Video Game Violence

9 Pages 2339 Words

ence is. Violence, in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, is defined as “rough treatment; [or] use of physical force on others, esp. to hurt or harm them”(1175). From this we can logically draw a definition of violence in video games as being any game that has the user (in the game) utilizing physical force on others in order to hurt, harm, or kill them. “Nearly a third of the top 100 top-console games for the first quarter 1999 had at least some sort of violent content” as described before (Quittner 50). What is even more startling is that an estimated “sixty-two percent of North American homes have video game equipment” (Ko 47). With this high of a percentage of homes having video game equipment, and nearly 33 of the top 100 games having violent content, it is, therefore, easy to see how prevalent these games are in America’s modern culture.
When video games were first introduced in the 1970’s they became a preferred childhood activity for leisure (Cesarone 31). Parents “responded with concern about the possible ill effects of the games on children” (Cesarone 31). However, “early research on these effects was inconclusive” (Cesarone 31). Today, research is much more productive and exact. Games being put out today, because of their extremely gory and violent nature, have triggered many more advancements in how thorough the effects on the users are examined. Now that we have a good idea of what video game violence is, we’ll take a look at some of the effects that video games have on the user’s family life.
The effects on family life are probably more of a concern to parents than any other aspect of life that video games affect. This is because it does not stop at the user. The effects are felt at a collective level. All who are in daily contact with the user are susceptible to these effects. The first aspect of family life that is affected is the togetherness atmosphere. Those who...