Violence in Video Games Essay -- Media Violence

Violence in the media is a very complex plain extracting what actually causes aggression and what is just arbitrary mount can be a very sticky process. For instance, as a recreational mutanter of film grittys, I play what might be considered fierce grainys (mostly an online shoot em up game called Counter-Strike) in the eyes of somewhatone who perceives what I am doing as cleanup position or as violent, but there in lies the problem I make no association with the death, killing or abandon. Yes, I realize that on the screen there argon guns and that to someone unacquainted(predicate) with the game it might go through like mindless killing, but for me, it is truly just a challenge, a very engrossing and difficult one at that (due to the nature of the game I play, online, I am playing other people with real minds act just as hard as I am to come out on top). The object isnt killing, the object is winning, competition and honing your skill, which takes practice, like anything else. Now, true this is a bit tangental, but the point I am making is that it is not the actual video games that are causing these deviant behaviors, but sooner outside stimuli cause the ills we are experiencing as a culture. Now, having said that, if the conditions are right, I definitely believe that video games and other types of media violence can at least influence an unst equal target, but ban video games or censoring everything is not the correct approach, not given my experience, not based on the friends I have as models (given their video game history) or those whom which I have interacted with in gaming community at large (weve been under sharpshoot for some time now from these crusading Christian watchword thumpers). Video games are an intrical part of a large percentage of males in my generations lives and to have this outlet lessen to the whim of outsiders who have never enjoyed beating a level or vanquishing an opponent, who see these games as purely degenerative and wasteful, to me is just ridiculous. Look at parenting, look at T.V., look at the politics, look at social unrest, look at economic pressures, hell even look at video games if you real want, but to resign to the notion that some game actually causes these real life tragedies is a simply ludicrous and short-sighted in scope (90% percent of the time). unluckily for the quiet throngs of video game practitioners world/n... ...ic violence in video games in recent years, I thought I would conclude by citing a piece I heard on NPR wireless that reported a study done at University of Rochester, in the magazine Nature (http//discover.npr.org/rundowns/segment.jhtml?wfId=1278017) the study showed considerably heightened visual attention skills amongst hardcore gamers(who played what are called fps or first person shooters in which you carry the first person perspective and can barely see your gun/weapon and its crosshair) and were even able to increase the original control groups (tho se that hadnt previously played video games) perceptual awareness dramatically in 10 short hours of involved training (learing to play video games). The question that concluded the piece, was one that posited whether non-violent video games could produce the same positive effects without some of the known ills of violent video games. Finally, the question of media violence, and distinguishing among what is harmless entertainment and what the possible negative effects are can include a separate of grey area, but its important to know the facts and determine for yourself what place video games/media entertainment has in our lives. Violence in Video Games Essay -- Media ViolenceViolence in the media is a very complex subject extracting what actually causes aggression and what is just arbitrary circumstance can be a very sticky process. For instance, as a recreational player of video games, I play what might be considered violent games (mostly an online shoot em up g ame called Counter-Strike) in the eyes of someone who perceives what I am doing as killing or as violent, but there in lies the problem I make no association with the death, killing or violence. Yes, I realize that on the screen there are guns and that to someone unfamiliar with the game it might look like mindless killing, but for me, it is truly just a challenge, a very engrossing and difficult one at that (due to the nature of the game I play, online, I am playing other people with real minds trying just as hard as I am to come out on top). The object isnt killing, the object is winning, competition and honing your skill, which takes practice, like anything else. Now, admittedly this is a bit tangental, but the point I am making is that it is not the actual video games that are causing these deviant behaviors, but rather outside stimuli cause the ills we are experiencing as a culture. Now, having said that, if the conditions are right, I definitely believe that video games and ot her types of media violence can at least influence an unstable target, but banning video games or censoring everything is not the correct approach, not given my experience, not based on the friends I have as models (given their video game history) or those whom which I have interacted with in gaming community at large (weve been under attack for some time now from these crusading Christian bible thumpers). Video games are an intrical part of a large percentage of males in my generations lives and to have this outlet reduced to the whim of outsiders who have never enjoyed beating a level or vanquishing an opponent, who see these games as purely degenerative and wasteful, to me is just ridiculous. Look at parenting, look at T.V., look at the politics, look at social unrest, look at economic pressures, hell even look at video games if you really want, but to resign to the notion that some game actually causes these real life tragedies is a simply ludicrous and short-sighted in scope (9 0% percent of the time). Unfortunately for the quiet throngs of video game practitioners world/n... ...ic violence in video games in recent years, I thought I would conclude by citing a piece I heard on NPR Radio that reported a study done at University of Rochester, in the magazine Nature (http//discover.npr.org/rundowns/segment.jhtml?wfId=1278017) the study showed considerably heightened visual attention skills amongst hardcore gamers(who played what are called fps or first person shooters in which you carry the first person perspective and can only see your gun/weapon and its crosshair) and were even able to increase the original control groups (those that hadnt previously played video games) perceptual awareness dramatically in 10 short hours of involved training (learing to play video games). The question that concluded the piece, was one that posited whether non-violent video games could produce the same positive effects without some of the known ills of violent video games. Finally, the question of media violence, and distinguishing between what is harmless entertainment and what the possible negative effects are can include a lot of grey area, but its important to know the facts and decide for yourself what place video games/media entertainment has in our lives.