Whether it is something to do with friends, alone to relieve stress, or just to kill time, people of all ages all around the world play video games. There are all different types of games that these individuals are playing, but some of them are effecting the player more than others. For those who are playing games that involve violence, they are being affected in ways that some people are not even aware of. Playing violent video games enables aggressive behavior and changes the way that people who play them think and react to specific situations

Video games started back in the 1940s. They were something to do for fun, and were very different than they are today. Originally, they started as much simpler games, like tic-tac-toe, and mathematical games (Ruach12355). This is interesting because there are still games out there like this today, however most people don’t really refer to them as videogames. Just a few years after these games came out, arcade style games started to come out. Soon after this, the popular game of Super Mario Bros was released, which is still a common game today. As the evolution of these games continue, it is interesting to notice that with each few years that go by, the games tend to get more and more violent. They started off being little puzzles and math, yet as the years progressed there were players shooting one another and blowing each other up (Ruach12355). Similarly, another big change is that the characters used to be just simple cartoons. Now, however, they are becoming more and more lifelike (Ruach12355). This idea that games are becoming violent and more lifelike makes it seem like the player is watching reality. This can be scary because after playing these games, there appears to be an impact on the player. 

This aggressive behavior does not stem from one certain type of video game. In fact, there are multiple different genres of video games that can lead to this behavior. There are games where the main concept is shooting. In this case, “[the player] blows everything and everyone away whenever possible” (Stahl, Ted). This genre is most definitely violent. However, there are also games that are non-violent. There are puzzle games, which are mores strategic. In these success is completing different levels (Stahl, Ted). Then, there are sports related games. The end result of these games is one team (or player) beats the other team (or player). Lastly, there are fighting games. These games “pit player against player” and “involve one triumphing over the other” (Stahl, Ted). From these various types of games, the results are the same overall: players exhibit aggressive behavior after involving themselves in playing. 

People all over the world play video games, however there are certain people who are more likely to engage in them. Since it can sometimes be a way to escape from reality, research shows that “those with social phobias, or just poor social skills in general, are more likely to turn to gaming” (Flanagan, Jack). Since sometimes hiding behind a screen (whether it be a computer or a TV) can sometimes be easier, those who have a harder time interacting with people face to face tend to turn to video games to create an identity other than their own. Other people who are known to turn to gaming are those suffering with depression. Playing these games gives those a “temporary high in these virtual wonderlands” where they do not have to feel the suffering from their disease (Flanagan, Jack). Although there are certain people who are more targeted for playing video games, really anybody can play for reasons of their own, even if it is just for entertainment. 

Why is it that so many people partake in playing these games? Well, research has found that the reason people enjoy playing these games is because they come with rewards. When the individual is playing a game that requires tasks, they get rewarded when they complete them. So, “If we keep getting a reward for the same task… the next time we come across the chance to do that same task, we assume we're at least a bit likely to get a gift in return” (Flanagan, Jack). For this reason, users continue to play because they like the feeling of these rewards. Other people, however, play these games because it takes “them out of the real world” (Flanagan, Jack). It is a way for people to escape from their everyday lives and enter this virtual world. 

When people begin to play video games too often, it can sometimes lead to an addiction. Although there are all different types of video games, being addicted to playing them is not healthy. Addiction is defined when “the person needs more and more of a substance or behavior to keep him going,” and also “if the person does not get more of the substance or behavior, he becomes irritable and miserable” (Rauh, Sherry). As a result, the people who become addicted to playing these games feel like they always need to play more, and if they don’t they start to show aggressive behavior. Although this type of addiction does not necessarily seem realistic, the symptoms are just like those addictions to much harsher things. The symptoms are “losing jobs and loved ones; withdrawal symptoms like cold sweats and anger; developing migraines and back problems and, very occasionally, death” (Flanagan, Jack). When this happens to individuals it is important that they seek help, especially since playing these games in known to make the individual more aggressive. 

One common misconception of the relationship between violent video games and their effects are that they make players become criminals. It was thought that after some mass shootings in schools had taken place that, “[the shooters] were video gamers who seemed to be acting out some dark digital fantasy” (Carey, Benedict). Playing these violent games exposed them to the violence, and gave them idea to act on it. However, this is not true. Playing these games does have a correlation with making the individual behave more aggressively, but “there are many factors, including feeling socially isolated, being bullied” and others that lead the individual to commit a crime of such degree (Carey, Benedict). Upon further investigation, researchers looked into crimes rates among children to see what the relationship between the two had looked like. It appeared that while video game purchases were going up in numbers, the percentages of crimes committed had actually decreased. For every 1% of increase in sales, the crime rate went down .03% (Fournis, Gaël). This shows that there clearly is not any direct evidence to say that mass shootings are because the perpetrator played violent video games and that playing these games does not enable the players to become criminals.

