Console game

:This article is about games played on consoles. Computer and video games is about this form of gaming in general.

Critics of video games

From time to time, video games have been criticized by parents' groups, psychologists, politicians, and some religious organizations for allegedly glorifying violence, cruelty, and crime and exposing children to these elements. It is particularly disturbing to some adults that some video games allow children to act out crimes (for example, the Grand Theft Auto series), and reward them for doing so. Some studies have shown that children who watch violent television shows and play violent video games have a tendency to act more aggressively on the playground, and some people are concerned that this aggression may presage violent behavior when children grow to adulthood. These concerns have led to voluntary rating systems adopted by the industry, such as the ESRB rating system in the United States and the PEGI rating system in Europe(see above), that are aimed at educating parents about the types of games their children should or should not be playing (or are begging to play).

Related Topics:
Violence - Cruelty - Crime - Grand Theft Auto - ESRB - PEGI

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Most studies, however, reach the conclusion that violence in video games is not causally linked with aggressive tendencies. This was the conclusion of a 1999 study by the U.S. government, prompting Surgeon General David Satcher to say, ?...we clearly associate media violence to aggressive behavior, but the impact was very small compared to other things. Some may not be happy with that, but that?s where the science is.? This was also the conclusion of a meta-analysis by psychologist Johnathan Freedman, who reviewed over 200 published studies and found that the majority did not find a causal link.

Related Topics:
Surgeon General - David Satcher - Meta-analysis - Psychologist

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Critics of movies, television, and books as a group look down on video games as an inferior form of entertainment. This is probably because of the observation that most video games have very little plot and even less character development, which may or may not be true. A frequent counterargument is that this is like complaining that a game of football does not contain much plot or character development, and that although video games include a narrative, they are really about acting in and against a virtual world, which is not primarily based upon passively seeing and hearing. Another point of view compares video games to the movies, which during the silent era were also considered mere entertainment.

Related Topics:
Plot - Narrative - Virtual

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See also: video game controversy

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