Are Violent Video Games Really a Problem?

by Yaroslav Lyssenko

[ 08/03/2006 | 11:15 PM ]

The debates on whether games containing violence result in youth crime increase have been ongoing for years. With each passing yeas striker rules have been implemented to define games that possess a possible threat to the society by introduction of harsh language and violence to children. At the same time some people believe that modern games possess no threat to the public and future generations and consider that video games today are simply what rock and roll and Elvis’ gyrating hips were to 1950s conservatives.

As the report on Cnet News.com says, panelists and audience members at Siggraph discuss whether uproar is based in fact or a soapbox for politicians. According to their statistical research both youth violence and crime are at a 40-year low in the U.S.

“These numbers quantitatively prove that (the idea of violence caused by video games) is hype-based and not based on any actual statistical progression toward violence. It’s not supported by real-world data. It’s more a soapbox for politicians,” said Jason Della Rocca, executive director of the International Game Developers Association.

The Siggraph participants imply that there are other problems with video games that demand immediate attention and have much higher threat potential than just violence.

“Many expressed a fear of player metrics that could track not just preferences, but also emotional and physical responses to situations within a game. While there are many laws on the distribution of video games to protect minors, there is little, if any, legislation dealing with collecting information on minors for advertising purposes,” says the article.

“Advertisers have the ability to track, to see what you like, what you react to, and have access to children, possibly following them from adolescence to adulthood and all along the way,” said Greg Silverman, an attorney who represents game developers.

• Cnet News.com: Are Violent Video Games Really a Problem?