Aggressive Tendencies In Violent Video Games

Essay by Alucard23College, UndergraduateA-, May 2005

download word file, 11 pages 2.5

Stefan Pakeerah, 14, is dead because his friend, Warren Leblanc, 17, killed him. Warren lured Stefan to a park claiming they were to meet two girls. He intended to rob Stefan to pay for drugs. He proceeded to attack him with a hammer and repeatedly stabbed him with a knife, both of which he was already carrying. Warren was found minutes later covered in blood by police. Last week Warren was convicted of Stefan Pakeerah's murder. No, Warren isn't an evil person; he was just addicted to a popular video game called Manhunt. Manhunt is created by the infamous video game developers Rockstar North, responsible for the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Stefan's father commented, "The way Warren committed the murder, this is how the game is set out, killing people using weapons like hammers and knives. There is some connection between the game and what he has done."

One of the fastest growing forms of media is the video game industry.

Over 11 billion dollars were made in video game sales last year alone. In 2003, more than 239 million computer and video games were sold. Can all of this time and money spent on video games be a good thing? Being one of the Americans that spend too much time and money of video games, I know that some people put way too much into video games. Sure the business is a good thing, but some of the ideas and morals being projected into our sweet children can be very controversial. Is violence in video games a direct link to aggressive behavior, and if so, what can be done, if anything, to fix this problem? Another question is that of the actual game. How does one define violent, do games where you kill people make you more violent than...