This document discusses and summarizes several studies and articles about whether video games can lead to real-world violence. It notes that while some politicians and media claim video games cause shootings, numerous scientific studies have found no evidence of a link. Experimental studies show only small, short-term increases in aggression that do not translate to criminal plans or behavior. The document also examines several controversial video games and whether any have been linked to violence, finding little to no connection in most cases.

1. Essay research
Oliver Ingham

2. Dana Foundation: Do Video Games Lead To
Violence? (Philip M. Boffey)
• In this piece, the author talks mainly about a shooting that happened in a Walmart in Texas that killed 22
people and injured 24 others.
• The author mentions that many politicians and the main stream media was quick to state how this act of
violence was due to video games as during the attack, the assailant made a reference to video game soldiers,
indicating that he was familiar with video game violence. Although, later it was stated by the police who lead
an investigation after the attack that the attack was racially charged against “Mexican’s coming to America”
• The author then goes onto to show that he knows that there is a link that the media and politicians want to
make between video games and real life violence although throughout all the research done, there has been
nothing found on this. He mentions that one of the reasons that people are sceptical about the link is
because of how quickly video games have spread around the world.
• There is also a mention on how the government have tried to stop violence in video games from getting to
the impressionable youth and that is by age ratings to help guide parents/ guardians to see what is suitable
for their children. This is because in some games, death and gore is sometimes incentivised and shown in
great detail.
• “They show at best some correlation between exposure to violent entertainment and minuscule
real-world effects, such as children feeling more aggressive or making louder noises in the few
minutes after playing a violent game than after playing a nonviolent game” - Justice Antonio Scalia
before the supreme court.
• The rest of the article talks mainly about gambling within video games.

3. The Guardian: Playing Video Games Doesn’t Lead
To Violent Behaviour, Study Shows. (Alex Hern)
• This is a rare case of the main stream media admitting to the general public, that video games do indeed,
not cause real life violence.
• This article was published on Wednesday the 22nd of July, just to show how long it has taken for a giant in the
main stream media to finally admit this.
• The article talks about how a study with more than 21,000 young people, using meta- analysis, came back
showing no link between aggressive behaviour and playing video games.
• The study shows that there is “miniscule positive correlation” between aggression shown and video games
that is way below the threshold for someone to lash out or do something harmful towards someone else.
• Even with this evidence provided, a politician (who has nothing to do with the study) said that it “wasn’t
meaningful” which just shows how even with thousands of pieces of evidence in front of them, they still
don’t believe it and won’t allow it to ruin their perspective or agenda.
• For the study, the people who conducted it, even looked through 28 studies from previous years ( as far back
as 2008) to see if they found any correlation between data and results and they found that all the results
and data gathered was essentially the same as to what they found within their study.
• There was an argument that if there was a negative response to a game, no matter how little, it would stack
up and lead to something bigger. Although this is a possibility, the people conducting the study said it was a
possibility but they found that there was no sign of accumulation of anger between sessions of even as little
time of 2 minutes. So in theory, yes, this could happen but it isn’t realistically a possibility.

4. Polygon: A Brief History Of Blaming Video
Games For Mass Murder (Colin Campbell)
• The article mentions how video games have slowly become a mainstay of modern culture although they sadly still carry the stigma
and disapproval of causing violence.
• President Trump said in light of a mass shooting where 14 students were murdered, that it is linked to video games, ignore the fact
that the person in question was mentally ill and was racially fuelled against minorities, the people he targeted in his shooting. And
Trump blamed video games for this shooting rather than the American health system or gun control.
• The NRA attempted to get a ban on violent video games as they believed it was the video game corporation’s fault of mass
shootings but failed to get a pass on this decision.
• Of the top 100 deadliest mass shootings in modern history, 40 took place in the USA, the most deadly taking place in 1927. 7 took
place before video games were apart of American life, leaving 33 school shootings taking place between 1980 and 2018, in which
more than 1 person was slain. In 4 of these 33, the perpetrators have been defiantly identified as fans of video games.
• Columbine (1999)- shooters were fans of the video game “DOOM”
• Heath High School (1997)- 14 year old was a fan of video games but suffered from constant bullying and mental illnesses.
• Sandy Hook (2012)- “A loner with known mental illness and a fascination in school shootings. He frequently played video games,
his favourite being Dance Dance Revolution.”
• Parkland (2018)- Shooter spent many hours a day playing violent video games and suffered from severe depression.
• Video games are mostly tied to school shootings, because they are generally perpetrated by young men who are (or
were) at the affected school. Other mass shootings often take place in the workplace, or in public spaces. Their motives
are generally tied to the beliefs, vices, professional failures, mental illnesses or broken relationships of the individual
shooters, not to their entertainment choices.

