Violence in Video Games

[WishMaster3K]

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Edit: This information was compiled by using the free resources of the internet, but regardless, I was the one who took the time to compile it into a paper. As such, if you want to use me as a citation, or refer to this, feel free, but at the very least, give me credit.

I'd appreciate if you asked me in a PM, and would even appreciate it more if you sent me a final copy of the paper

Thank you, Dreams In Vana'diel community.
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Being the person who I am, when I find something that I know will stir up the opinions of the forum, it is my civic duty to bring this to light. In any case, I just finished writing my speech for English class, and I wanted to share it with the intelligent people on this forum.

We're all gamers, so I pretty much know what the feedback is going to be in regards to my content, but I suppose I'm looking for critique on certain points that may be off, or information that needs better citations. I'm not physically handing this in, I have an outline for that, but this is what I'll be reading (sans the parenthesi)

Not like it'll help much, cause I'm presenting this in about 7ish hours, but it couldn't hurt to have gamers tell me where the holes are so I can expect the worst from my teacher ._. enjoy!

The year was 1967, and the engineers at Sanders Associates, a New Hampshire-based defense contractor, came up with the concept of building a game that could be connected to a television set.

It was from this, that the idea of catching a dot that flew across the screen with dots controlled by the player was manifested. Over time, the dots controlled by the players became paddles, and the first video game, Pong, was born.

Fast-forward 40 years, and gaming has evolved above and beyond mere dots on a screen moving back and forth on a two-dimensional plane. Gaming has essentially become a visual medium, much akin to movies and other forms of entertainment, with graphical prowess, storylines and emotional ties to characters that rival what the best movies and books are able to create. As such, there are standards to be met in terms of visual presentation, content, interactivity and replay ability.

Gaming did not officially become a household commodity until 1977, when the Atari 2600 was released by a North American company of the same name. Now it is 2006, and, according to The NPD Group, a well-accredited, New York-based market research firm, the video game industry pulled in over 10 billion dollars this year, a 6% increase, and making this business more profitable than the movie industry. (1)

It has only taken gaming one-third of the time to do what it took the movie industry over 75 years to accomplish.

However, all is not well in the land of gaming. Much different from other forms of entertainment, gaming gives a greater sense of enjoyment to the consumer due to the fact that they are in control of the events. This immersion and manipulation is what sets video games apart from music videos, television and even movies; gamers receive an escape from reality unlike anything else deliverable.

While a great source of entertainment, studies have begun to determine the effects video games have on the body, the brain and the nervous system. (2)

It is from these questions that the media is often the scapegoat for an already existing problem: teen violence. According to the TalkXbox news group, “Blaming a simulation of violence for today’s teen violence seems rather irrelevant when looking at past entertainments that have been used by different societies to entertain themselves.” (3)

The editorial goes on to state that, “Simulations and real, live shows of death and murder have been a part of society on different scales for hundreds of year.” Throughout human history, this point is evident because public displays of violence ranged from using stockades to events such as the Roman Gladiatorial Munera and even the Spanish Inquisition.

There is very little evidence that the children during these time periods would pick up a sword or spear, and kill their classmates because of what they saw in the rings. “They saw death with their own eyes, not just simulations, and knew the difference between picking up a sword and killing someone and picking up a wooden sword and re-enacting their favourite battles as a star gladiator.”

Even more currently would be the children of the fifties who re-enacted battles between “Cowboys and Indians”. Yet throughout the post-World War II era, there was never a single incident of a child picking up a bow and arrow set and/or a real gun and killing their classmates just because they were picked upon. Compared to today, the Cowboys and Indians on television in the fifties seemed every bit as “real” to those kids back then as the video games on television sets in our homes nowadays seem to our younger generation, and yet, there was still no violence.

According to Henry Jenkins (6), the director of comparative studies at MIT, there are, among many others, 2 main points, or “myths” about the correlation between video games and violence. The first is: “the availability of video games has led to an epidemic of youth violence.” Jenkins disputes this, citing the federal crime statistics that the rate of juvenile crime in the United States is at an all time low. The relation between youth violence and video games is inconclusive, because according to the Entertainment Software Association, 90 percent of young boys and 40 percent of young girls play video games, hence, meaning the fact that most juvenile delinquents play video games is not that shocking of a number, and is not a fair element to be referred to in this argument.

In fact, as seen in a 2001 report by the US Surgeon General, “the strongest risk factors for school shootings centered on mental stability and the quality of home life, not media exposure.”

