Video Game Violence

UGR is back after a hiatus with an article that touches on the hot button issue of video game violence.

This topic has been debated intently for years, one event that kicked off this issue was the columbine school shootings, in which anti-video game activists claimed that the popular shooter, Doom "made them do it." Over the years this battle has raged on, with games like GTA becoming extremely controvorsial. I myself think its the parent's responsibility to monitor their kid's behavior and purchases. People like Jack Thompson claim that since there are no laws in effect regulating the sale of M rated games to children, it makes it hard for parents to do so. What Thompson obviously hasnt done, is try to buy an M rated game as a young person, a Gamestop employee can be fired for selling an M rated game to someone under 16. Recently on one of my favorite shows, Attack of the Show, Jack Thompson, Mark Freidler and Adam Sessler discussed Rockstar's upcoming game, Bully. For those who dont know, Bully is an action game in which the player controls a 15 year old boy attending a prep school. The game allows you to live out the character's life, whether you choose to be a bully, nerd, prep, jock or anything in between. Many activists claim that the games schoolyard violence will encourage real schoolyard violence, as in the game you can get into fight and play pranks on other children. In the AOTS interview, Thompson immediatly comes out and gives a statistic saying that studies have shown that as video game sales have risen, so has violence levels. But lets consider this, video game sales arent the only thing rising in America, Unemployment, health care issues, a war in Iraq and poverty are all serious issues. Imagine for a moment that you are a 16 year old teen who just lost a family memeber in Iraq, now whats gonna make you want to start fights more, a tongue in cheek, almost cartoony game, or the extreme sense of loss? Interestingly enough, Jack Thompson's statistic was countered by Kevin's stat that said that its also shown that violent people like violent images, then the problem becomes a which came first issue. Adam Sessler proceeded to passionately defend his side, clearly defeated, Thompson attempted to throw in a report from last year that said that you would be able to beat your teachers with cricket bats, something that is most certainly NOT in the game (rockstar themselves has denied this). The comclusion that I have reached through all this is that it is the PARENTS responsibility to control what their children play, not Gamestops'.