Argumentative Essay on Violence in Video Games: Whether Video Games Harmful or not
Abstract
This paper will investigate the evidence on whether or not video games are as harmful as they have been portrayed in the media over the years. It will discuss the history of video games over the last thirty years including defining the environment, the history with the media and how gaming and its impacts have changed over those years. In order to fully understand the impacts a discussion take places on why males involve themselves in the game industry and environment and explores the affects this involvement has on distinct groups within the male study ages. An exploration of the different development and social impacts video game involvement has on teenage males is discussed at length. For the purpose of the study group and affected individuals input a survey was taken for two separate groups impacted by video game usage. One was deployed for parents with sons and one for males who play video games. Their input was complied, compared and discussed against what the statistics claim to be true of video games. In conclusion it is decided whether or not video games are an addiction or a healthy outlet and what recommendations can be made for the current perceived problem with our male youth and video games.
Keywords: addiction, outlet, video games, gaming industry, game addiction, teenage males
Addiction or Outlet
Video games and the media have long had a heated and somewhat tormented relationship. In the past as well as in the current state of our country many times when our country suffers another loss from a violent act, we see news anchors discuss whether or not violent video games incite violent behavior. It has also been brought up whether or not it hinders development in younger children who are introduced to video games too early and that is stunts or affects their social and life skills. Though video games can or could become an addiction to some male teenagers and possibly expose them to unintended graphic situations, video games can also be a healthy outlet when properly monitored. Those unintended side effects can be avoided with proper steps and steer video game usage in a better, less influential method of release. It can help those who struggle in social situations or with social or anxiety disorders. Video games can also give those same people an appropriate outlet, relief from stress, confidence in themselves and improved concentration. My research aims to demonstrate that with the proper support video games can be a healthy outlet for teenage males and though there may be an association to behavioral issues, causation does not always equal correlation, but that when left unchecked and not monitored, it can become a trigger.
History
The history of video games is a long and interesting one between the development of the actual technology used to play them and the work that goes into actual game development. Though video games have been around for over six decades, for the purpose of this research we are only going to go back to the 1990s, when the technology really started to rise. The early nineties are when home consoles and video games really started to see a rise. Sega and NES were becoming household names and we “saw the release of a wealth of popular games on both consoles, including new franchises such as Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat” which sparked conversations all the way to the government about the regulation of video game content (History.com Editors 2017). The following will discuss and go more in depth on video games, what they include, what they are, their relationship with the media and how they have evolved over time.
What is video gaming and its associated Environments?
Video Gaming Overview.
In today’s technological world, video games can and do encapsulate a large category of systems and games. We have anywhere from a smartphone or Nintendo switch to an Xbox or a PS4 to a Personal Computer. Gone are the days where video games belong to a stationary device from the comfort of your home. So, the environments that are considered video game centric are vast and now very far reaching. For the definition of an actual video game, it doesn’t get any less broad, “video games could also be defined as consisting of three essential parts: setting, sensory stimuli and rules” (Zackariasson & Wilson 2012). This would include apps like Candy Crush all the way to something like Call of Duty. This is part of the reason why video game usage is so common in today’s environment; you can almost always find a way to be involved and gaming no matter where you are or how simple your device may seem. This progression in technology has only added to the strife involved in the media’s portrayal of video games because we now can have them anywhere, we go.
Definition of gaming for the purpose of this research.
That