Violence is Not Caused by Games

    People are often misinformed about violent acts that are related to video games. Are games really bad when 84% of all games sold in 2008 were rated “E” for everyone, “T” for Teen, or “E10+” for Everyone 10+ (ESA). And, even better, 92% of game players under the age of 18 report that their parents are present when they purchase or rent games. Of that 92%, 100% of those parents probably care whether or not their kids are getting a game that is violent, like GTA4, or a game that isn’t violent, like Katamari Damacy, in which you roll a giant ball around. Another interesting tidbit of information I has is that since columbine, and in 10 years since the release of the game Doom, homicide arrest rates fell by 77 percent among juveniles.

    When all is said and done, what really matters is the games and their contents, the gamers, and real information rather than assuming that the biased media is always right. Allow me to project my point of view with a little illustration. Imagine an average guy, sitting in front of a big screen TV with a giant bag of cheetos and a controller. I’m out killing hookers and cops, and beating people down with a baseball bat. Why? Because its fun. If nothing else, games that are obscenely violent let a person squeeze out some aggression on fictional people in a more productive manner than just going out and beating up a hooker. So, next time you and niko are out killing a cop or maiming a hooker, remember: cops and hookers are people too, so keep it in the game.