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Effect of Video Game on Aggresive Thoughts and Behaviors During Development, Thomas A.
Kooijmans, December 2004, Rochester Institute of Technology, December 12, 2006,
http://www.personalityresearch.org/papers/kooijmans.html

Each generation of games always uses the newest technologies available, leading to more impressive graphics and realism. Along with these new technologies come more realistic violent acts and situations.

One of the industry's giants, Nintendo, sold an average of three games every second from 1983 to 1995. That adds up to over one billion games. That is equal to one game for every teenager on earth, or enough games that, laid end to end, scan the entire equator two and a half times.
~Are video games being sold this fast now and will the rate they are being sold increase in the future?

The main concern is violent acts within the games. The newest generation of games is so realistic that the line between "simulations" and video games has greatly been blurred. They are so realistic that the United States government has even released a game, entitled America's Army, to help train the next generation of military specialists.
~Are games like "America's Army" being sold in stores or are they exclusive to the military training?

GamesVideo games made their first appearance in the early 1970s. The first game, Pong, displayed no violent acts or situations. The first of popular games to be considered violent was Pac Man.

With the release of the Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s and Sony's Playstation in the 1990s came new generations of games, with better graphics and more capabilities. Game developers tried to simulate reality as best as possible. New innovations in technology meant more realistic violence and gore. Games can employ a first-person perspective, making it seem as though the player is seeing through the eyes of the in-game character.
~Are games going to far and becoming to realistic?

There were over a dozen incidents of violence, most involving death, that have been blamed on violent video games between 1997 and 2003. These ranged from beating deaths to shooting sprees to sniper shootings, and were not limited to the United States.

Violence in video games has progressed over the past 20 years. Super Mario Bros. was first released in the 1980s, it was considered a violent game. The game was highly fictitious and featured a very cartoon-like look, the main character broke blocks and attempted to destroy his enemies by jumping on their heads. Recent games such as Mortal Kombat feature realistic graphics and controls, but also extreme blood and gore. In this game you fight a human-like opponent in attempt to wear him down. The match is finished with a "Fatality," a move which kills your opponent in a very graphic fashion. Games like this have greatly affected today's standards of a violent game.
~Do kids who play the violent games today feel that some of these games are to violent?

During adolescence there is a general increase in the aggression (Lindemann, Harakka, & Keltikangas-Jaervinen, 1997). This aggression combined with the exposure to violent media will reinforce and increase aggressive cognitions. This interaction has a negative affect on the internal state, leading to increased aggression. The effects of this exposure are greater during early adolescence than middle and later adolescence.