Even worse, the panic over violent video games is a visible catalyst to the problem, because it has led authoritative figures such as teachers, parents and politicians, to be more “suspicious and hostile to many kids who already feel cut off from the system.” This, essentially, according to Jenkins, “misdirects energy away from eliminating the actual causes of youth violence and allows problems to continue to fester.”

The second and worse problem that Jenkins talks about is “scientific evidence links violent game play with youth aggression.”

There have been many studies on the state of “video game addictions,” but the results are inconclusive here, as well. According to a study reported in the November 26, 2000 edition of the BBC news by Calvert and Tan, “college students who played a violent video game reported more aggressive thoughts after playing the game than college students who played a nonviolent game.” (4)

Conversely, however, other researchers claim that, “video games purge one's desire to act violently and thus reduce the amount of violence in which a person will engage.” There is also evidence, according to the publication “The Parent Report,” that playing video games, “may improve spatial abilities, the ability to create and apply multiple strategies, and may help develop critical analyzing techniques.” (5)

Studies show that playing video games increases the dopamine level in the body, and, according to Wikipedia, drugs that utilize dopamine can produce effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure. As true as these studies are, they are inconclusive in correlating video games to this, simply because, as a naturally created product of the body, dopamine is present in many activities that bring pleasure to the person, such as food, sex and the usage of certain drugs.

In his report, Jenkins stated, “Most studies found a correlation, not a causal relationship, which means the research could simply show that aggressive people like aggressive entertainment.” The only thing that this research can boldly prove is that violent video games may be one risk factor which can contribute to anti-social behavior. This information needs to be coupled with other more immediate, real-world influences, such as home life and economic standing.

In conclusion, no research has found that, “video games are a primary factor or that violent video game play could turn an otherwise normal person into a killer,” and there is substantial evidence showing that video games have no long-term effects on a person (Griffiths, 1999).

As Griffiths (1999) found in his research, although there are many studies examining the effects of video game and aggression, these studies seem to focus mainly on the possible short-term aggressive effects. In addition, the conditions in which these tests were held were not positively conductive to the video gaming environment that most gamers enjoy.

There have also been many studies that have found a positive correlation between negative behavior, such as aggression, and video and computer game violence (Anderson, 1986; Malouff et al, 1988), but the downside of these studies is that merely the short-term effects were observed. These results are rendered inconclusive due to the fact that out of the juvenile violence-related cases, the vast majority did not have contact or access to video game media in the preceding days leading up to the infractions.

While it cannot be denied that video games affect the mental, physical and emotional disposition of those that play them, to not take into consideration economical, social and political factors is not exploring the situation to the fullest and truest extent.

Thank you for your time.

(1) http://www.npd.com
(2) http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8449
(3) http://www.talkxbox.com/editorial78.html
(4) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1036088.stm
(5) http://www.theparentreport.com/resou...lture/130.html
(6) http://www.pbs.org/kcts/videogamerev...act/myths.html
(7) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html
(8) http://www.fbi.gov/priorities/priorities.htm

[Intensity]

Re: Violence in Video Games

While it cannot be denied that video games affect a the mental, physical and emotional disposition of those that play them, to not take into consideration economical, social and political factors is not exploring the situation to the fullest and truest extent.

Scanned through it. Very well done. Only thing I could see from skimming through it was the above. Think the "a" needs to be removed. =P

[Siber]

Re: Violence in Video Games

It was well written and an enjoyable read. Hell, I even learned a few things. If you're lookin' for someone else to throw in that's anti-video games, this guy's a hoot: Jack Thompson. If someone asks you a question about it, just say "If Half-life turns people into killers, then NBA Street makes people better Power-forwards/centers than BENWALLACE"

[TheGrandMom]

Re: Violence in Video Games

First I apologize, I did not read it and basically skimmed it. (Bad headache, can't concentrate) Quick question, was wondering if you put in any comments on the movie industry's violent content, even in cartoons as a comparison? Again I apologize but I'll read it fully tomorrow hopefully. Looks very informative.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Violence in Video Games

If I was maybe, presenting a speech to get my doctorate, where I'd be able to talk for 2 hours, then, yes I would have included content on how the news, and the media and movies and even television play a bigger role than video games. But since GTA get's more press and someone is profiting off of it, and the Video Games industry isn't protected by the corporate umbrella like the media is, fingers are pointed at video games.

