Owen Bailey
Karen Morris
English 1102-X
4 March 2011
“Life is Like a Video Game”
Imagine living the life of someone in a video game. Endless possibilities in an imaginary world, and no matter how many times you die, the player can always come back to life. Visualize the life of being a citizen in the game, “Grand Theft Auto.” “Grand Theft Auto” is a video game produced by Rockstar Games and follows the life of a male character trying to fulfill the “American dream.” The video game portrays intense violence, blood, strong language and sexual content, partial nudity, and the use of drugs and alcohol (Davison). Throughout the game, the main character is able to get a range of weapons from guns to baseball bats, and use these against anyone who comes in his path. When violence occurs during game play, usually all citizens and by-standers flee for their life. If this scenario were to play out in real life in your hometown, how would you handle being faced with such a dilemma?
A terrible accident similar to the one described happened in Fayette, Alabama. Devin Moore acted out the main character of “Grand Theft Auto.” Devin Moore was brought into the Fayette Police Station on suspicion of stealing a car. Moore had no criminal record before the day of June 7, 2003. Early in the morning on that day, Moore sat in the police station, waiting to be questioned. Sometime after being sat down, Moore decided not to cooperate. As the arresting cop was distracted for a split second, Devin Moore lunged for the officer’s .40-caliber automatic pistol. The young 18-year-old male shot officer Arnold Strickland twice, once in the head. Another officer, James Crump, heard the shots go off and ran to see what the commotion was. Moore was waiting on his next victim to show up, and immediately downed the police officer, killing him with another shot to the head. Devin Moore then decided to flee down the hallway to the door. He saw the last victim as he ran down the hallway, a 911-dispactcher, Ace Mealer. After the teenager took the life of the three officers, he fled the building with one of the officer’s squad car keys and took off with a car. (Can a Video Game Lead to Murder). Moore was later caught four hours later and was arrested with no bond and faced a possibility of the death penalty (Dakks).
The question of the whole murder case of Devin Moore was what to blame, or who to blame. Moore’s last words before he was arrested was, “life is like a video game, everybody has to die sometime.” After the murder of the three police officers, many people blamed the makers of the hit video game, “Grand Theft Auto.” It was proven that Devin Moore bought the video game from either Wal-mart or GameStop. He played the video game for months before the murder, and this may have been enough time for practice of the actual event. CBS news said in the article, “Can a Video Game Lead to Murder,” that playing the video game, “Grand Theft Auto,” enabled Devin Moore to visualize a “menu that popped up in the blink of an eye, offering him the split-second decision to kill the police officers by shooting them in the head, and flee in a police car. The multi-billion dollar video game trained Moore to react in the way he did (Can a Video Game Lead to Murder).
This murder case lead to a lawsuit on Rockstar Games, Sony, Wal-mart, Take-Two Interactive, and GameStop for their part in selling and distributing the video game.
Violent content has been proven to affect the aggression in the brain of children’s brains. The brain is vulnerable to re-wiring until a person is nearly twenty years of age. With this knowledge being known, a child under the age of twenty can be affected negatively by being exposed to a violent video game. The impulse control center of the brain, the prefrontal cortex, is the part of the brain that is in construction throughout the teenage years. (Can a Video Game Lead to Murder). Kristen Kalning, gaming editor at MSNBC, conducted tests with forty-four adolescents on images of their brain after playing two types of video games. One group of the young teens played a racing game, “Need For Speed,” and the other group of teens played a first-hand shooting game called, “Medal of Honor: Frontline.” Both games are an aggressive style game, but the attribute that separates the two is violence. Just like the theory of Kalning, the test showed negative effects on the adolescents’ brains (Kalning).
Video games can be developing. Some games are made to contribute to a child’s learning. Video games may teach hand-eye-coordination, following instructions, logics and problem-solving skills, and social and communication skills. However positively affecting some children, violent video games can destroy a child’s upbringing (Tumbokon).
In conclusion to the problems with video games, Wal-mart and GameStop agreed to card-check any person coming into the store wanting to buy a violent or mature rated video game (Dakks). Although that may slim down on the chances of children and teenagers playing violent games, other actions need to be taken into action. Dr. Phil McGraw, a well-known psychologist who has is on television show, gave pointers in an article. He told parents to not always go on the rating of a video game, but to research the game and see how the storyline is played out. Renting games before buying, talking to the makers and other parents, and setting time restrictions on playing the game is helpful. In conclusion, parents should also discuss with their child why something is wrong if the child is exposed to negative behavior (McGraw).
Works Cited
Davison, John. “Grand Theft Auto IV: 11 Things Parents Should Know.” What They Play. What They Play, 3 Apr. 2008. Web. 4 Mar. 2011.
McGraw, Phil. “Children and Violent Video Games.” Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil, n.d. Web. 31 Jan. 2011.
Tumbokon, Chacha. “The Good and Bad Effects of Video Games.” Raise Smart Kid. Raise Smart Kid, n.d. Web. 18 Feb. 2011.
“Can a Video Game Lead to Murder?” CBS News. CBS News, n.d. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
Dakks, Brian. “Teen Charged in Ala. Cops Shooting.” CBS News. CBS News, 9 June 2003. Web. 4 Mar. 2011.
Kalning, Kristen. “Does Game Violence Make Teens Aggressive?” MSNBC. MSNBC, 8 Dec. 2006. Web. 4 Mar. 2011.