5. FBI Research Document On The Link Between
Video Games And Mass Shootings.
• The FBI have claimed that a student playing video games is a potential sign to
look out for.
• This is weird as the secret service and department of education found that in 37
incidents of school violence, 12% of those people played or had an interest in
video games, compared to films 37%.
• “Video games are mostly tied to school shootings, because they are
generally perpetrated by young men who are (or were) at the affected
school. Other mass shootings often take place in the workplace, or in
public spaces. Their motives are generally tied to the beliefs, vices,
professional failures, mental illnesses or broken relationships of the
individual shooters, not to their entertainment choices.”
• Reading through the grim stories of school shootings, it is very surprising
how little video games are brought up compared to other outlets of media,
yet the narrative is based and focused more on video games causing
violence, showing that there is already a narrative being run.

6. American Psychological Association: Violent Video
Games: Myths, Facts and Unanswered Questions.
(Craig A. Anderson, PhD)
• Four types of media violence studies provide converging evidence of such effects: laboratory experiments, field experiments,
cross-sectional correlation studies, and longitudinal studies.
• Two features of video games fuel renewed interest by researchers, public policy makers, and the general public. First, the active
role required by video games is a double-edged sword. It helps educational video games be excellent teaching tools for
motivational and learning process reasons. Second, the arrival of a new generation of ultraviolent video games beginning in the
early 1990s and continuing unabated to the present resulted in large numbers of children and youths actively participating in
entertainment violence that went way beyond anything available to them on television or in movies. Recent video games reward
players for killing innocent bystanders, police, and prostitutes, using a wide range of weapons including guns, knives, flame
throwers, swords, baseball bats, cars, hands, and feet. Some include cut scenes (i.e., brief movie clips supposedly designed to
move the story forward) of strippers. In some, the player assumes the role of hero, whereas in others the player is a criminal.
• Some studies have yielded nonsignificant video game effects, just as some smoking studies failed to find a significant link to lung
cancer. But when one combines all relevant empirical studies using meta-analytic techniques, five separate effects emerge with
considerable consistency. Violent video games are significantly associated with: increased aggressive behaviour, thoughts, and
affect; increased physiological arousal; and decreased prosocial (helping) behaviour.
• High levels of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and
violent criminal behaviour.
• Though there are good theoretical reasons to expect some populations to be more susceptible to violent video game effects than
others, the research literature has not yet substantiated this. That is, there is not consistent evidence for the claim that younger
children are more negatively affected than adolescents or young adults or that males are more affected than females. There is
some evidence that highly aggressive individuals are more affected than nonaggressive individuals, but this finding does not
consistently occur. Even nonaggressive individuals are consistently affected by brief exposures.

7. CBS News: Playing video games does not make you
a mass shooter, experts say. (CAITLIN O'KANE,
RACHID HAOUES)
• "When it comes to actual serious criminal violence, there's virtually no evidence
that video games matter," James Ivory, professor and research director at Virginia
Tech, told CBS News.
• The public doesn't always blame crime on video games — but they are eight
times more likely to do so when the perpetrator of a crime is white, according to
Ivory. "White people don't play video games more than people of colour," he
said. Therefore, pulling video games into conversations about white criminals
may be using the games as a baseless excuse.
• While 165 million Americans play video games, billions play them worldwide. Yet
other countries do not connect these games with violent acts.
• Ivory reiterated that study after study shows media, including video games, has
no link to violent crime. "I think it's OK morally to have a problem with
celebrating violence. It's even OK to say maybe playing video games a lot does
something to you, but it definitely doesn't make you a mass shooter. There are
other things that affect that," he said.