What I do include are citations to sites that support my stance, but no, TGM, I'm sorry, too much info to type if I was going to fo an in-depth look on this issue ._.

And yeah, Siber, I wrote something on Jack Thompson for an English Class earlier this year. I'll make another post so that this one doesnt go off-topic too far.

Ty for the grammatical misdemeanor, but thankfully, I'm not handing this one in, just reading it XD

[Caspian]

Re: Violence in Video Games

Wouldn't be useful for the body of the speech, but I'd put into either the opening or conclusion that like TGM said movies and other forms of media are violent and aren't blamed for violence in youths. I'd also touch on that in the 50's and 60's it was comic books, in the 80's it was rap music (also rock music in the 50's), and finally turned into video games in the 90's.
Also, may want to cite a medical site or dictionary about the dopamine rather than Wikipedia. It would make it sound more researched. (Really not necessary, just a possiblity). Its probably too late at this point to put it into whatever you hand in, but the FBI site has a graph showing violent acts in the U.S. and just throwing in a few dates (Mortal Kombat, PS1, and mabye GTA3) will show that its gone WAY down since the inception of video games into mainstream culture.
Really good though, well thought out and well cited.
Funny how media and other groups like to find some random correlation and turn it into causality. (Global warming anyone?) Read Freakonomics, really interesting with things like that.

Ty for the grammatical misdemeanor, but thankfully, I'm not handing this one in, just reading it XD

Do be careful about that, its really easy to say whatever it is you're reading verbatim if you're not paying close attention.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Violence in Video Games

<- Still awake.

Thank You caspian. I check DIVD every morning, so I would have seen it, regardless. I took your comments into consideration and added what I could find info on. The graph was good for my Powerpoint portion of the presentation, thank you.

Edit:
Decided to add it here, since my article is on the same topic. I didn't want to start a new thread when ideas from one might overlap into the other. Here is something I wrote, and actually got a B+ on. I fixed the grammatical errors my teacher pointed out (there was a lot of red on this when I got it back, and I realized how generous he was to give me a B+ *_* )

Just who is Jack Thompson? He is none other than the self-proclaimed Savior of Sanity, Purveyor of Purity and Denizen of Decency. The Florida-based lawyer, who also happens to be a media-attention-whoring mogul, takes any and every opportunity to publicize his existence by viciously attacking anything related to video games and what may be deemed as the very destruction of out society.

Jack Thompson valiantly fought Take-Two Interactive, the company in charge of publishing the critically acclaimed Grand Theft Auto series, and called forth to his legions of mindless drones, also know as the collective retardation of this country’s Senate, into passing laws and bills and such that make gaming, as an art-form harder on the consumer and the developer.

Known to the collective gaming world as “Wacky-Jacky”, this Floridian attorney often resorts to personal attacks on the mental fortitude of those in his question, and viciously assaults all using the cumbersome and unfair Justice system of the United States Judicial branch. With games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas reeling under the weight of topics such as the “hot coffee” mod (which, can only be obtained by methods very much illegal to the operation of one’s video game console and is not, in any way, a part of the game that could be normally reached by anyone of the collective gaming majority upon playing GTA:SA), it seems that the right of a video game to have anything in the way of Intellectual Property Insurance has gone the way of the Democrat in the years following the 2004 Presidential election.

It seems that scarcely any quiet time goes by in a gamer’s life before he or she hears about the latest murder or assaulting or general misdemeanor in society that was “influenced” by video games. Whenever someone of previously unassuming position gets caught doing something otherwise an inconvenience, morally and legally, to society, analysts are quick to point fingers at the video games in their drawers, their systems and their computers. It seems a bit daunting that a simple game such as Grand Theft Auto would influence a select few to roam the streets and begin unscrupulously terrorizing the other, law-abiding citizens.

The remarkable irony of GTA is not that it received the bulk of its marketing from the fact that it changed the face of gaming single-handedly, but that you are able to pick up a hooker, have sex with her in your car in some back alley, and beat her up for your money back. For a game that came out at $50, to buy it just to do that seems like a waste, no matter how mentally challenged the bulk of much of today’s youth is.

GTA is so critically-acclaimed because of the fact that it is a free-roaming game where the players are truly in charge of their outcome. Most games nowadays can be equated to riding a train: The developer creates a plot and a set list of events and the gamer has to follow that strict outline to complete the game. GTA, comparatively, would be the equivalent of being given a favorite toy in an open field and told that one has limitless possibilities. Sure, an individual play with the toy the way it was meant, nut who’s to say that the model-plane, for example, is only limited to flying?

