Most game players can understand the difference and progression in game graphics – even if it’s simply between hand held and next generation game consoles. But along with the quality of the graphics also comes the detail. Take, for example, the game Mortal Kombat – which along with Grand Theft Auto is a tabloid aphrodisiac – and its ‘fatality’ finishers. The original game was released in 1992 and of course garnered plenty of debate regarding video game violence; but if you look at the fatalities from that game compared to today, it’s startling. Check out Raiden’s finishing moves – he shoots some blue lighting into the stunned opponent whose head then explodes into low quality cartoonish spurts of blood. Raiden shouts something like â€Å"heynamameeeh† and we all high five. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/7-reasons-worried-video-game-violence.php/2#KwUUcZepH9gdxhEP. 99 6. Desensitisation With the realism and popularity of games comes the risk that we might become desensitized to violence. The majority of the research literature on video game violence focuses on this theory in one way or another; be it that it allows us to mute our own acts of aggression as suggested by Tobias Greitemayer in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, or that games are just part of a gradual global desensitisation to violence, as noted by Carnagey, Anderson and Bushman. Although much of modern research points away from violent video games reciprocating real world violence, the issue of desensitisation seems to be a constant theme. After all, if you see something over and over again it’s far less likely to shock you. However, what has changed along with video games, is the ease of access to violent and graphic images or video. Most owners of a Facebook account will have accidently played a shared video only to find half way through that it’s something sinister, like a cretin throwing puppies into a river, or the horrific video doing the rounds of a woman being decapitated. Also: as mentioned in the previous chapter, the depiction of violence on some of the most popular television shows is becoming increasingly more realistic and graphic. Several recent studies point to other mitigating, â€Å"real world† factors – and given the sheer number of us playing video games that are deemed violent, it’s these findings that make more sense to me. After all, if every Grand Theft Auto player replicated the game, we would need a Kevlar vest just to go fetch the newspaper. A study in the Journal of Psychiatric Research suggests that matters such as depression, antisocial personality traits, exposure to family violence and peer influences were the best predictors of youth aggression. This idea of video games merely being a piece of the desensitisation pie is further supported in recent research. A study in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, funded in the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings – this will be discussed in a later chapter – tried to address the discrepancies in research. The study by Ferguson and Olson looked at vulnerable groups, namely children with pre-existing mental health problems. They concluded that the association between video game violence and aggression was minimal, but did point that further work was needed when looking at children’s attainment of violent stimulus. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/7-reasons-worried-video-game-violence. php/3#Mc34jEfUCkm8wtJf. 99 5. Children Playing Adult Games With many video games now marketed exclusively for adults, the content can be unapologetically violent and graphic†¦ but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With many games now seemingly more like interactive films, you’d be rather disappointed if when you shot the game’s villain, blue glitter poured out and a care bare gave you a hug. For example, in the recent GTA V, the torture scene with Trevor is incredibly detailed and forces the player to engage in order to continue the game. Apart from being uncomfortable – which was the point – it reminds you that you’re in a very adult world. Yes, you can have sex with a prostitute then beat her to death with a baseball bat to recoup your money, but you can also take your character for a jog around the block, or play a round of golf. The point is – it’s your choice. You are essentially controlling a character in a godfather sandbox. As an adult who understands that this is a game, the implications of game violence are minimal. Otherwise, as stated earlier with around 13 million people buying the recent Call Of Duty, we would all need to know effective covering fire when leaving the house. The danger comes when you imagine children playing adult games. Aside from the point of desensitisation, a child’s mind is still developing and their view and understanding of the world is still being shaped. Therefore they are far more susceptive to influence, which is why film and television is so carefully scrutinised. In 1994, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) was put together to give age and content advisories on games. However this was only in Canada and the US and was not enforced by law. Fast forward to 2012 and the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) system becomes legislated, meaning anyone selling a game to an individual under-age faces a possible 6 months in prison and a ? 5,000 fine. Of course, how well enforced the ratings are is debatable, with most games still fairly easily bought online by teens. What’s interesting about the PEGI system is that violence can be present in games for ages as young as 12. For 12 year olds, it has to be in a fantasy setting such as Lord Of The Rings. For 16 year olds it can be explicit and once you get to 18 you can engage in graphic violence towards defenceless people including multiple, motiveless killings – hooray. The point is that whilst there are now more stringent controls on violent games, it’s only recently becoming enforced with any vigour. This in itself brings with it another reason to be worried about violence in video games†¦. Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/7-reasons-worried-video-game-violence. php/4#d0pyFo3jvDHcpzJK. 99 4. Stricter Controls Leading To Less Brave Games Read more at http://whatculture. com/gaming/7-reasons-worried-video-game-violence. php/5#R4q8EqZIh4V4Lrtu. 99 With the increase in game ratings and restrictions, there’s the risk that video games might follow their Hollywood counterparts.