Task 2:

There has been a lot of discussion about the effects of 18 + age

rated games on the public, and whether these games cause players
to act in violent ways out side of the
game in response to it. This issue has
been describes as a moral panic. One
game in particular is Call of Duty the
most successful first person shooting
game franchise in the industry. Some say
its popularity is down to the raw, primal
satisfaction received from shooting
people over and over again others
claim its down to the rush of adrenaline you get after being shot at
yourself. Either way its fair to say there are a lot of people who like
Call of Duty, for lots of different reasons.
Another game franchise striking up a lot of controversy is Grand
Theft Auto with GTA 5 being the best
selling video game ever. Similar to Call of
Duty, the game involves the player taking
a first person, head on role, this time in an
open-world setting. The game allows the
player to experience the action first hand,
as if it were them there. The games
perception of violence has been massively
criticised by the media, being described as
a murder simulator. This is due to
features such as the ability to kill freely and drink and drive.
Many psychologists have tried to prove that video games such as
these are the cause of particular violence outside of the game,
however the link between the two is hard to prove. Craig Anderson,
a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology, devoted his lifes
work to the study of how violent game play affects youth behaviour.
His recent study analysed 130 research reports on more that
130,000 subjects worldwide, suggests exposure to these games
makes the individual more aggressive and less caring regardless of
age, sex or culture. Anderson said, "Such exposure also increases
aggressive thinking and aggressive affect, and decreases pro-social
behaviour.
Another psychologist, Carnage, suggested that these video games
lead to desensitisation of real-life violence. Carnagey divided his
sample into two groups, one played a violent video game for 20
minutes, the other played a non-violent game for 20 minutes. After,
all the participants watched a film including real life violence, whilst
being connected to a machine that measured their heart rate. He
found that those who had played the violent game had over all

lower heart rates throughout the film than those who had played the
non-violent game. This suggests they had been desensitised to the
violence. The longer the individual plays the game, the more
desensitised they become. Carnagey concluded that these players
are therefore more likely to involve themselves in violent situations
than those who play less.
Another theory of why gamers show acts of violence in response to
these video games is the hypodermic needle theory. This theory
suggests that media messages are injected directly into the brains
of a passive audience. This means that players act violently outside
of the game, as this message of violence has been injected into
their brains. The individual begins to believe that their actions in the
game, such as beating people up or shooting at them, are
acceptable in real life. However this theory has been criticised for
being too simplistic. This theory is link to the mass shooting that
happened in the case below. Another theory that researches look at
is the The Uses and Gratifications theory. This theory focuses on why
and how people actively seek out media products. This theory also
links to the Hypodermic Needle Model, which suggests that the
consumer directly receives and accepts messages that the media
sends out. And lastly when psychologists try and prove that video
games make you violent they include a theory is known as passive
audience This theory suggests that as an audience, the creators of
media texts manipulate us, and that our behaviour and thinking
might be easily changed by media-makers.
https://chrisupsona2.wordpress.com/2012/11/06/passive-audiencetheory

One of the biggest cases related to the theory of do video games

make you violent is Aaron Alexis. This passive audience member
became hook on playing too much call of duty and was convicted for
killing 12 people and harshly injuring 3 in a Shooting located at
Washington navy yard. Aaron became hook on video games and
believed that the actions in Call of Duty, was okay to do in real life.
Aaron thought it was okay to do in real life, which meant he was a
passive audience due to the addiction of call of duty, that he played
24/7. The gratification theory also links this case as before the
shooting happened, Aaron was diagnosed with health problems such
as insomnia, paranoia, and schizophrenia; he also started to hear
voices whilst he was playing Call of Duty. The reason he started
hearing voices is due to his mental health such as schizophrenia
problems, he also started carrying a gun around due the mental
illness of paranoia. The hypodermic theory links with this case
because he started to enjoy killing people, this is because he was so
used to killing so many people online on call of duty it started to
become a natural action in his life because of his addiction to call of

duty, which he thought was okay to do so. This case is fairly difficult
to conclude weather video games make you violent, this is because
Aaron had mental illnesses but however, the theorys can balance
that if he never played call of duty, he would of never gone around
killing people, as he would gather that it wasnt a normal thing.

Another big case the questions whether video games make you
violent or not, is the 8 year old kid who killed his grandmother after
coping the game GTA. The game is one the main video games that
is associated with crime, there are still many debates to if video
games cause people to be violent but the following case questions
researchers. The 8-year-old boy has been playing the game whilst
his grandmother looks after him. Whilst she was sat in the living
room the 8-year-old boy purposely shot his grandmother in the back
of the head. From this investigation the police concluded that video
game was a main reason for the grandmothers murder, as
investigators know that before the murder occurred, he was in fact
playing the GTA on the PlayStation. The gratification theory can be
used in this case as in this situation; the young boy was playing GTA
for his own enjoyment. The is case is similar to the killing in
Washington as they were both were manipulated into thinking that it
was okay to use actions on the game in a real life scene. They both
were passive to the game, however there was no evidence that the
8 year old was addicted to GTA but at a young age so he was taken

in for testing. I feel that there is a direct link between video games
and the kid killing his grandmother, this is because hes really young
so he would been influenced easily, and during the age they are still
learning in what is right and what is wrong so they rely on their
parents to guide them in how to be a normal human being. After
doctors and physcolgishts look at the boy they all agreed that was
link between the video games and violence, from this research other
people are saying that video games and enable good skill when
comes down to mass shooting, for example a physiologist known as
Brad bushman, says it was possible that in the mass shooting in
Washington Navy yard, the shooter may of been more accurate
because he was spending too much time playing video games.
Overall from this case the 8 year old boy shouldnt been playing GTA
which is why games have age limits.
I feel that video games have been related to many crimes that have
been put on the news, however they jump to conclusion very
quickly, millions of people play video games everyday that are rated
18, when something big happens the press love telling everyone
that there is an effect with video games, but really most people
would look at the article and laugh about it, because its stupid and
inhumane. The press like to show these crimes to parents because it
makes them scared about their children playing video games, which
is understandable. But to sum up this essay, do I think video games
are violent? No, but to justify my answer It doesnt mean I think
games have an influence on certain people. I feel that its easier for
a 12 year old to grab an 18 rated game, than it is for a 17year old to
buy alcohol which is all down to parents, I feel that most these
crimes you hear for example the 8 year old boy killing his
grandmother, revolves around parents letting there children playing
these games. Parents in my opinion are the reason for these crimes,
which they need to realise. There is however, a new legislation
which stops young children copying the content they see on video
games , retailers will be charged a hefty fine id they sell 18 rated
games to anyone below, which I feel is really helpful and will stop
the crimes we see on the press.