Anderson, Craig, and Karen Dill. "Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78.2 (2000): 772-90. Studies have shown that playing violent video games can increase aggressive behavior and thoughts in actual life and lab settings. When college student participated in this study they reported aggressive behavior. The study shows that the more students played the video games, the more aggressive the behavior became. The second study was students either played nonviolent or violent games, then played against each other for a specific amount of time. These studies showed that playing video games increased aggressive behavior for a temporary amount of time for different types of players. This article is not hard to read, it is meant for people who want good research and information.

Funk, Jeanne B., and Debra D. Buchman. "Playing Violent Video and Computer Games and Adolescent self-concept." Journal of Communication 46.2 (1996): 19-32. The study presents data examining the relationship of playing violent video games and the self-concept of adolescents. Playing violent video games is a fun activity for most kids. Children are the main buyers of video games, and the games that they particularly want are violent. There are some indications that violent video games affect children's attitudes and self-concept. There are some gender differences when playing video games. The more time that females spend playing video games, the lower her self-esteem is. This article is not hard to read or understand. It is directed toward a general audience. There are great deals of facts, charts and statistics that can be quite helpful when researching a related topic.

Grossman, Dave, and Gloria DeGaentano. Stop teaching our kids to kill: a call to action against TV, movie & video game violence. New York: Crown Publishers, 1999. Video game play is a whole new world, developing at a radical rate that is hard for parents and adults to keep up with. Video games have become more violent, complicated, and addictive than have been in the past. If parents think that Pac-man and Pong are what today's games are like, then they should think again. "More than any other aspect of these new video games, it's the accuracy of the simulations-the carnage, the blood, the guts-that is so advanced" (Grossman 66). This book has a lot of information; it has quite a few facts and specific examples. It is meant for a general audience.

Kline, Stephen, Nick Dyer-Witherofd, and Greig De Peuter. Digital play: the interaction of technology, culture, and marketing. Montréal; London: McGill-Queen's UP, 2003. In the early nineties years, Sega and Nintendo have been escalating game violence in their video games. Studies have shown that the more violent the game, the more buyers the company gets. Sega and Nintendo battled it out in the early nineties to see who could make the goriest game and sell the most. After Sega came out with Mortal kombat 2, and made it as bloody and gory their sales were outrageous. "It grossed a record fifty million dollars in its first week in the stores" (Kline 133). This book offers a critical breakdown of the violent gaming industry. It has a large amount of pages, but is not hard to understand or read.

McCormick, Matt. "Is it wrong to play violent video games?" Ethics and Information Technology 3.4 (2001): 277-87. With the amount of people playing video games today, there have been improvements in the style, creativity and graphic quality in the games. Over the past few years the sales of video game consoles including Play Station 2 and DreamCast have been phenomenal. With the number of young people playing violent video games, it is not unexpected that people are going to voice their opinions about playing these games. Parents think that if their children are exposed to killing and violence then they will not understand the effects of it in real life. This article is meant for a more educated person, it has a few complex words, but it is not hard to read and understand.

Smith, Stacy L., Ken Lachlan, and Ron Tamborini. "Popular video games: Quantifying the presentation of violence and its context." Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 41.1 (2003): 58-76. Video games, especially ones rated for the mature/teen crowd, are full of violence and elements that can be a risk for aggressive development. The study was to examine 60 of the most popular video games for their violent and graphic nature from the three top gaming systems, DreamCast, Nintendo 64 and Sony Play Station. The findings showed that general audience games are less likely to contain violence than games of the mature rating. Differences in general versus mature audiences in the situation of violence appeared. Games for the mature audience are more likely to contain gun violence and graphic nature. This article is very long, explains a lot and has very good information. This article can be read by most people, but can get confusing at times.

Thompson, Kimberley M., and Kevin Haninger. "Violence in E-rated video games." The Journal of the American Medical Association 286.5 (2001): 591-98. Similar to the G rating of films, the Entertainment Software Rating Board's (ESRB) E rating (for "Everyone"), of video games implies that a game is suitable for all audiences, moreover, this paper indicates the E rating does not always mean violence free. Thompson and Haninger attempt to explain what children are being exposed to when playing E rated video games including violence, sex, alcohol, tobacco and other substances. "We found that 35 of the 55 games we played (64%) involved intentional violence for an average of 30.7% of game play (range, 1.5%-91.2%), and we noted significant differences in the amount of violence among game genres" (Thompson, Haninger 591). This article is easy to read and understand; it is for a general audience and has a lot of useful information.

Vastag, Brian. "Does Video Game Violence Sow Aggression? Studies Probe Effects of Virtual Violence on Children." The Journal of the American Medical Association 291.15 (2004): 1822-824. Millions of adolescents who have never and will never touch a video game will still be prone to violence. The question is not do adolescents have the tendency to imitate violent video games at times, it is whether or not will lead to violence in their life or not. "Most recently, a study of 396 "T"-rated games found 94% listed some kind of violence on the label. Of the 81 games played for an hour or more, the researchers found 39 (48%) to contain specific violent content not indicated on the label" (Vastag 1824). Further, new laws in different states, cities and countries forbid children from purchasing violent games unless accompanied by an adult. Some countries ban and censor explicit games, and refuse to sell violent games to anyone under the age of 18. This article has a lot of information and research, intended for a general audience, and is not difficult to read at all.

Vessey, Judith A., and Joanne E Lee. "Violent Video Games Affecting our Children." Pediatric Nursing 26.6 (2000): 607-10. Repeated exposure to violent video games can be connected with increased fear, violent behavior, decreased compassion toward others, increased aggression, and less trust for youth. The most popular video games of today unfortunately involve violence which leads to concern from parents about what kind of behavioral problems violent games will lead to. If people do not want their children playing violent video games there are different ways to prevent them from playing the games. Before purchasing a video game, take a quick look at the cover, it is usually a good indication if there is violence in it or not. This article is not difficult to read; it is meant for a general audience and gives good information and facts.

Video Game Violence. 10 Mar. 2000. Media Scope. 13 Oct. 2004 <http://www.mediascope.org/pubs/ibriefs/vgv.htm>. Even though video game makers tell us that there are more positive uses of video games, there are still violent games in which some people find alarming. Studies have shown that children are more susceptible to the influence of violence in video games. The newer games have better graphics, interactivity, realism, level of gore and allowing players to participate in a more realistic atmosphere ever. These new games have brought up a large concern regarding the potentially harmful effects that they can have on young children. A number of trials in different countries have been held to start up the video game rating system. This website is short, sweet and to the point. It is meant for a general audience, and has good facts and specific examples.

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