Essay On The Bad Influence Of Video Games On Society

Decent Essays
Are Violent Video Games a Bad Influence on Society? Still today, more than 1.2 billion people play video games worldwide, and also 10 of the 20 best-selling games contained violence in 2008.Violence in video games started exactly 38 years ago when the very first violent game was called Death Race, released by the arcade gaming company Exidy, is said to be one of the largest creators of arcade games between 1974 to 1986. Public outrage came with this violent video game. However, it fueled its game sales and Exidy made a name for themselves, and when there were extreme levels of press attention, those games then turned out to be a marketing success. Violent video games are not a bad influence on society, aggression can come from the frustration …show more content…
Violent video games nowadays are based around social activity all across the internet. Gamers and people interact with each other through headsets conversing during their gaming sessions. Games like this can help build up people’s social skills by talking to more people while interacting with each other simultaneously in a game. Iain Thomson, author of “VIOLENT video games make KIDS SMARTER - more violent the BETTER” states, “...modern video games are much more socially orientated, thanks to growth on massive online gaming environments…” (qtd. from the research journal entry of American Psychologist). Violent video games present an advantage because the people they are helping out, are those who are shy or going through some tough times and need someone with which to communicate. Social interaction from gaming, in general, is a significant example for why video games can be a positive influence to have later in life in getting to meet new people as well as for building confidence for job interviews. Also, the mental capabilities come into play as a good factor as well with improvement on the person’s playing abilities. Thomson also reports, “...a few rounds of a first-person shooter showed [gamers] developed faster reaction times, higher spatial resolutions, and enhanced mental rotation facilities...” (qtd. in VIOLENT video games make KIDS …show more content…
Most people can differentiate between fantasy and reality. People playing violent video games on a daily basis know it is just fantasy and they are having fun, while causing violence in the virtual world of the video game. However, some might think that it can poison a person’s mind by being confused with the different factors of reality and fantasy. Also, thinking in their minds that it is a good thing by going out and committing a crime just because they saw some violence in a video game which by the way a game is all settled around the virtual reality, not actual reality. This is just another idiotic reason to blame violent video games, when really they do nothing to harm anyone. Ethan Gilsdorf, a writer for the New York Times, claims, “...violent video games aren’t only “not so bad,” but actually help keep the real world killings where they belong - in our imaginations...” (qtd. in We Need Violent Video Games). Violent games is not going to get rid of killings in the world and people can agree with that, they happen everyday for different reasons, however this is a start to where a lot of people can keep killings, just to the world of fantasy in violent video games. Gilsdorf also brings to mind, “...players don’t let their violent fantasies get the better of them, or others” (qtd. in We Need Violent Video Games). People playing these violent games typically know the

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