Notes and quotes

Grand theft auto (primary text)
1. Nick Clegg warns of 'corrosive effect' of grand theft auto 
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/sep/20/nick-clegg-warns-of-corrosive-effect-of-grand-theft-auto

• "Video games like grand theft auto have a corrosive effect on the behaviour of players"
• Nick Clegg: "theses video games can have a powerful effect"
• Clegg added: "They occupy hermetically sealed world of their own and this have a determintal effect" 

2. Anyone claiming grand theft auto is just violence for violence sake hasn't played it. 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/31/grand-theft-auto-5-torture-violence-video-games

• "grand theft auto isn't much different to Hollywood movies"
• "we teenagers play these video games for their stories and artistic merit, much like why I would watch a film or television show, or read a book"
• "Critics love to condemn its usage of prostitution, torture and murder"
• "GTA 5 does a better job of showing the consequences of violence" 
• "In game you cannot get away with violence the police intervene, if they catch you causing violence"
• "Video games don't make anyone violent it's just a scapegoat 
• "GTA 5 isn't a manual on how to live your life- its a video game"

3. Grand theft auto makes it cool to- even pick up- prostitutes 

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/27/grand-theft-auto-v-prostitutes-killed

• "My students play GTA instead of studying. It teaches them to kill prostitutes and beyond 
• "You can get out of the car and beat her down"
• "All of this is possible, encouraged by people giving you tips on youtube and chatroom"

4. GTA 5 torture row: Teacher slams scene of extreme violence in most expensive game ever. 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/staying-in/video-games/gta-5-torture-row-teachers-2278689

• This torture scene has sparked fears with teachers and lectures about the impact of the extreme violence. 
• Alison Sherratt states: "extreme violence should not be included in video games"
• "Children in playground are displaying more violence and we've conducted polls and found they are viewing GTA 
• She said: “Up until now we’ve been warning of the dangers of children seeing these games but saying it’s the parents responsibility to keep children away from these video games.
• “They don’t understand the difference between reality and fiction because it’s so awfully graphic and real. and they do copy it.
• “Responsibility also lies with parents to ensure that their children do not access these types of games until it is appropriate.”

5. Liverpool pupil, robbed bank with a gun as if he was in  a video game

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2430643/Liverpool-pupil-15-robbed-bank-gun-real-life-Call-Of-Duty-Resident-Evil-video-game.html

• The teenager burst into a branch of Barclays and pointed a fake handgun at terrified cashiers while demanding cash.
• judge Ian Lomax said: the child may have been influenced by something he had ‘been watching or playing’.

6. Can a video game lead to murder?

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/can-a-video-game-lead-to-murder-04-03-2005/

• Two weeks ago, a multi million dollar lawsuit was filed in Albania against the makers of Grand theft auto, claiming that months of playing the game led a teenager to kill three people,two of them police officers 
• They were gunned down by a 18 year old who's been playing the game for nine months day and night 

• "He bought it as a minor. He played it hundreds of hours, which is primarily a cop-killing game. It's our theory, which we think we can prove to a jury in Alabama, that, but for the video-game training, he would not have done what he did."
• "A police officer we spoke to said, 'Our job is dangerous enough as it is without having our kids growing up playing those games and having the preconceived notions of "let's kill an officer." It's almost like putting a target on us.' Can you see his point?" asks Bradley.

7. Grand theft auto records

http://www.polygon.com/2013/10/9/4819272/grand-theft-auto-5-smashes-7-guinness-world-records

• Best-selling action-adventure video game in 24 hours
• Best-selling video game in 24 hours
• Fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion
• Fastest video game to gross $1 billion
• Highest-grossing video game in 24 hours
• Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours
• Most viewed trailer for an action-adventure video game

8. violence in Video game 

http://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=9XB3AgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=violence+in+video+games&ots=2nkBVvEE-c&sig=UhRzsWGxS-VpBpSuWhrprSfPrP4#v=onepage&q=violence%20in%20video%20games&f=false

