Video Game Violence

1
Video Game Violence

• Cory Cummings
• Yelena Nikolyeva
• Margaret Stewart
• Lauren Terhaar

2
General Arguments

• Correlation not causation
• Focusing on the wrong issues
• Why regulation doesnt work

3
Correlation versus Causation

• Conflicting results from studies
• All children who play video games do not become
  killers, it may be aggressive children that are
  drawn to video games
  
• Many different risk factors that lead to
  aggression make it difficult "to isolate the
  independent effect of media violence
  
• Possible alternatives
• General arousal theory - children excited by the
  stimulating nature of video games will behave
  more aggressively or actively regardless of game
  content
• Catharsis theory - the emotional drive evoked by
  violent video game play reduces the chance of a
  child actually exhibiting violent behavior the
  childs fantasy play and imagined actions causes
  the child to have reduced urges to act out
  aggression in actual behavior

4
Correlation versus Causation

• "I'm pretty sure movies and some games have
  desensitized me, but they haven't taken away my
  common sense. If I see someone get hit by a car,
  I'd still help them, just because I know they
  need help. I mean, games are not going to
  desensitize me so much that I'll walk right past
  a man lying on the ground clutching his leg while
  blood squirts out."
• Much depends on the mental equipment and
  background that viewers bring to TV, movies, or
  video games.
  
• "Most violence happens because you are brought up
  in a bad environment. You can't tell me that
  playing a few rounds of '007' or running down a
  few people in 'GTA' will turn you into a mass
  murderer. It just doesn't happen like that.

5
Focusing on the wrong issues

• So far, most of the conversation about Littleton
  has reflected a desire to understand what the
  media are doing to our children. Instead, we
  should be focusing on what our children are doing
  with the media
• Real threats to children
• Politics

6
Why regulation doesnt work

• "anything you limit access to, they'll want even
  more -- so banning video games isn't going to
  work."
  
• Regardless of the impetus behind regulation,
  there is evidence that suggests a failure of
  existing ratings systems to serve their purpose.
  According to West Coast Entertainment executive
  Ken Graffeo, some games sales have been boosted
  by violence warnings and negative publicity
  (cited in Goldstein, 1993).

7
Examples

• gamers say violence is caused by social problems,
  not by video games
  
• a 12 year old boy shot his little brother in
  Stockton, California in November 2001
  
• the blame should not be put on video games, it
  should be put on the PARENTS
  
• youth violence and video games

8
The Statistics and Facts of Computer and Video
Games

• 50 of all Americans Play video games
• 94 of people who make the actual purchase of
  computer games and 84 of people who make the
  actual purchase of video games are 18 years of
  age or older
• 83 of the time parents are involved in purchase
  or rental of the games
  
• 92 of parents monitor the content of the games
  that their children are playing

9
The Statistics and Facts of Computer and Video
Games

• Game players under the age of 18 report that they
  get their parents permission 83 of the time
  before purchasing a computer or video game
  
• Males spend more time playing than do females
  the gender gap has narrowed
  
• Scholars note that since 1994, the FBI has
  reported a decrease in youth crime, despite the
  fact that the number of violent video games has
  increased astronomically
• FBI's 2000 Uniform Crime Report figures show that
  for youths aged 10-17, rates of violent crime are
  at their lowest level since 1987.

10
Violent Crime Decreased From 1994 to 2000 while
at the same time, computer and video games sales
soared from 1994 4 billion to 2000 6 billion.
Sources IDC/Link and NPD Group Sales Data U.S.
Department of Justice Office of Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Program for Crime Rates.
11
90 of the best-selling games in 2001 are
appropriate for everyone over age 6
Many of the games which have violent content and
are sold in the U.S. are sold in the Foreign
markets
Source The NPD Group / NPD Funworld TRSTS and
NPD Techworld(sm) / The ESA
12
Most game players are involved in and spend more
time in other activities like exercising or
playing sports, volunteering in the community,
religious activities, creative endeavors,
cultural activities, and reading.

• Gamers spend 23.4 hours per week on these
  activities, compared to 6.8 hours per week
  playing games
  
• 79 of game players of all ages reported
  exercising or playing sports an average of 20
  hours per month
  
• 45 volunteer an average 5.4 hours per month

13

• 93 report reading books or daily newspapers on a
  regular basis
  
• 62 consistently attend cultural events
  (concerts, museums, or the theater)
  
• 50 are involved in creative activities
  (painting, writing, or playing an instrument)
  
• 94 of adult gamers follow news and current
  events
  
• 78 reporting that they vote in most of the
  elections for which they are eligible

14
ESRB GAME RATING
The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)
ratings have two parts rating symbols (on the f
ront of the game box) suggest age
content descriptors(on the back of the game box)
indicate elements in a game
15
RATING SYMBOLS

• EARLY CHILDHOOD 3
  EVERYONE 6
  
• EVERYONE 10
  ADULTS ONLY18
  
• MATURE 17
• TEEN 13

16
CONTENT DESCRIPTIONS

• 33 contents total
• Fantasy Violence - Violent actions of a fantasy
  nature, involving human or non-human characters
  in situations easily distinguishable from real
  life
• Intense Violence - Graphic and realistic-looking
  depictions of physical conflict. May involve
  extreme and/or realistic blood, gore, weapons,
  and depictions of human injury and death
• Mild Violence - Mild scenes depicting characters
  in unsafe and/or violent situations
  
• Sexual Violence - Depictions of rape or other
  sexual acts
  

17
Praised by the FTC

• According to the Federal Trade Commission, the
  ESRB is "the most comprehensive of the three
  industry systems" and "there is much in the game
  industry's rating disclosure requirements that
  merits duplication by others." (September 2000
  June 2002)

18
CONCLUSION

• The ESRB rating system is designed to give
  parents the information they need to evaluate a
  computer or video game before making a purchasing
  decision.
• Rating doesn't recommend which games consumers
  should buy or rent or to serve as the only basis
  for choosing a product.
  
• Rather, parents should use the ESRB ratings in
  conjunction with their own tastes and standards
  and their individual knowledge about what's best
  for their kids.

19
Sources

• http//sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file/gate/a
  rchive/2002/01/14/gameviol.DTL
  
• http//www.gamespy.com/articles/492/492046p2.html
  
  
• http//internal.tbi.net/max/zviolent.htm
• http//www.thebrood.hostrocket.com/violence.html
• http//www.idsa.com/IDSAfinal.pdf
• http//www.esrb.org
• http//www.hollywoodreporter.com

20
Sources

• http//www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file/g/
  archive/2002/01/14/gameviol.DTL
  
• http//www.politechbot.com/p-02882.html
• http//seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/130435_viol
  entgames11.html
  
• http//www.unc.edu/jivory/video.html
• http//www.theesa.com/facts/gamer_data.php
• http//www.theesa.com/facts/games_youth_violence.p
  hp
  
• http//www.idsa.com/IDSAfinal.pdf