Task 6

How and why are violent videos game such as grand theft auto so popular amongst younger audience and should we be concerned?


Overtime, it is evident the gaming industry has become extremely successful in which people have found themselves immersed within gaming. “In the past 30 years, video games have had a major impact on how people spend their leisure time.” Video games have developed significantly and have become very prevalent especially amongst younger individuals; one of the titles most favoured could be described as Grand Theft Auto. “The title sold a record 609,000 copies on its first day of release, generating an estimated £24.4m ($48.5m)” exhibiting its success.

“Violent video games are popular with male and female children, adolescents, and adults. They have been successfully marketed to youth and are easily obtained regardless of their age.” This infers violent video games are successful amongst younger audiences as the institutions are able to appeal by effectively promoting through Dumbing down in order to allow all audiences to understand the concept of the game. Therefore this could perhaps cause concern due to the fact all ages are able to comprehend the content despite the level of violence explored.

Moral panics have also existed throughout the years regarding the extreme violence in video games. In 1999, parents were more concerned than ever as, “the nation was shocked by a school shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado/There had already been some publicity over the amount of violence in video games/ The media emphasized that the Columbine shooters played these games, and society luminaries drew connections between the nature of the shootings and the games.” This led to the issue of violence in video games being expressed as society became horrified by the disastrous consequences of the influences of video games, inevitably creating moral panic.



During the 1970’s Video games were first made available, Pacman was very popular whereby you would consume pills and ghosts in order to collect points. Within modern times this wouldn’t be considered violent, however in the past this was observed as the first game to contain destruction of some sort. Through improvements in technology, the gaming industry has been able to take advantage of resources, which previously were unavailable resulting in simple ideas such as shapes etc. These advancements have led Sony and Nintendo create increased realism of violence and gore, “It has been estimated that up to 89% of games contain some violent content.” Furthermore, “violence is one of the most popular forms of entertainment” therefore it would be difficult for game companies to ignore this as they are designed in order to fulfil popularity. Games are also becoming increasingly violent as the thirst for blood and gore, “Satisfies some basic human needs. The adrenalin rush, the satisfactions of imagination, fantasy, and vicarious adventure, probably explain why millions of nonviolent people enjoy violent entertainment.” Audiences will continue to desire more and for it to be diverse and this is why game industry continue to make games more violent.


Following the rise in violence depicted through video games such as Grand Theft Auto, concerns have raised regarding the psychological impacts of the game, which could result in individuals more prone and influenced to display violent thoughts and aggressive behaviours. “Studies of children exposed to violence have shown that they can become: “immune” or numb to the horror of violence, imitate the violence they see, and show more aggressive behavior with greater exposure to violence.” This further relates to the increasing violence as the “exposure” causes game players to mimic the actions in reference to the Copycat theory. This could be seen within, “A teenager allegedly killed a taxi driver in a bloody frenzy, re-enacting scenes from the blockbuster video game. /Police who caught the 18-year-old at the scene said he confessed to having planned the attack to find out if robbery was as easy as depicted in the violent game.” This conveys the influences of violent video games, especially GTA which led to this particular crime, which highlights an imitation, causing concern as members of the public have been killed due to the impacts of the game.