• "The problems with these video games is that violence they contain." 
• "concerns often stem from real life tragedies involving children and teenagers  who have played violent video games 
• "Science has not proven that playing violent video games causes violent behavior.
• "school shootings are tragic and very scary. They also are very rare. According to the national center for educational statistics, 17 kids were killed in US schools by shootings between 2008-2009"

9. Effects of video games 

http://pss.sagepub.com/content/12/5/353.short

• "Research on exposure to television and movie violence suggests that playing violent video games will increase aggressive behavior. A meta-analytic review of the video-game research literature reveals that violent video games increase aggressive behavior in children and young adults."
• Analyses also reveal that exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings. Playing violent video games also decreases prosocial behavior.

10. Claims that video games lead to violence 
http://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/sep/20/video-games-cause-violence-claims-cause-violence

• Dr Mario Vance, a psychological researcher at the Rapture Institute for headline-inspired science, conducted a seven-year longitudinal study that monitored the anger levels of more than a thousand volunteers from gaming communities. The results showed statistically significant increases in overall aggression and violent tendencies that occurred very soon after tenuous mainstream media stories claiming video games cause violence.
• "Mainstream media have never liked video games, but it's just getting silly lately," said Dr Vance. 
• "Recently, several media sources focused on Aaron Alexis (the Washington naval yard gunman) and his enthusiasm for Call of Duty as a cause for his brutal crimes. Because when wondering what could have made a naval reservist, someone trained by the military to engage in actions with the express intention of killing people, turn to violence, the obvious conclusion is 'video games', apparently.
• Dr Vance and his colleagues assessed daily reports submitted by willing gamers as to their aggression levels and violent tendencies, and over 90% of subjects reported dramatic increases in anger and violent inclinations whenever they viewed a news story that associated video games and violent behaviour. The remaining subjects were not included as they were typically too busy punching walls or screaming incoherent threats at traffic.

11. Research of the effects of video games

• some studies suggest that the playing or observing of violent games does affect young
• children negatively as they show increased levels of aggressive behaviour – at least in the
• short term
•  other studies suggest that computer games have little or no effect on children’s aggressive
• behaviour, or can even be put to good use in an educational context
• children exhibit addictive behaviour towards computer game playing
• computer games cause children to be less sociable and less academically capable
• those who commit crime to finance their game playing habit share some characteristics with
• other kinds of addicts and encounter various social problems.
• Some research has set out to address the link between computer game playing and self-esteem as well aggression. Low self-esteem might well lead to more frequent play which would in turn lead to more mastery and therefore higher self-esteem according to Sanger 
• Video games negative outcomes: Aggression, low- self esteem, addiction and crime 
• Video games positive outcomes: Relaxation, High self esteem , Education, sociability. evidence is sparse, various studies seem to suggest that the playing or observing of violent games does affect young children negatively as they show increased levels of aggressive behaviour at least in the short term- Griffiths

12. Liverpool pupil robbed bank as it was a real life video game

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2430643/Liverpool-pupil-15-robbed-bank-gun-real-life-Call-Of-Duty-Resident-Evil-video-game.html

• Studies show ultra-violent games can lead to copycat behaviour among teenagers. Grand Theft Auto V, the latest game in a notorious series, was released last week to massive controversy.
• ‘Kids should be protected from certain content'
• Debra Chan said: ‘He wanted the money because he was jealous of other people who had material things he wanted.’ 
• ‘This is a very serious matter. It’s an armed robbery but not in the conventional sense most people would recognise. 
• The teenager has been sentenced 

13. Video games are not making us more violent studies shows

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/10/video-games-violent-study-finds

• Major new research into the effects of violent movies and video games has found no long-term links with real-life violence. 
• consumption of violent video games was measured against youth violence rates in the previous 20 years. The study concluded that playing video games coincided with a fall in violent crime perpetrated by those in the 12-17 age group.
• Anders Behring Breivik claimed to have played the military shooter Call of Duty in preparation for the killing of 77 people in Norway in 2011
•  laboratory tests into aggression can only measure short-term aggressive reactions

