Video Games, a case of mistaken identity?

It seems that not a day goes by without reading of the gruesome horrors associated with recent day life. As with films and TV in days gone by it would appear the humble Video Game has emerged as the great terror influencing the youngness of today’s recent British society.

20 years ago if you were to say the text video game to anyone it would conjure up images of fat moustache sporting Italian named plumbers making their way through a two-tone side scrolling magical land to an infuriatingly repetitive 8-bit soundtrack. However if you utter the same two text in 2009 you are likely to be greeted with a gasps and sighs of disgust as the image of a hooded teen in a darkened room with a year’s supply of energy drinks and crisps piled up beside them.

It seems rattling much that Video Games hit embellish the enemy of the 21st Century however given the incompatible nature of video game critics it is arduous to take this view seriously, however that has not stopped passionate advocates of recent day video games doing their upmost in protest of this new job of violence. None perhaps hit finished more for the cause than Florida supported attorney Jack Thompson. Thompson has made it his mission over the time decade to rid the world of violent video games and secure those that do slip through the new do not fall in to the hands of minors. Mr. Thompson has a particular bee in his bonnet regarding one Edinburgh supported publisher Rockstar Games. Since the launch of Grand Theft machine and the Creation of Rockstar games in 1997 the world of video game critics rejoiced at this new ‘scapegoat’, the combination of on concealment hostility and hands on game play led to concerns that video games may substantially be conditioning youngsters when it comes to extreme violence. The games questionable graphics and soundtrack lead to some claims being dismissed, as it was not believed a denomination with much graphics could hit a serious influence on a conference mind.

This changed with the release of the Playstation 2 in 2000 and Grand Theft machine 3 the following year, this for the first time bought genuinely 3D gaming to users. It was with the release of GTA 3 that Jack Thompson’s ears pricked up with great attention and it wasn’t long before he was at it again. In 2003 Dustin Lynch made an insanity plea after being accused of murder claiming he was ‘obsessed’ with the game and been influenced by the game’s depiction of graphic violence. The plea was retracted and his mother stated that it had null to do with Video Games. As video games hit improved both graphically and in terms of game play they hit taken on new roles in gild and in recent years hit seen a return to the family orientated recreation hub of yesteryear but can video game developers genuinely claim complete innocence? The Call of Duty series is one of the most popular and successful franchises in video game story and has modify been adopted by the US army as a way of training the US armies soldiers in strategic combat so does this not enforce the argument that video games can indeed ‘train’ players in violent situations? substantially not exactly yes the advancements made in video games has made the level of realism unquestionably detailed however can it really be argued that today’s youngness are uneducated enough to struggle to differentiate between actual life and a number of coloured pixels on a broadcasting screen? The incompatible nature I referred to earlier plays into this subject. Obesity in recent years has embellish a actual hot topic in the USA and indeed Britain and what was being blamed? Yes, that’s right the time being spent in front of the small concealment playing video games, so personally I find it rattling arduous to imagine these obese gamers who apparently spend null short of ‘all’ their time in front of the broadcasting causing mayhem and dysfunction on the streets of this nation.

The video game judgement system ensures titles intended for adults are not sold to conference however it does not secure that they will not be played by much conference at some point. A similar judgement system is in place in the USA however it is not nearly as tight as that in the UK and mature titles hit been sold to underage US kids. Grand Theft machine although a favourite for the prosecution is not the exclusive franchise to be blamed, the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007 which saw the worst shootings of its kind in recent history, Jack Thompson was quick to lay the blame firmly at the door of Video Games after he stated, killer Seung-Hui Cho was a fan of first person shooter counterstrike however it was later revealed by Cho’s roommates that they had never modify seen him playing the game. Never the less the claim had great resonance here in the UK leading to some retailers refusing to stock certain titles one of which is another of Rockstar’s titles ‘Canis Canem Edit’ originally known as bully which underwent a name change for the UK mart due to pressure on the publisher, despite the game completely advocating bullying. The massacre also contributed to the banning of the sequal to controversial Manhunt in the UK market.

As with mobile phones and their manifest links to cancer much research has been finished in to the link between hostility and video games, and it is not just hostility that has been researched, oh no, it is also video games manifest glamorization of sex, drugs and maybe modify rock and roll’. And what is the conclusion? substantially unsurprisingly research showed no significant link between video games and violent crimes, sexual assault or drug intake. However alcohol on the other hand can be directly linked with the above however has this led to a global damning of alcohol? No. So what of our friend Mr. Thompson? What did he make of this research? Well, not much as it happens however in a sign that video games are ‘fighting back’ in a totally non violent way of course he has since been barred by the state of Florida from filing any new cases due to improper conduct and abusing the system.

So great news video games are off the hook, substantially if exclusive it were that simple. Critics will continue to look for an easy excuse in justifying a youngster’s behaviour and when the white coat clad forensics move in they may substantially continue to march time the sawn off shot gun and the stylish edition of shooting for dummies and march straight for the games room and the stylish video game with an 18 certificate. But I ask these critics to consider this, the hostility or the video games which came first? In the meantime we await the stylish job that will warp and destroy the minds of the children of the world abandoning logic, reason in favour of blaming the glamorous and evolving world of recent entertainment.