THE BLAME GAME

So the media then seems to be missing the main point, in reality this is a story
about the dangers of guns but it has simply misinterpreted to blame game violence, now weather this is deliberate or intentional I cant say for sure, but the
Video games are growing as a form of media and becoming ever more advanced
ever growing power of the NRA isnt out of the question. This is an example of how
and popular. With this advancement video games are said to be getting to realistic, one of the oldest forms of media theory is used to explain things in the modern
it is this realism that has got people wandering. Games are often blamed for vioworld, this is of course the hypodermic needle theory. It is claimed that video
lence in society because violence is common place in the video game world. Peogame violence is absorbed passively, and as the theory suggests is inseminated
ple claim that video game violence desensitizes people from real life violence and into the conscience of the player making them more likely to commit real violence.
thus causes an increase in violence. So is any of this true? Can games actually be
Now I can see how this theory has a fair point, after all constant viewing of vioblamed for violence or is it merely a scape goat for public peace of mind? Well lets lence cant be healthy for the human psyche but I feel like this isnt enough to
have a look shall we
make anyone feel as if the taking of an innocent life is a done thing. The strange
irony in my opinion anyway is that the exact theory the papers are implementing,
was developed in a time of propaganda and that is not too far away from what the
To look at this digital dilemma properly I feel we should look at some of the games mail has published here.
that have been blamed for real life violence.
Allow me to set the scene, the 20th of October 2007 in the town of Wellington
Ohio USA, two parent are shot by their own 16 year old son; the boys mother is
killed but his father managed to pull through. The parents locked up their sons
copy of Halo 3 in a locked gun case, the son broke in to the case, looking for his
game and finds a gun. Now the fact that a gun was as accessible to a minor is a
problem in of itself but we will get to that later. The game Halo 3 was blamed for
this incident.
The way this was reported adds to media panic. An article in the daily mail uses
quotes from the boys father such as They put weapons in the hands of our children that teaches them murder, and that killing is okay to quote the mail; I'm
gonna fight them, said Mr Petric who said his sons addiction to violent video
games led to the tragedy. Note how that last bit isnt actually speech this makes
me sceptical that he even said this. And when this father talks about how games
teach kids that murder is ok and they put weapons in hands of our children is
just doesnt build a decent argument. If you have do have a gun, its your choice
thats fair enough but if a you are going to raise a child in a house with a gun it is
your responsibility to teach that child about the real dangers of fire arms and keep
safe, not Halos.

On to the second example then, July 2011, Anders Breivik killed 77 people at a political youth
camp on the Scandinavian island of Utoya. The
killing was blamed on Call of Duty Modern Warfare as according the Breivik himself he used the
game to train for the shooting. The murderer in
question was a well know right wing extremist
and he has written a manifesto claiming that he
has ties to the Knights Templars. The thing is all
of are things Ander has claimed and I fear someone of his mental state isnt the best source of
information.

but the gameplay is far too unrealistic to provide

proper military training. The papers do this to
sell stories, no one wants to read an article
about the history of Anders right wing views but
one that blames a well-known game franchise is
sure to get attention however the attack was
really caused because of his far right opinions.

Across the news this story reasons that games

like COD provides people with a lust to kill the
chance to fulfil this desire. This is seen as papers
quote Breivik on the game and how he loves the
game for its violence. This is reflective of the
uses and gratifications theory. You can see this in
the way that they portray the killers love of this
Looking at the way the media portrays this story
shooter and how he thinks it is useful for
tends to focus on the fact that Breivik used Call
training. This theory works hers, well partially
of Duty as a training device. Many papers utianyway. The homicidal lust that that Breivik sort
lised quotes from the killer himself to push forth
could have been filled by COD but the fact that
this point, quotes such as; I see MW2 more as
Breivik is clearly insane is still apparent. This is
part of my training-simulation than anything
where this theory falls apart as it relies on psyelse. This quote shows he believed that COD
chological analysis of the subject needs and how
would be useful for his training, this does not
they use media to satisfy then. In the case of
mean it is; as I already explained Breivik like
Breiviks mind we cant possibly hope to
most right wing extremists a great source of inunderstand its working, it is clear that someone
formation. You can see this again when the Telecapable of such a horrific act isnt of a regular
graph quoted him with; That's why it's used by
mind-set.
many armies throughout the world. It's very
good for acquiring experience Im sorry but that
is simply not true, COD might have 3D graphics

So what have we learned? there may be a small

correlation between the video game violence
and real life aggression but It seems that the
majority of violent acts blamed on video game
violence are actually cases of seriously mentally
ill people having access to firearms. I dont know
about you but I feel that the latter is defiantly
the more pressing issue.

Breivik Anders; the killer in question.