8. Molecular Psychiatry: Does playing violent video
games cause aggression? A longitudinal
intervention study.
• Previous experimental studies have focussed on short-term effects of violent video
gameplay on aggression, yet there are reasons to believe that these effects are mostly
the result of priming. In contrast, the present study is the first to investigate the effects
of long-term violent video gameplay using a large battery of tests spanning
questionnaires, behavioural measures of aggression, sexist attitudes, empathy and
interpersonal competencies, impulsivity-related constructs (such as sensation seeking,
boredom proneness, risk taking, delay discounting), mental health (depressivity, anxiety)
as well as executive control functions, before and after 2 months of gameplay.
• participants played the violent video game Grand Theft Auto V, the non-violent video
game The Sims 3 or no game at all for 2 months on a daily basis. No significant changes
were observed, neither when comparing the group playing a violent video game to a
group playing a non-violent game, nor to a passive control group.
• The concern that violent video games may promote aggression or reduce empathy in its
players is pervasive and given the popularity of these games their psychological impact is
an urgent issue for society at large. Contrary to the custom, this topic has also been
passionately debated in the scientific literature. One research camp has strongly argued
that violent video games increase aggression in its players

9. MANHUNT (2003) – Video
Game
MANHUNT was a game made by the most popular video game
studio, ROCKSTAR. The game is a stealth based horror game that
thrives on violence and that is the main mechanic of the game.
The game gives the player the choice as to whether they want to
preform a simple execution on a enemy or a more gruesome one,
stats show that over 97% of players chose the more violent option
based down to “curiosity” when the players were asked. The game
was so brutal and gory that it was banned in up to 15 countries. It
does not help that the game is based around the idea of snuff
films, which are films that showcase, death, torture or even rape,
these themes are explored and hinted to throughout the game.
Although the game was shun by the media and banned in many
countries, the game has created a cult following who love and
adore the game for pushing the boundaries and testing the psyche
of the player yet there has never been a case of violence being
blamed or even hinted at the game. Showing that even the most
disturbing games can not have an effect on people and their
actions within the real world.

10. DOOM (1993) – Video Game
DOOM is a cult classic video game series that has recently had a new
addition added to its rich history, this game series is one of the most
iconic game series of all time and being one of the highest grossing just
to add to it repertoire. DOOM was never really blamed or even thought
to cause violence when it first released due to all the violence being put
onto demons from hell and not portraying any violence towards humans
that the player could cause, even though there were sights of bloodied
or dead humans, although a very rare sighting within the game. The
reason the game ever brought into the question of causing real world
violence was the 1999 Columbine shooting. This is all because of one of
the perpetrators names his gun that he used in the mass shooting,
Arlene, after a character in the game. This is basically what started the
real conversation of if video games cause real life violence due to this
one reference and now it is a stigma that video games are looking to
have to live with for as long as they are a part of a culture.

11. Hatred (2014) – Video
Game
• Hatred is a different game… No claims of violence have ever
been said about this game within real life… But that’s the point of
it all.
• Hatred is a game made to stand up against political correctness
about video games, the whole meaning and point of the game is
to go around and kill as many innocent human beings as possible
with an incentive to do by gaining points for killing, sometimes in
the game you can get an up close execution that shows in detail
of you killing someone. The point of this game, as the developer
states, is to show that if you believed what the main stream
media said about video games causing violence, then this is what
would happen in real life. Nothing but going around killing
innocents for fun. To show the seriousness of the game, it is
completely in black and white to emphasise how “black and
white” it would be if video games really did cite violence in the
real world. Although it was frowned upon within gaming
communities, it is very under rated, the message is sends and
shows and it is an important game to think about when
discussing this topic. Although not in good faith, it is a very good
game to bring up and put in the main spotlight when this topic
arises.

12. GTA Series (1997- 2013,
To be continued.)
Grand Theft Auto, or more commonly known as GTA, started as a
simple driving game where you ran from the police whilst driving
wreckfully but by GTA 3, you could exist the car and release mayhem
onto the world in this now classic sandbox, open world master piece.
The series really started gaining traction after it’s critically acclaimed
game, GTA IV, where the player was allowed to do a lot more stuff
and explore the most diverse and full world, with a gripping story to
help. But this is where the game also started getting it’s hate from
the media as murder and illegal acts were now a core part of the
game where prostitutes and drugs are now involved as well as the
expansive arsenal of weapons at the players disposal to wreck havoc.
When GTA V released, no one expected ROCKSTAR to hold back on
the chaotic content that the gaming world had come to know and
love and they did not disappoint, making one of the largest and most
diverse open worlds ever made. More weapons and vehicles to
cause more mayhem and even more gory violence. The main stream
media hates this series due to the main core of the game but the
gaming world loves this series and will continue to play it no matter
what the main stream media says about it. No cases of violence have
been blamed on this game either.

