Research Paper Video games are very common now, and people of all ages play them.

The media has many different outlooks on them some positive, and some negative. This paper explores the implications of playing video games; more specifically we will examine how games such as Grand Theft Auto impact gamers emotions, hand eye coordination, and problem solving skills. I personally think video games are a great thing to have and consider myself a part of the gaming figured world. I play all sorts of games, mostly violent games like Grand Theft Auto, but also more relaxing games like NBA 2k13. With the new generation of gaming consoles recently being released, this is a great time for the gaming community, and also a great time for the media to critique the effects of playing video games. The only time you ever really hear about video games in the media is when there is a tragedy involving the mass murder of many innocent people. The media constantly tries to link violent video games to these horrific cases. My stance on the topic is that I do think videogames may cause a little more aggression, but not to the point where you could link it up with murder cases. Grand Theft Auto Five involves three main characters that pull of heists like robbing banks and jewelry stores. Michael is a retired con who comes out of retirement when he owes money to a drug lord. Franklin is a gang member who decides to help Michael for a higher paying lifestyle. Trevor is the psycho of the group that has a history of robbing banks with Michael. They all get involved with corrupt FIB agents (the games version of the FBI) and get stuck doing jobs for them, which leads to more robberies and assassinations. In this game there is a lot of gang and criminal violence. There is also a very graphic torture scene which questions the ethics of this game (Simpson). Another game in the Grand Theft Auto Series is GTA San Adreas. GTA San Adreas was the top selling game in 2004 -2005, with more than 40 million

Comment [A1]: You should increase the word count Comment [A2]: Add a title page because of APA citation format. Comment [A3]: Add headings to the sections. Comment [A4]: Add a term list, to help increase the word count, you should add between the introduction and literacy review

Comment [A5]: Come up with a more attention grabbing introduction, maybe a question.

Comment [A6]: Did a good job describing the characters to help people who havent played the game before.

copies sold globally. A lot of politicians think that violent games are starting to become out of control. A hack within the game called hot coffee allowed players to be able to have sex with other characters in the game. This raise a lot of questions for what games should be available for children. In San Adreas you play as a guy named CJ who is framed for a crime when he returns to San Adreas for his moms funeral. Gameplay includes shooting or running over random civilians, or just following along the main story line which involves gang violence. Washington State conducted a study and found that there was no evidence that violent videogames translate to real violence (DeVane, 2008). There have been many studies to understand how violent video games affect the gamers. The game they used for this study was Quake 3. They compared how playing Quake 3 for a longer time affected the players anger differently from when playing for a shorter period of time. They claimed that playing for a short period of time had a larger effect on their anger. They also included different reasons some people may get angrier than others. For example, someone who is not as good at the game may get angrier because of failing to succeed in the game. Someone who plays violent video games regularly and are skillful may not be affected by playing these games. Gender was also looked at in this study. They wanted to see how differently girls reacted to playing violent games from guys. They found that guys enjoyed playing the violent video games more than the girls (Armitage, 2012). When children kill people, it causes the media to wonder what caused those kids to have so much anger and be so violent. Observational learning is one thought, if you observe something for a long time, eventually you may do it. It also describes what children go through when playing violent videogames. They often take the role as the aggressor in these games, and are usually awarded for doing violent things. Children are increasing their tolerance for violence,
Comment [A8]: Try to improve transitions in between paragraphs by adding transition words. Comment [A7]: Did a good job talking about a variety of different games.