Why do players exhibit aggression when playing these games? Researchers wanted to get a deeper look at what causes this, so they took MRI’s of the brains of those who played these games. The results of these tests showed that the brains activity does in fact appear different after being exposed to these games. There was actually “less activity in areas that involved emotions, attention and inhibition of our impulses” (Park, Alice). This was seen when they experimented with negative words and colors and seeing how the individuals’ emotional parts of their brains reacted to the negative words. Those who participated in violent games had less of an emotional impact on those words than those who played nonviolent games (Park, Alice). However, this was not the only type of test that was done. Other researchers were just as curious about the results, so they attempted to do experiments. 

Since so many younger kids are now introduced to media so early, it is evident that these individuals will be effected in some way. One of the “many forms” of “media” that children spend “substantial amounts of time” involving themselves with are video games (Boxer, Paul). They are a way to socialize with friends, and also just something that they will do to waste some time when they are bored. Violent games that were originally made for ages 18 and up, however younger teens do not always abide by those rules. So, researchers wanted to see what the violent games’ effects were on children. Results of these tests showed that “children who played more violent video games early in the school year became more aggressive” and also were “less helpful” (Greitemeyer, Tobias and Osswald, Sylvia). This further emphasizes that when it comes to children, it has been proven that exposure to violent video games has an effect on the way that they act. 

The experiments that were done all show similar results: violent video games do bring out aggression from the individual. In one of the experiments, to look for this change in attitude, they had the participant decide how harsh of punishments people who were not obeying traffic laws should receive after playing violent video games (Fischer, Julia). The results were very clear. The people who participated in the violent game thought that those who didn’t obey the law deserved less punishments than those who played a nonviolent game (Fischer, Julia). This shows that it the violence in the video games affect the players’ attitude, and allows them to think that things are not as bad as they actually are. Another study that was done looked at the actions of the people who participated in these games. The experiment was set up to see if those who played violent games would end up being more or less likely to steal something (Fischer, Julia). As expected, the participants whose video game was more violent were more likely to steal than those whose games were nonviolent (Fischer, Julia). This makes it evident that these games are bringing out some sort of aggression in people that they think it is okay to steal things when that is clearly unacceptable. 

Just like violent video games correlates to violent behavior in those who play them, prosocial videogames correlate to positive behavior. Since studies revealed that listening to positive music enhanced peoples’ moods, researchers wanted to look into video games to see if it researchers performed an experiment. They had individuals play games that were either prosocial, neutral, or violent. In order to see their results, they then brought them to a room where the experimenter intentionally dropped some pencils. As a result of playing a prosocial game, those who partook in this were the most likely to help pick up these pencils (Greitemeyer, Tobias and Osswald, Sylvia). This shows that playing a game in which the player sees something good is happening, reinforces this idea into their heads and allows them to carry out the same actions. 

Other ways in which positive video games affect their players positively are through social situations, motivation, and enforcing positive health. In a game that puts the player in different situations which involve social communication, this helps to build their interactions with others and learn how to handle real-world scenarios (Vitelli, Romeo). It can teach the player the right way to interact with people, so that they are better prepared for real situations rather than focusing on a made up violent scene. Since most video games have missions and goals that the player needs to accomplish, this allows the player to learn to motivate themselves to complete their goal. Especially as a youth playing these games, it is important to learn to set out to accomplish goals at a young age, and this is an awesome way of allow them to learn that. Lastly, there are games in which their goal is to make working out and living a positive lifestyle fun. Personally, I was not a very athletic girl growing up, so I never really tried to participate in sports. However, once the game for the Nintendo Wii, sports, came out, I was all about it. It made playing these games a fun way of staying fit and getting a work out in, which violent video games cannot do. There is definitely a relationship that these prosocial video games have on the behaviors of those who play them, and they prove to be positive and helpful. 

Since these games do have an overall result on the way people are acting, I think it is important that children are not exposed to them as early as they are. From personal experience, I babysat a girl who was only 12 years old, and was playing video games that were for adults ages 18 and older. I think that there needs to be stricter rules on who can buy these games and who is playing them. I think one of the biggest reasons that parents continue to let their children play is because they do not realize that there actually is a negative effect from allowing them to engage in these violent games, so making parents and adults more aware may also help this problem. When it comes to adults, however, I think that as long as they are aware that they can become more aggressive after playing these games there does not need to be anything stricter on it, since they can make their own decisions with their own discretion. 

Violence in video games does in fact have an effect on the player. Evidence supports that after playing them, their actions and behavior become noticeably more aggressive than before. This is something than can be worked on. The first thing that needs to be done is that people need to be made aware of this issue. If it continues without parents and those who play aware, the aggression will simply get worse. Also, those who are under the age of 18 should not be able to get these games and be allowed to play them. Video games are a form of entertainment that is for leisure, and the aggressive behavior that the violent games are enabling in their players are not what they are meant for. 
