“All right!” cried the young man as he gunned down the last of the oncoming attackers. We were at GameStop, and he was trying out the first-person shooter BioShock while I watched. As I looked from the blood-soaked, corpse-strewn scenery on the screen to the player’s smiling face, I was reminded of the kind of teen who would bring a gun to school and open fire. Some would say there was a correlation between the two. After I thought it over, I had to admit they were right. Violent video games should be banned or restricted because they make murder trivial, they reward the player for committing crimes, and their realism makes it easy for the violence to transfer to real life.

One reason violent video games are so harmful is that they make murder trivial. In other words, most video games require the player to kill so many people that the gamer comes to think nothing of murdering large numbers of enemies. Few games keep track of how many enemies you kill, but in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the number of enemies killed in one play through usually tops 1,000. According to Craig Anderson, “Repeated media violence exposure…decreases the normal negative emotional reactions to conflict, aggression, and violence.” As you can see from the quote, repeatedly killing people in games makes the gamer more accepting of violence and murder. Children who accept murder are more likely to commit murder.

Some games, however, feel the need to go further: they actually reward players for especially violent acts. Things like killing enemies with a grenade, killing a multitude of enemies, and sniping enemies all earn players bonuses. In the wildly popular game Halo 3, for example, you can earn medals in multiplayer for doing all of the above actions, as well as running someone over in a vehicle, burning them to death with the Flamethrower, and beating them to death with your weapon. Emily Sohn adds, “In games like Grand Theft Auto 3… The more violent you are, the more points you win.” These rewards encourage players to be as violent as possible. If this continues, they won’t need medals or points to commit some of these violent acts.

Violent video games are also getting more realistic. This makes it easier for the line between games and reality to blur or even completely fade away. For instance, the game Gall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare puts many different weapons into the player’s hands, all of which are real-life weapons in use today. Then the game pits you against human enemies, also equipped with realistic weapons, and adds authentic-looking blood effects when you shoot them. When describing the graphics of a new game, Paul Keegan said, “The images this astonishing new technology is most often called upon to render so lovingly are rivers of blood and chunks of torn flesh.” This realism causes the gamers to get their games and real life confused. Since killing in real life is okay, they may begin to believe that murder in real life is acceptable as well. Realistic violent video games are a big contributor to a gamer becoming more violent.

So now you see the different ways violent video games twist and corrupt players’ minds to make them more violent. Violent video games make them more accepting of killing. Violent video games reward them for especially violent acts. Violent video games’ realism makes it easier for the player to confuse the game with real life. If we want to prevent society from being collapsed by constant violence, we need to stop video games that promote violence. That way, we can all continue to lead safe, happy lives.

OwN3R of the HIDAN FACTION
Co-Owner~ Sai Haterz FC

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****o===||__O__________________/ -ZABUZA sword!
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"But mine doesn't cut through rice paper!" *muffled*