by playing these violent games. They also found that when children play videogames their arousal levels increases; from a study with college students, their heart rate increased after playing a virtual reality game. One hypothesis was that violent videogames have more of a positive effect on boys, but has more of a negative effect on girls (Fleming, 2001). This article is an actual hearing on the effect the media has on people. It talks about how children are being subjected to very violent profane things not suitable for their age. They also want to help protect children from all the violence in the media and videogames, because its bad for our culture and society. One of the senator states that it weakens our society as a whole. Another senator talks about how agrees, with the other senator but theres just so many loop holes. He gives an example on how easy it is for children to get ahold of violent things without their parents knowing. There are tools available for parents to use to prevent their children from seeing all of the violence portrayed in the media, its still not enough and not very effective. There isnt much that they can do to prevent this though because of constitutional constraints (U.S. Congress, 2007). This article talks about how video games basically force kids to think faster, in particularly action games. It says that even though video games are often paired with increasing anxiety, stress, obesity, and aggressiveness, they can also be a very positive thing. There are positive benefits for children playing videogames violent or non-violent. Because video games present problems that are different, or unusual, they help improve gamers critical-thinking skills, since they are required to solve them relatively fast. Video games also improve social skills since they often involve players to interact with each other to reach a common goal within the game or solve problems. A study at Deakin University in Australia found that gamers have better motor skills, and are better at things like kicking, catching, or throwing a ball, than non-

gamers. Video games are also a place where people can release pent-up stress, frustration, and aggression (Weber). Although there has been research for the negative effects of playing videogames, like addiction, depression, and aggression, playing videogames can help increase cognitive skills like special navigation, reasoning, memory and perception. Video games are beneficial for education because of the importance of spatial skills for achievement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Video games can also help improve a players mood and help them relax. Gamers arent anti-social or socially isolated from everyone else. Studies have shown that more than 70% of gamers play with a friend, and multiplayer games has become social communities. Playing violent video games improves a players capacity t o think about objects in three dimensions just as good as actual academic courses designed to do the exact same thing. Gamers can also build an emotional resilience by learning to cope with their in-game failures, which they can benefit from in their everyday lives (Bowen, 2014). One of the positive things that come from playing videogames is improving players hand-eye coordination. Games like Nintendos Wii-habilitation, focus on real life movements from different sports, and help increase patients recovery time, and help them develop the skills needed for the sports they play. Studies have shown that surgeons who played video games are more skillful and make fewer errors than those who dont. Playing video games also improves your special awareness, gamers are more aware of their surroundings and when performing tasks like driving they are more likely to spot a child running after a ball than someone who doesnt play videogames. Video games can also be used to rehabilitate the visually impaired and they also can help train soldiers. Gamers can track things 30% better than non-gamers because of increased visual awareness (Roach, 2003). Action games may affect the brain in a positive way.
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Gamers scored higher on a test to probe the effects congenital deafness on visual attention because of them playing the action games Counter-Strike and Team Fortress Classic (Fleming, 2013). Video games have many different effects on us gamers. Some positive effects are that it increases hand-eye coordination, makes you more social, improves spatial awareness, and problem solving skills. Some negative effects are addictions, and increased aggressiveness (Bowen, 2014). Overall I think video games have been given a very bad name because of the media. The positive aspects of them are hardly ever talked about, but instead they have become the blame for people who behave violently.
Comment [A11]: Suggest something for further research on the topic.

References Bowen, L. (2014, Febuary). Video game play may provide learning, health, social benefits, review finds. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2014/02/video-game.aspx DeVane, B., & Squire, K. (January 01, 2008). The Meaning of Race and Violence in Grand Theft Auto. Games and Culture, 3, 3-4. Fleming, M. J., & Rick, W. D. J. (October 01, 2001). Effects of Violent Versus Nonviolent Video Games on Children's Arousal, Aggressive Mood, and Positive Mood. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31, 10, 2047-2071. Fleming, N. (2013, August 26). Why video games may be good for you. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130826-can-video-games-be-good-for-you Roach, J. (2003, May 28). Video games boost visual skills, study finds. Retrieved from http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/05/0528_030528_videogames.html Simpson, A. (2014). Discourse observation analysis. United States. (2012). The impact of media violence on children: Hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate, One Hundred Tenth Congress, first session, June 26, 2007. Washington: U.S. G.P.O. Weber, L. (n.d.). Everyday life global post. Retrieved from http://everydaylife.globalpost.com/positive-effects-video-games-children-16317.html