Literature review

Kierkegaard 2008 believes violence shown in video games is harmless and has nothing to do with the violence shown in society today. “Moreover, his research shows that previous work is biased towards the opposite conclusion”. He believes that evidence from the 1980s suggesting video gaming is a cause of violence in society can not be proven to be the case. He also mentions "With millions of sales of violent games, the world should be seeing an epidemic of violence," he says, "Instead, violence has declined”. Barker and Petley 2006 question the way violence is defined in the media. While it may seem simple to define what is and isnt violence in video games it is different to our societys. For instance “Is the ‘violence’ shown in a tom and jerry cartoon or computer game similar to that seen on a news bulletin?”.
Gummer 2007 notes that the more realistic computer games will encourage a more violent behaviour. Whereas a fantasy game of a man slaying a draggon will not.
Anderson and Dill 2000 looked at the effects of violent video games in the laboratory and in real life. They made two studies: the first found that college students who played the most violent video games had the most aggressive behaviour. The second found that test subjects playing a violent game acted out more angrily while playing than those who played a non-violent game.

Reference:
Kierkegaard, K. KK 2008 “Video Games And Violence: Are Studies Biased” [Internet] http://www.scientificblogging.com/news_releases/video_games_and_violence_are_studies_biased [26-10-09]
Barker, M MB & Petley, J JP 2006 “The Media Student’s Book” Fourth Edition Oxon Routledge
Gummer, A. AG 2007 “Violence in video games and its effect on children” [Internet] http://www.mcvuk.com/blog/93/Violence-in-video-games-and-its-effect-on-children [26-10-09]
Anderson, C CA & Dill, K KD 2000 “Violent Video Games Produce Violent Behaviour” [Internet] http://mentalhealth.about.com/cs/familyresources/a/vidgameviolence.htm [26-10-09]