That is why gamers loved GTA. If one did not want to complete missions to continue on, or if the mission completion bored the gamer, there were endless things to do. One could steal a car and joyride, one could find some weapons and create mayhem and battle the never ending police force. One could take up many of the mini-games prevalent in the worlds portrayed by the game. Strictly adhering to the storyline wasn’t a requirement, it was an option. In an era when gaming has reached what the movie industry took 75 years to do in 25, and gamers were led like sheep from one story aspect to the next, GTA found appeal to all varieties of gamers: the casual and the hardcore.

To speculate that one bought a 50 dollar game that held the possibility of giving gamers a foreign concept, “freedom”, to merely beat up hookers shows the uneducated decision-making process that leads our country to, among other things, initiate pointless wars, oppress sovereign peoples and totally ignore the catastrophe that is the domestic situation in neighborhoods such as those inhabited by people that do not fit into the denomination of “Upper-Middle-Class and higher.”

But perhaps it is merely true that GTA is the cause of violence in today’s youth. It’s a simple solution. Miraculously, despite its worldwide sales exceeding 50 million over the course of the series in recent years, there has not been the worldwide explosion of violence that the media would like people to believe. That is purely odd, especially in a world where parents do not take an active role in their child’s social life, do not take an active role in their education and do not take an active role in their maturation; resulting in children who are largely raised by the television and whatever Mass-Media wants them to see.

Of course, pointing fingers at parents is wrong and fruitless; the lobbyist of parents complain about being blamed for their kid’s problems, and would rather spend time formulating petitions and letters to congressmen and women instead of actually raising their children. Then there are those who use games as a “get out of jail free” card. Go on a car-stealing, pedestrian-mowing rampage? Blame video games and instead of being sent to jail, just go to a few months to a psychologist. Take guns from your parent’s household and murder a few of your classmates then commit suicide? Parents won’t be blamed; it’s ok because there were a few M-rated Playstation games in your room.

Much like the Rock-and-Roll and comic book outcry of the 50’s, it is pure speculation that this fad within the Congress of blaming problems of today on the current popularity of video games will stay for a while. As long as parents continue to avoid blame and as long as media-moguls continue to pander to those that pay them the most money, a scapegoat will be found. Being unable to retaliate, the video game industry is the scapegoat of the new millennium.

[Caspian]

Re: Violence in Video Games

Can't take credit for all of the graph idea. Saw it in some video game magazine I bought at the airport once. Pretty funny since that should be one of the biggest things supporting video games and violence if the were actually connected. Its always funny when people take one small piece of information and make huge claims because of it. Always helps to look at the bigger picture.

[WishMaster3K]

Re: Violence in Video Games

I'd put into either the opening or conclusion that like TGM said movies and other forms of media are violent and aren't blamed for violence in youths.Added

I'd also touch on that in the 50's and 60's it was comic books, in the 80's it was rap music (also rock music in the 50's), and finally turned into video games in the 90's.Added

Also, may want to cite a medical site or dictionary about the dopamine rather than Wikipedia. It would make it sound more researched. (Really not necessary, just a possiblity). Good point, found a site that ended in .gov and changed it. Added

...just throwing in a few dates (Mortal Kombat, PS1, and mabye GTA3) will show that its gone WAY down since the inception of video games into mainstream culture.Added

Thank you, oh Knight Of Ni! m(_ _)m

Edit:
4am, and It'll be a miracle if I can pull this off on hours of sleep >.<! Thank you for the last-minute input, I feel it's going to really help me drive the point home. I love you guys.

Caspian, I love you Brokeback style (rofl, j/k. I've just wanted to use Brokeback in a sentence . . . )

[Jarre]

Re: Violence in Video Games

I have made comments about this in various other forums and these are the facts (some have already been mentioned but I'll just skim over these)

1. whats the difference between a violent game and a violent movie?
2. How many times have you seen kids enacting a movie fight scene, i can tell you I've seen it more than games.
3. Games have a turn off gore mode (half life, street fighter, Tekken etc.) movies don't.
4. In the Uk games are more stringently controlled than the US with them being passed by the same people who age restirct films. I have seen many of the more violent games have an 18 rating, some less violent games even a 15 rating.
5. More control is needed to stop parents buying 18 rated games for their 5 year old, because he wanted it ( i have seen it too many times)
6. There are a small handfull of people who games can affect them physcologically and may cause them to try and en-act the game. this is a small handfull only, and teh point is why penalise the whole world becuase of a very small minority? And why penalise games when films are as bad (and in some cases worse and they don't get penalised)
7. a lot of the shooting games help hand eye co-ordination.
8. The artical mentions that people are being raised on the television and games because parents do not want to take an active social interest in tehir childs development, surely thats something they need to work on rather than glaze over it and try and make an example of something else.

