VIOLENCE IN COMPUTER GAMES --- Gabriel Seth Ente

onviolence.com

Grand Theft Auto has to be one of the worst perpetrators. Players can kill anyone and everyone they see, from cops to little old ladies crossing the street.----- photo from Google

                  “It’s not a question of can or can’t, there are some things in life you just do.” Do you know who said this? Lightning—a video game character from Final Fantasy XIII. She said this because in the game’s story, they become outcasts forcefully. And even though the whole world was against them, unaware that those outcasts were their saviors, the fugitives set out on a journey to rescue them all before the end of the world. During a moment, when they lost all hope and faith and doubting if they could save a world that hated them. Lighting said this line to inspire everyone to keep going and not lose hope when times were tough. This is why Lightning is an inspiration to us all. The reason today, why I decided to quote a video game character is because we will be talking whether video games make us violent or not.

Video games enhance our senses. Researchers say that playing video games improves our thinking and makes us more alert. Gamers gain the ability tot hink out of the box and enables us to analyze problems with ease compared to non-gamers.

Exposing ourselves to video games is beneficial to our lives. It’s a good way to let off some steam. Of course we may get addicted and waste our time on it we just have to remember to always limit ourselves. Research proves that NOT playing video games increases the chances of becoming aggressive in real life.

More proof of that is when for example one plays Pokemon, it doesn’t give me the notion to capture local wildlife for cash or because it looks cool. Besides, that’s not really the point. Because  if one plays Call of Duty or Warriors Orochi, we don’t play it solely for the reason of shooting or slashing someone to death, we do it to fulfill other obligations, goals and achievements like escorting or killing someone and gaining intel. So in the end, no one really thinks that the game is for killing others. It’s for the sake of passing the game. Because when I play Legend of Zelda, I don’t stab chicken or break pots for loot. Doing that in real life would get me into trouble and it’s retarded. So it would make sense that playing games with violence doesn’t necessarily make us violent in reality.

However too much of something is never good enough. Still, nothing beats moderation and discipline.