14. Aggression from video games linked to incompetence

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26921743

• Feelings of aggression after playing video games are more likely to be linked to game play mechanics rather than violent content- studies suggest 
• Games modified to have counter-intuitive, frustrating controls produced more aggressive reactions.
• playing violent video games for long periods of time can hold back the "moral maturity" of teenagers- one study suggests
• Problems arose with teenagers who spent more than three hours every day in front of a screen, continuously playing these violent games without any other real-life interaction.
• "If developers can design more effective game-play processes then it could be possible to minimise a player's feelings of exasperation and irritation - admittedly something good developers will want to achieve in any case," said Richard Wilson.
• "Players of games without any violent content were still feeling pretty aggressive if they hadn't been able to master the controls or progress through the levels at the end of the session."

15. Media Magazine Issue 40
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0i5diL3vrEiSGxRNHIyZmM4Ums&usp=sharing

When looking at some of the responses to controversial media texts it’s possible to see the general acceptance of an idea that is based on a largely discredited audience theory – the hypodermic syringe theory. This theory claims that the media ‘injects’ its passive audience members with ideas, values and attitudes that can directly influence behavior. This simple cause and effect perspective of media influence fails to address the complexities that make up the collective audience and indeed its individual members.

The idea that the media has a direct effect on people is often used by tabloid newspapers and politicians when responding to violent events. Of the many examples often cited are the claims that the music of Marilyn Manson and the game Doom were to blame for the Columbine High School shootings; and that the film Child’s Play was influential in the murder of Jamie Bulger.A belief in the direct influence of the media led to Oliver Stone being taken to court accused of being responsible for crimes which were allegedly influenced by his film Natural Born Killers. 

pursuits of the masses in their leisure time have long been seen as potential sources of social, moral and cultural decline. The social taboo of taking pleasure in violence could go some way to explain why computer games have been problematic. It is frequently argued that games such as GTA encourage consequence-free violence for its own sake through the narrative of the game. Players in these types of games can immerse themselves in the narratives; and the game-play means that they identify with the violent protagonists and receive rewards for violent actions. Unlike an action film which bases its violence on ‘justifiable’ motivation like revenge, survival or saving the family/state etc. the violence in games is largely perceived as ‘unjustified’ and presented as fun or just a way to pass the time; it is therefore more likely to be seen as morally reprehensible. 

16. Grand theft Auto First person shooter set to cause controversy

 http://www.craveonline.co.uk/gaming/articles/789191-grand-theft-auto-vs-first-person-violence-sure-cause-controversy

• Grand Theft Auto V‘s new first-person viewpoint on the PS4/Xbox One/PC remaster of the game looks to be much more than just a gimmick
• However, the GTA series’ comical level of over-the-top violence is somewhat uncomfortable to witness when you’re placed in the shoes of one of the game’s three protagonists.
• members have noted how the game’s new perspective may make the violence a little “too much,” with some of the wanton acts violence you can perform on innocents in the open-world game 

17. Violent video games and aggression Journal 

• It is well established that violent video games increase aggression. 
• There is a stronger evidence of short-term violent video game effects than of long-term effects. The present experiment tests the cumulative long-term effects of violent video games on hostile expectations and aggressive behaviour over three consecutive days.
• Participants played violent or non violent video games 20 min a day for three consecutive days.After gameplay, participants could blast a confederate with loud unpleasant noise through headphones (the aggression measure).
• As a potential causal mechanism, we measured hostile expectations. Participants read ambiguous story stems about potential interpersonal conflicts, and listed what they thought the main characters would do or say, think, and feel as the story continued.
• As expected, aggressive behaviour and hostile expectations increased over days for violent game players, but not for non violent video game players, and the increase in aggressive behaviour was partially due to hostile expectations.
•