The problem is the culture today where parents don't take an interest in their kids activities, all they have is the Television, video games and music (songs have been blamed for things as well) the world governments wanting to ban anything that might "pervert" the kids minds are consentrating on the wrong things.

why are they sat in front of a TV or video game all day? answer because the aprents are too busy to interact with them, granted some time for "leisure" but in a lot of cases the kids just spend all tehir free tim e on it because there isn't anything to do.

The goivernments need to concentrate on providing more things to do for kids, help parents have an active role in their kids development and life, tougher penalties for parents who do let kids watch 18 films, play 18 games etc. when they are underage. banning the games wont solve anything as it is not them that are causing the problems, its because the kids lives are so enlcosed that the Tv and games and music is all tehy know of life, they are having to teach themselves and this "media" is all they have. If parents interacted more then what tehy know of life would be different.

with alot of problems in the world today with kids, experts moan on about this that, they did this that, they watched this, played that, look what happened. Take a more active role and I'm sure this will change. parents today (not in all cases but it is becoming a majority) have lost what being a parent should be, i.e. someone to help develop the child to face the real world, to know what is right and wrong, to be able to interact with other people and increase maturity. the governments can make examples of anything they want but they are only glazing over the true problem.

[Siber]

Re: Violence in Video Games

The goivernments need to concentrate on providing more things to do for kids, help parents have an active role in their kids development and life, tougher penalties for parents who do let kids watch 18 films, play 18 games etc. when they are underage. banning the games wont solve anything as it is not them that are causing the problems, its because the kids lives are so enlcosed that the Tv and games and music is all tehy know of life, they are having to teach themselves and this "media" is all they have. If parents interacted more then what tehy know of life would be different.

That's a-whole-nother can of worms. I really don't want the government telling me how to raise my kids when I have them. It is not their business or problem how I'm raising my kid unless it directly affects them, which it doesn't. I do agree that banning or even discussing the ban of games does nothing except maybe give give them far more press, increase hype, and ultimately, increase sales.

I think the problem here is the whole "vocal minority, silent majority." You hear about all the bad kids, but you can only assume a few good kids exist based upon the number of bad kids you hear about. The thing is, good kids don't sell air-time, so only the bad press gets publicized. There are far more good kids out there with interactive parents than the bad ones. No spirit of parenting has been lost. Parents are doing the same things they did a long time ago; instead of the kids going outside to play though, they split their time with both outside and Super Smash brothers or other video games.

Granted, it's easy to say either way that the parents are more or less involved than before because there are no numbers to prove it either way. We can only speculate, and I feel that parents are relating just as much now as their parents were to them 20+ years ago.

whats the difference between a violent game and a violent movie?

Video games are far more involved than movies. Movies are what I'd consider passive entertainment where video games and going outside are active entertainment. The more involved you get, the more you can relate to what you're doing and enjoy it. Here's where the parenting comes in: the parents just need to teach their kids that a video game is not real, and from the sound of it, parents are.

Oh, just wanted to say that "violent" video games are great stress relief. Nothing to calm the nerves like mowin' down 5 guys with an M4 or destroying a node with the Flak Cannon after dodging fire from the incoming vehicles/enemies. Granted, it can be frustrating when you lose to and make you angry, but after it's all over, you're generally more relaxed than what you went in as.

[Caspian]

Re: Violence in Video Games

Whereas video games are a lot more "real" in that you make the decisions and decide what happens next, movies are more real in terms of emotions. When was the last time a video game moved you emotionally? Made you feel love, happiness, anger (not anger at not being able to beat a certain part, but a deeper anger), or anxiety? Same with books. I usually feel even more emotion from books than from some deep movie. Video games are really starting to develop incredible storylines, but its the very nature of video games that prevents the emotional responses that are found so often in movies and books. The fact that the storyline in a video game is split up by a game itself. You get a hunk of the story, then its back to playing the game for a bit. The fact that you so quickly jump in and out of the story is what makes it so much harder to really get into. Thats the difference in a nutshell.

