Critical Game Review
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This is a critical review of violence in videogames.
Introduction
A controversial issue that surrounds video games is whether or not video games induce aggressive or violence behaviours in video game players (Ferguson et al, 2008). This is an important issue for the games industry to consider when designing games. If the games developed promote violent behaviour, then social issues could arise as society becomes increasingly violent in nature. Violence for the purpose of this discussion is seen as performing acts of aggressive nature with the intent of causing injury. By comparing and contrasting five video games, each with an element of violence, it can be seen which aspects of the games encourage violence and to what extent each element of violence in the game affects the player. The games chosen for discussion include Fallout (Black Isle Studios, 1997), Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (Rockstar North, 2005), XIII (Southend Interactive, 2003), Spyro the Dragon (Insomniac Games, 1998) and Call of Duty (Infinity Ward, 2003). The discussion of these games covers the level of involvement in the violence, the depiction of the violence, the effects of continued exposure to violence, the justification of the violence and the consequences, and the difference between fantasy and reality. This should provide an insight into how aspects of violence in video games affect players, which will also prove if the video games industry needs to alter their current standards used when including violence in a video game.