Alex Rodriguez

Professor Spitler-Lawson
English 115 Honors
Project 3: Research Paper Rough Draft
Word Count of Body: 918
11/23/16
Impact of a Video Game
Ever since the dawn of video games in the latter half of the of the twentieth century, the
act of gaming has evolved phenomenally. Over the last forty-five years, the video games
themselves have undergone a transformation that directly reflects the technological advances of
our society. When Atari brought Pong to the common consumer in 1972, all that it allowed for
players to do was to move a cursor up or down to bounce a moving square back and forth ("How
Video Game Systems Work"). Nowadays there is a vast dynamic range of video game genres that
is as wide or more wide than that offered by movies. A player can take on any role he chooses,
whether he wants to play from the point of view of a wolf, or an outer space explorer. However,
since the dawn of the video gaming era, there have been several misconceptions regarding the
effects that playing a video game can have on a person, that have withstood their rapid evolution.
These popular misconceptions have turned into stereotypical notions that paint a bad light on the
act of gaming, deeming it as an antisocial, violence-inducing, brain-numbing activity that only
serves as a detriment to our society.

Possibly the most popular belief concerning the personal effects of playing a video game
on a console, is that it can make a young individual more antisocial than a person who does notol
spend any time playing video games. With the enhancement of voice-chat rooms across
mainstream consoles including the Play Station 4 and the Xbox One, video game players have
never had it more easy to verbally communicate with other people while playing the same game
or separate games. In the eighties, it was common in the United States for teenagers to use wired
home telephones to talk with their friends. This is what perpetuated the stereotype that can be
seen in shows like The Goldbergs. Set as a family sitcom in the eighties, this show has many
scenes where the kids in the family fight for time with the home phone (The Kremps). In
present time, console voice-chat parties are easily a suitable replacement for long phone calls.
They allow for a person to log on to their console and instantly connect with real life friends or
friends met through online gaming. Unlike phone calls, these parties also allow for up to eight
people to join at once. This can be chaotic, but it can help, for example, a person to keep in touch
with distant relatives or friends, and if there is nothing to talk about, then there is always a game
to play together. Because of the rise in popularity of videogames lately, the truth is that those
people who detest video games miss out on the opportunity to connect with or compete against
others in a now highly social online gaming environment.
In light of the recent spike in mass shootings over the last sixteen years, negative
sentiment towards the more violent genre of videogames has grown. Popular game series like
Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto V which are heavily advertised in the internet as well as on
television networks, and are very popular among young gamers, are known to entail gun violence
and vulgar language. A common logical deduction can be made that if a young child plays games
like these, then he himself will want to take on the role as an aggressive, gun-wielding assailant.

In a study performed by the Department of Psychology at Stetson University, and the

Department of Psychology and Communication at Texas A&M International University, two
hypotheses regarding the influence of violent videogames on young people were tested. The first
hypothesis was that video game violence has a direct and general influence on increasing
aggression (Ferguson, Christopher J. et al.). The second was that video game violence [would]
interact with mental health symptoms to increase aggression in youth with pre-existing mental
health symptoms. One of the games included in this study was Mortal Kombat, which is a
player versus player game known for its violent cut scenes and bloody gore. According to the
study, in testing the first hypothesis, it [appeared] unlikely that short-term exposure to video
games results in [an] increased willingness to harm others. Considering the second hypothesis,
the study showed that youth with prior mental health symptoms were no more influenced by
violent games than those without preexisting mental health symptoms. The effect of violent
videogames on the mind of a young person is insignificant compared to the effect that parenting
has. The same study showed that parental shielding from violent content, and parental education
about violence in video games, both played a major role in the reduction of aggression among
the participants. Furthermore, this study shows that mass shootings in the United States
committed by young individuals were not and will not be exacerbated by the presence of popular
violent videogames in the households of millions of families.

Works Cited:
Ferguson, Christopher J. et al. Digital poison? Three studies examining the influence of violent
video games on youth. Elsevier, Computers in Human Behavior, vol. 50, 2015, pp. 399410.
The Kremps. The Goldbergs: Season 1, written by Adam Goldberg and Darlene Hunt, directed
by Victor Nelli Jr., American Broadcasting Company, 2013.
Tyson, Jeff "How Video Game Systems Work" 16 October 2000.
HowStuffWorks.com. <http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/video-game.htm>
20 November 2016.