[Siber]

Re: Violence in Video Games

When was the last time a video game moved you emotionally? Made you feel love, happiness, anger (not anger at not being able to beat a certain part, but a deeper anger), or anxiety?

I don't know about the love part since I am not exactly sure what elation that entails, but the rest I have experienced in video games before. Granted, the anxiety thing I feel far more in movies, but happiness and whatnot in storylines I do get often no matter the medium.

Video games also have the ability to create happiness or anger, like you pointed out, in what you can and cannot accomplish within the game. I can't say I've ever read a book excluding when I was first learning to read where I was angry because I couldn't understand a word or where I was happy because I finished a chapter. Yeah, I may have thought it a good book and been glad I read it, but that's equatable to finishing a good game and being glad you played it. Not many movies where I've been elated I understood a part and where I was mad that I didn't either. To cause these two emotions like that are what help set video games apart and to make them more real as well. Accomplishing something, no matter how small, always feels good when it seems productive.

The fact that the storyline in a video game is split up by a game itself. You get a hunk of the story, then its back to playing the game for a bit. The fact that you so quickly jump in and out of the story is what makes it so much harder to really get into.

Video games are moving greatly towards the point where this is no longer true. Half-life and Half-life2, no matter where you were in the game, you ARE Gordon Freeman. You know as much as him, minus the MIT degree. The story makes as much sense to you as it would to him, as if you were him (because you are him, if you follow). Walking down a random alley in HL2, you can find newspapers on the ground that explain what happened between HL and HL2. Yes, I do consider HL2 far ahead of its time for when it came out and even now. Games are incorporating storyline into the action more and more, though, and slowly, games like HL2, maybe not as original but as intense in storyline integration, are becoming the norm.

Sometimes though, you don't want storyline. That's when games like UT2k4 come in, and they are all action. Just as much satisfaction is to be had in accomplishing goals and maybe moreso compared to other games depending on the personality type of the person, but the other emotions are left out due to the lack of story.

[Jarre]

Re: Violence in Video Games

Oh, just wanted to say that "violent" video games are great stress relief. Nothing to calm the nerves like mowin' down 5 guys with an M4 or destroying a node with the Flak Cannon after dodging fire from the incoming vehicles/enemies. Granted, it can be frustrating when you lose to and make you angry, but after it's all over, you're generally more relaxed than what you went in as.

I have to agree with that, after a long day where i've had to drive a long way and put up with certain categories of drivers, its so relaxing to switch on burnout revenge and start carving up the traffic

I agree the parenting issue is only a small piece of it, but as with the other thread we have had much discussion on "the generation these days" alot of things that kids do these days "uncontrolled" do have a fall back onto how parents look after them.

Double Post Edited:

Whereas video games are a lot more "real" in that you make the decisions and decide what happens next, movies are more real in terms of emotions. When was the last time a video game moved you emotionally? Made you feel love, happiness, anger (not anger at not being able to beat a certain part, but a deeper anger), or anxiety?

I have to say FF7 when Aeries dies, FFX when Yuna and gang gets tried for Seymours death and when Tidus has to elave her at the end, squalls struggle. But as for violent emotions I agree nothing has moved me on that. (unless i get wiped out, but thats just general frustration and nothing to do with the game contents.)

[nazlfrag]

Re: Violence in Video Games

Great piece of writing, though I thought there were too many commas ^^.
Only found one grammatical error, and it was from a quote:

Simulations and real, live shows of death and murder have been a part of society on different scales for hundreds of years.

A few pieces I would rephrase due to excessive commas:

Now it is 2006, and according to The NPD Group, a well-accredited New York-based market research firm, the video game industry pulled in over 10 billion dollars this year, a 6% increase, making this business more profitable than the movie industry.

The relation between youth violence and video games is inconclusive. According to the Entertainment Software Association, 90 percent of young boys and 40 percent of young girls play video games. The fact that most juvenile delinquents play video games is consistent with that statistic, and is not a fair element to be referred to in this argument.

As true as these studies are, they are inconclusive in correlating video games to dopamine addiction. As a naturally created product of the body, dopamine is present in many activities that bring pleasure to the person, such as food, sex and the usage of certain drugs. While these activities can be addictive, they are not neccesarily so.

My rephrasings are nowhere near perfect, there is no real need to change your piece, but do try to split sentences with four or more commas in them into two or three simpler statements.

On the whole, great effort! I hope I got to you in time to help a bit ^^