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Grand Theft Auto V: The Role Of Violence In The Video Game Industry

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The perpetrators of the massacre such as school shooting have drawn a considerable amount of attention on computer games containing violence. In response to this, the theoretical relationship between violent game play and aggressive behaviour has been a centre of psychological research and such attention is unlikely to decrease over a short period of time as the massacre is believed to be associated with adolescents who play violent computer games (Granic, Lobel & Engels, 2013). The term ‘computer games’ which is used substitutionally with ‘video games’, refers to a game that can be played on a variety of electronic and digital devices from computers to televisions, mobile phones, home consoles and other types of machines (Commonwealth of Australia, …show more content…

Looking at computer games that have been sold on the market for the last ten years, it can be seen that over 85% are comprising of violence (Anderson & Carnagey, 2011). This proportion seems to suggest that violent games have proven to be popular among customers and contribute significantly to the gaming industry’s profits. An example of this is Grand Theft Auto V, which is one of the best-selling video games in the history of the gaming industry and is also well known for its portrayal of race, terrorism and sexuality (Elise, 2014). According to Guinness World Records, Grand Theft Auto V has become a worldwide best-selling video game by grossing over eleven million dollars within a day and reaching a billion dollar in sales just three days after the game’s release. Given such sale’s figure, it is thus not surprising to believe that censoring such popular games would greatly affect the economy of the entertainment and media industry. For example, in 2013 the US consumption and expenditure of video games contributed more than twenty-one billion dollars to the economy (ESA, 2014). If the violent content of these games were to be censored, the logical conclusion is they may not be as popular and therefore may not generate as much …show more content…

Some researchers claim that playing such games promotes social advantages. According to Granic, Lobel and Engels, it is often misunderstood that gamers are antisocial and socially separated. On the contrary, with the advent of massively multiplayer online games (MMOGs) such as World of Warcraft, these researchers argue that the nature of computer games nowadays is highly interactive as gamers are playing with peers, parents and even with complete strangers, overcoming linguistic, age, topographical and cultural difficulties. Recent findings indicate the encouragement of cooperative behaviour. For instance, Ewoldsen and his colleagues (2012) gathered a group of sample contributors to play Halo II, which is a shooting game and considered as violent. Players were divided to play in two different conditions, competitive and cooperative; and after playing, contributors were requested to complete a survey of behavioural observation. The results point out that when playing cooperatively, compared to competitively, players showed more collaborative and obliging behaviour outside of the game context. Therefore, it is logical to believe that gamers may engage in more extroverted and supportive behaviour both online and offline when they play even violent

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In his article “Shooting in the Dark,” Benedict Carey argues that video games depict explicit or violent content stimulate aggressive behavior within gamers. He argues that video games like Mortal Kombat, Call of Duty, and Battlefield 3 increase aggressive urges and that exposure to these games leads to real-world hostilities. He mentions incidents like the young men who opened fire at Columbine High School and at the movie theater in Aurora, Colorado—video gamers who seemed to be acting out some “dark digital fantasy”—to uphold his position. He believes a dose of violent video games can cause people to act “more rudely” than they would otherwise. Although he describes how violent video games may stimulate aggressive or hostile behavior, Carey’s argument can be challenged because there are other factors that can influence individuals to act violent and hostile.

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Grand Theft Auto Video Games, board games, sports games have always been around ever since we can remember, from centuries ago to the present. Except for the fact, centuries ago they did not have the technology to change the way games could be played by people. Today’s advancements have the technology to construct different kinds of games, to all sorts of board games, video games, and even to virtual reality games. They have also changed the way people interact with them in either a positive or in a negative way. Decisive games such as family type board games have affected society in a reasonable matter to assemble people to come together and have a magnificent time with one another.

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Sternheimer begins with introducing us to a “first person shooter” game called “Doom”(214). With this multi-billion dollar game industry rising, she points out that there are three school shooting cases that the press emphasizes the shooters being “video-game experts” (215) to the game Doom, only making the “critics’ predictions” (214) about video games come true. Sternheimer begins by explaining how video game violence has become “folk devils” (214). This term allows media and politicians to “channel the blame and fear to remedy what many believe to be a growing problem” (214). Politicians are one of the main factors in targeting video games as the leading cause of violent behavior in teens, according to Sternheimer.

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In the essay, “Do Video Games Kill?”(214), Karen Sternheimer discusses the wide spread idea that videogames are the cause for “young killers”(220) . Sternheimer opposes the idea that violent video games produce criminal behavior in young people. The influence video games have on young people is spiraling out of control, according to Sternheimer. The blame for this spiral is the media. The influence the media has on video games focuses on the stereotype that the white middle-class male video gamer is more susceptible to violent behavior.

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A., and B. J. Bushman. "Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature." Psychological Science 12.5 (2001): 353-59. Sage Journals. Web.

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The author refers to Dr. Ian Rivers who is a psychologist said that “Online games are often violent and based upon conflict however this study also shows us that we also need to look at the ways in which people interact online while gaming” (Mailonline, 2017,

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Ever since the advent of the truly interactive video game – especially first person shooter games – people have been looking for signs that such media has a negative effect on. Games that are seen as violent have come under a lot of scrutiny and never more so when some tragedy happens and the perpetrator is known to play violent video games. In this paper, I will be looking at the effects that video games have had on society and I will come to the conclusion if they are good or bad for us. Gaming has gone from something that only nerds do to an

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The video gaming creates so many problems in our society. Johnson’s points, “The worst that can be said is that they sanction, and even promote aggression and violent responses to conflict. But what can be said with much greater certainty is this: most computer games are a colossal waste of time” (17). Johnson’s describes that the video gaming and the technology create aggression and violent behaviors in the users, and most games are just a waste of time. To illustrate, my 8-year-old nephew loves video games.

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Punishing violence, crime, discrimination, torture, prostitution, drug and alcohol abuse…these images plague the American landscape and keep viewers tuned into the evening news. They are also some of the same traits that make video games increasing popular and have critics believing violent video games contribute to school-aged violence. Despite these allegations, there remains no measurable connection between violence in video games and the desensitization of today’s youth or the motivation to commit violence. Video games and the gaming community have grown year after year with children now spending a substantial amount of their time playing games, many of which are contain violence. One such game that has grown in popularity is Rockstar Games’ “Grand Theft Auto” in which players take on the criminal persona armed with a “wide array of weaponry” and are able to “…kill hundreds of characters, including civilians, police officers, and gang members” (Haynes).

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As gamers experience violence in their video games they release their violent nature in their games instead of the real world. Although it is true that violent games make people less aggressive outside it is not 100% certain that people when provoked will release their anger. To conclude, as video games become more violent gamers are more likely to stick to playing their violent games instead of do acts of violence outside of the virtual

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A recent content analysis by the research organization Children Now shows that a majority of video games include violence and about half of the violent incidents would result in serious injuries or death in the "real" world. Claim1 Research involving British primary schoolchildren found that the length of time young people spend playing games, rather than their content, could have an effect on their behavior or school performance. But it concluded that fears that generations of young people are growing up with their development impaired by exposure to violent video games are no more likely to be borne out than previous “moral panics” over television and other media. Playing one-player games is not always negative if you do it moderately.

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