Landmarks in violent video games:
1991 Duke Nukem is released and published by Apogee Software and followed in 1993 by Duke Nukem II and in 1996 by Duke Nukem 3D.
1993 DOOM released by iD Software, and downloaded an estimated 10 million times in first two years. DOOM II is released the following year. A new DOOM game is released from every year until 1996, then DOOM 3 is released in 2004 and made into a motion picture in 2005.
1996 Quake is introduced, also by iD Software, and is only the second game in history that allows players to play against each other on the internet. "Quake and its three sequels, Quake II, Quake III Arena and Quake 4, have sold over 4 million copies combined."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quake
1998 Grand Theft Auto introduced for PC and PlayStation. This is followed by three more GTA games in 1999, including GTA II on PlayStation and Dreamcast with upgraded graphics. GTA III makes its debut in 2001 with subsequent GTA III games coming out in 2002, 2004 (2), 2005, and 2006.
2000 Hitman is developed and released for PC by IO Interactive. Sequals follow in 2002, 2004, and 2006.
All video game information courtesy of Wikipedia.
Violent Crime By Age Group and Year, Bureau of Justice Statistics
YEAR.........14 and younger..........Ages 15 to 17
1993.........42, 230.......................97,280
1994.........46,724........................104,350
1995.........44,590........................104,309
1996.........40,145........................96,347
1997.........38,041........................85,412
1998.........34,471........................77,729
1999.........33,703........................69,313
2000.........33,130........................66,261
2001.........31,982........................64,591
2002.........29,784........................62,671
2003.........30,447........................62,088
So in 1994 they might have been able to make a case against violent video games, because that is the only year in which violent crime among youth can be seen to have increased. In nearly every subsequent year, with the exception of 2003, violent crime among both age groups declined. In fact, the violent crime rate amongst children 14 and younger is 27.9% lower in 2003 than in 1993, and 36.2% lower amongst 15 to 17-year olds for the same time period despite the rising popularity of violent video games, and increasingly detailed graphics amongst all genres of violent video games. So a better case could be made that violent video games reduce violence amongst youths rather than the opposite.
Violence and gore is only getting more popular and easy to access for children as not only video games, but movies, music, art, and internet material. If it was the cause of violence in children, crimes rates would show it. They don't.
I grew up with an original Nintendo but can remember playing Duke Nukem on PC and PS. In fact I have played most popular first person shooters for nearly every major platform since the Nintendo. I can remember playing Syphon Filter and Quake for PS as well. There was Rainbow Six, 007, and Perfect Dark for N64. I am a huge fan of HALO and its sequel, have played Hitman and Soldier of Fortune, have been known to frequent Ghost Recon, and loved DOOM 3 for Xbox. I listen to angry music too--Mudvayne, Dry Kill Logic, In Flames, Distrurbed, Manson...and my favorite movies are war movies. I played with toy guns as a child, and had plenty of access to real ones. I slept with a loaded Mini-14 at the foot of my bed when I was 11. Can't say I ever shot any one, and I've never been in trouble for a violent offense. My parents actually took responsibility for me by teaching me to seperate fiction from reality and both acknowleding and accepting the consequences for my actions. That is what this country needs. Not more law suits placing blame where it doesn't belong.