13. Call Of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2 (2009)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will always be one of the most
controversial games ever made, not just for it’s themes of war and
death whilst scrutinising both American, Russian, British and Chinese
military’s. But one mission, where you play an undercover agent
participating in a terrorist attack where you and the people you are
trying to fit in with go through an airport and kill all innocent people
in there, gunning them down. This is the only ever skippable mission
in the history of the series due to it’s intense nature. When the media
found out about this mission, they jumped on it trying to scare the
general public that playable missions like this could cause a shooting
on this scale to happen in real life. This has not been true as nothing
has been close to this and never mentioned the name of the game.
This is a very distressing mission for some and is well warranted the
“skip” option in the menu when the mission appears but as
previously mentioned, nothing has come of this in real life and there
are no signs that anything will, especially linked the game. The game
developers came under scrutiny after the game’s release just mainly
because of this mission but even with this mission, the game has
gone on to be classed as one of the greatest games ever made and
still has an active community to this day.

14. Mortal Kombat Series (1992
– 2019, To Be Continued.)
Mortal Kombat is one of the most successful and popular game
series' ever made and only continues to rise in popularity with
every release. But Mortal Kombat would never have been what
it is now without the controversy surrounding it. With the
series’ first release, it was instantly involved with controversy
with how gruesome and gory the game was, including
decapitations and many, many executions. The media tried to
bury this game ever since release but because of the violence,
that was the main draw of the game and has remained to be
the main stay and focus of the series and the fanbase and
peers seem to love it. The media tried to stop people from
buying this game as they thought it would inspire people,
especially the youth, to try out some moves shown in the game
which caused fatal to the characters. The media also pushed to
get the game banned in some countries and in some, it worked
but the majority of the world now embraces the game and
applauds it’s violence and with every instalment, asks for more
and expects more.

15. Uses and gratifications Theory.
• The uses and gratifications theory focus' on "what people do with media" rather than the more popular question of "what does media do to people".
This discusses why people choose specific media choices over others that are also Widley available to them, it discusses how users deliberately
choose media that will satisfy given needs and allow one to enhance knowledge, relaxation, social interactions/companionship, diversion, or escape.
• There are 3 main stages to the theory and how it works.
• Stage 1: A study done in 1944 found that their were 3 main types of gratification form asking soap opera fans as to why they indulge in that type of
media, Herzog found that the main 3 were, emotional, wishful thinking, and learning.
• According to West and Turner, UGT was an extension of needs and gratification theory, as outlined by Abraham Maslow in 1954, which argues that
people actively looked to satisfy their needs based on a hierarchy. These needs are organized as Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the form of a pyramid
with the largest, most fundamental needs at the base and the need for self-actualization at the top. From the bottom-up the pyramid contains
Biological/Physical, Security/Safety, Social/Belonging, Ego/Self-Respect and Self-actualization at the top.
• Stage 2: In 1969, Jay Blumer and Dennis McQuail studied the 1964 election in the UK by examining people's motives for watching certain political
programmes on television. By categorizing the audience's motives for viewing a certain program, they aimed to classify viewers according to their
needs in order to understand any potential mass-media effects.
• In 1972 Denis McQuail, Jay Blumler and Joseph Brown suggested that the uses of different types of media could be grouped into 4 categories. The
four categories were: diversion, personal relationships, personal identity and surveillance.
• Stage 3: The most recent interest surrounding Uses and Gratifications Theory is the link between the reason why media is used and the achieved
gratification. Uses and gratifications theory researchers are developing the theory to be more predictive and explanatory by connecting the needs,
goals, benefits, and consequences of media consumption and use along with individual factors.
• In 1983, Rehman applied uses and gratifications theory to study the relationship between the movie audience expectations and satisfaction derived
from going to the movies.

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