Video Game Violence - Effects of Violent Video Games

The Past, Present and the Future of Video Games
Humankind has progressed a lot in a few years. Some symbols of this progress are the various electronic and other gadgets and gizmos available in the market today. With every leap in technology, the world is becoming a smaller place and the human fetish of creating worlds is becoming a reality.

In fact, the time machine may be one of the very few futuristic gadgets we saw some twenty years ago in the sci-fi movies which hasn't been seen in the mainstream, and if it is already being used by a system, one never knows.

Another subject in which technology has progressed by leaps and bounds is computer gaming. Needless to say, with the modern technology available, games are becoming more realistic, more beautiful and more violent.

Video games first started out as eight bit wonders where the only thing that kept players coming back to them was the very joy of electronic enthusiasm, losing oneself in a self-created world, a world in which they could truly make a difference.

However, games today have become serious business, with more and more people quickly turning from casual gamers to serious and finally professional gamers. Along with this fame, comes the accusation that the video game violence has an adverse effect on people of all ages and all walks of life.

People and institutions have cried themselves hoarse about the violence in video games whenever there is some violent disruption of normal life takes place. However, it should be said till date, there is no concrete evidence that even extreme video game violence ever had any effect on people. Here are some examples which raised the heckles of individuals and support groups:

The Columbine School Massacre
The closest people had come towards proof of violence in video games affecting people was during the Columbine School Massacre. Investigations showed that Eric Harris and Dyan Klebold, the two people responsible for the massacre, had indeed designed some levels of the cult violent game 'Doom'. Internet rumors soon ran amok that the two had designed levels very similar to their school corridors, where they gunned down their counterparts - which were of course - not true. Thereby rested the theory that the duo had fantasized about this killing long back, and had used the Doom levels to satiate their fantasies for a while. The levels turned out to be meek, run-of-the-juvenile-enthusiasm-levels which were rarely played.

Jeff Weise
Jeff Weise was another disturbed individual who gave fodder to the argument that video game violence effected real life. Jeff Weise was very active on the internet, and was in fact online a few hours before he went out and shot his grandfather and then students in school. What was brought to special notice is that Jeff had prepared a number of violent Flash games, which were available on the internet, depicting exactly what he was going to do on that fateful day. Apparently, nobody took notice because Weise was a sort of non-entity in his school.

Different Theories
However, the above cases do not mean that video games or violence in video games do not have an influence on real life. Like every part of fiction, be it movies, novels or stories, even the violence of video games do have a effect on people. Changes like people getting irritated, or displaying their machismo a bit after playing a violent computer game have been recorded. However, there is no direct established link to violence in pixel world to violence in real world.

Conclusion
Video games have become much more violent than they were when they first came in. Some video games are so realistic that the US Army has suggested soldiers to spend some time playing them. Soldiers have said that playing games First Person Shooters (FPS) like Quake, Doom and now Black result in a hand eye coordination. It's a pity that this effect of violent video games has never been highlighted by the media.

The violence in video games may or may not have an effect on the person playing it. Any outside factor can change anything in a person only if the psychology of the person wants it. A gun in the hand of a policeman exudes security, while the same gun in the hand of a toddler means an accident and in the hand of a robber would mean violence.