Video_Games_Are_Scrutinized

Video games are under attack. They’re accused of being a “teaching machine where players are behaviorally reinforced as they play” (Provenzo Jr. 2). Video games are “murder simulators which over time teach a person how to look another person in the eye and snuff their life out” (Provenzo Jr. 2). Although these statements may seem logical, they are false. The problem of video game violence is exaggerated and over hyped. Columbine is one of the most commonly used events to degrade video games. On April, 20, 1999, two high school seniors entered ColumbineHigh School with weapons. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed twelve students, one teacher, and injured twenty-three others before killing themselves. They were dedicated players of Doom and Duke Nukem, so the games were automatically blamed for their actions. Harris revealed his plans in a journal, “It’ll be like the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing, WWII, Vietnam, Duke [Nukem], and Doom all mixed together” (Costikyan 2). People were well aware that Eric and Dylan had played these games, but didn’t take into consideration that they had access to all forms of media. They indulged music, films, comics, and TV shows. Not just video games. They also lost sight of the fact that both Eric and Dylan were crazy in the head for even wanting to do this. If anything, video games had a minimal amount of influence on their actions. Eric and Dylan were influenced by every form of media and their demented fantasies. Even if they or you are trying to reenact a game, “you should be able to separate yourself from video games and reality” (Rodriguez 2008). Certain video games are very violent. Those games “effectively desensitize players to violence and make them better at killing” (Provenzo Jr. 1). That is a false claim as well. A player will most likely become used to the violence by game’s end, just like I was when I first played God of War, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll be desensitized to violence in reality. The violence in video games is towards “depersonalized opponents” and “software subroutines” (Costikyan 5, 6). The games are not real. They’re called games for a reason. Video games are how “geeks get out their competitive spirit because they’re not athletic enough to play on the basketball team” (Espejo 3). If you honestly look at it, video games “allow players to be violent, to act out their violent impulses, to hunt and shoot and kill – in a way that harms no one.” (Costikyan 6). Violent video games are not the “murder simulators” that they’re made out to be (Provenzo 2). Video games are being made out to be these evil brainwashing machines. On the contrary, they are fun, interactive, and sometimes violent experiences that we can all enjoy. They are a tool we can use to release our violent impulses in a positive way. “Violent video games don’t spur violence; violent video games channel antisocial impulses in societally acceptable ways. Games are good” (Costikyan 6). Games are great.