Annotated Bibliography

Daniel Wise

Deana Hueners

Composition II

03/26/07

Annotated Bibliography

Anderson, Craig A. "Violent Video Games: Myths, Facts,." Psychological Science Agenda. Oct. 2003. American Psychological Association. 26 Mar. 2007 .

Craig A. Anderson a member of the Executive Council of the International Society for Research on Aggression researched the affects of violent video games and produced a list of myths involving the link between aggressiveness and video games. In his research he found that the effects of video games are wide-spread and very powerful on the mind. His theory is that these games provide a positive solution for using violence, they make violent behavior more “cognitively accessible,” they decrease nonviolent scripts and decreases negative reactions to violent or aggressive behavior.

Bowles, Scott. "'Grand Theft Auto' Gets Pulled Over."

USA Today 21 July 2005, sec. 1d.

Scott Bowles, a writer for USA Today, explains recent news about a video game being taken off the shelves for a modification hidden within the game’s code. This modification or “mod” is known as the hot coffee mod which revealed a mini-game involving the player’s character having sex on screen. The game’s producer Rock Star then halted production of the game because it was being pulled off shelves for having the original “M” rating changed to the “AO” rating intended only for adults 18 and older. Rock Star then produced an edited version of the game that did not have the modification included.

Elfman, Doug. "Vegas Mayor Wastes Time, Slams OK Shooting Game." Oregon Live. 8 Dec. 2006. The Oregonian. 26 Mar. 2007 .

Doug Elfman of the Oregonian reacts to Las Vegas mayor Oscar Goodwin’s statement that the game Rainbow Six: Vegas could be bad for business. Rainbow Six: Vegas is based off the Tom Clancy novel Rainbow Six which involves a multi-national team of elite special forces units that battle terrorism around the globe. In this game, terrorists take hold of several hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and it is the job of the Rainbow Team to stop them. Doug Elfman writes that it is very hypocritical that mayor Goodwin stars himself in CSI and Casino that portray Las Vegas as a “den of killing every week.” (Elfman)

Ries, Al. "Nintendo Will Win Game Wars by Thinking 'Different,' Not 'Better'" Advertising Age 78 (2007): 13.

Al Ries chairman of Ries & Ries, an Atlanta-based marketing-strategy firm, writes about how Nintendo is changing its strategy as the new generation of video game systems advance onto the market. Nintendo’s strategy has always been to do things differently from all the other companies such as Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment. In 1989 they introduced the first portable game system the Game Boy to the masses, and in 2006 they introduced the Nintendo Wii. The Wii only produces 1/10 of the power produced by the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3, but includes the innovative Wii-mote and nunchuck controller.

Vance, Patricia E. "Entertainment Software Rating Board."

Congressional Digest 84.2 (2005): 56-58.

Patricia E. Vance, President of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, explains

the basic mission of the ESRB which is to allow parents to have a better understanding of the content in video games. The article is a direct transcription of the hearings taken place on September 28, 2004 before the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on science, technology, and space. She also goes through the rating system and explains each category and the different criteria that games must fit to be included in each category.

"Violence in Video Games." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. 28 Dec.

2006. Wikipedia. 26 Mar. 2007 .

This entry on Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, there are several well documented instances where the video game industry has attracted plenty of controversy. It lists the content that has garnered much scandal in video games such as: sexuality and nudity, child development, violence, and explicit language. The American Psychological Association has also ran a study where it has been found that video games can raise aggressive behavior in children; however, parents have been able do subdue these effects by moderating exposure. The article also lists game legislation in major countries. These countries require that game developers present their products to a ratings board that then decide on the appropriate audience for that game.

Wright, Katheryn. "Does Media Cause Violent Behavior?" Women Gamers: Because Women Do Play. 6 Oct. 2000. Women Gamers. 26 Mar. 2007 .

Dr. Katheryn Wright, a resident consulting psychologist for Woemen Gamers.com, explains her views of the Federal Trade Commission report on the marketing of mature rated games to children. Based on her review of the report, she has found that while violent video games can lead to violent behavior, people should not list that as the lone reason for violent behavior. She insists that there are many factors in a person’s environment that come into play in their social development. She does agree with the report that measures should be taken to improve the situation. For example, prohibiting the sale of video games to children, improve retailer compliance, and making parents more aware of the rating system.

Database Name	Why Selected	Search Order
Academic Search Premier	Indexes and abstracts journal articles on a broad range of topics and provides the complete text (text and graphics) of many of the articles it indexes. Aimed at undergraduates, it provides scholarly journal articles along with articles from popular, technical/trade, and substantial news sources.	1
National Newspaper Abstracts	Citations and brief abstracts for articles in the New York Times, USA TODAY, Wall Street Journal, and Barron's plus full-text of articles in Barron's. Use the "Journal Finder" to find out where the full-text of these articles are available (some are in print in the library, some are in the database LexisNexis Academic, etc.)	7
Net Library	Provides a collection of electronic books on a wide range of topics. The ebooks in this collection may also be found by searching the Library Catalog of the Mundt Library and linking directly from the Catalog to the ebooks themselves. Off-campus access with your regular library ID and password can be problematic; the most reliable method to ensure access from off-campus is to create a personal NetLibrary account when on-campus. Use the "create an account" link at the very top of the screen. Distance students who are unable to login into NetLibrary can ask the Mundt Library staff to create an account for them.	6
Opposing Viewpoints	one-stop source for full-text information on current, controversial issues. Includes book chapters, magazine & journal articles, statistics, images, and more.
Lexis Nexus – Business	Link to "Business" category for articles from regional and national business publications, reports, etc. Then select "Company News," "Company Financial Information," " Industry & Market News," or "Accounting, Auditing, & Tax."	2
AP Multimedia Archive	Provides photos and graphics which may be used for educational purposes in papers, presentations, and on the Web -- but may not be used for profit. The photo archive adds 800-1000 photos every day, and you will find up-to-the-minute photos of events as they are happening. Also, the archive includes photographs back to the 1860's. There are special search techniques that let you find images about concepts (e.g. friendship, power, cold), or with certain colors (e.g. red backgrounds), or from specific time periods and dates.	3
Alternative Press Index	Indexes journals covering cultural, economic, political & social change. Indexes over 250 alternative, radical and left periodicals, newspapers and magazines. Includes selected abstracts from research journals.	4
Lexis Nexus – Legal Resources	Indexes and provides complete text of articles and other publications related to U.S. law. Select "Law Reviews," "Legal News," "Federal Case Law," "U.S. Code, Constitution, & Court Rules," or "State Legal Research."	5

Topic Essay

Daniel Wise

3/19/07

Gaming Under Siege

Video games have come a long way since the days of Atari 2600 and arcades. What once began as simple time wasters now has evolved into a $12 Billion industry. Games began with simple premises and virtually no plot. Games like Tetris and Space invaders simply started off straight to the point where the player has no particular goals except to reach a high score on the leader board. However, now games have reached a stage where mature themes thrive and cause controversy in today’s world. Gaming has come under scrutiny of the government and religious groups for these mature themes while industry executives, gamers and game journalists have met this onslaught with a resolve to keep gaming in its current state.

The gaming industry has now evolved into something that can rival Hollywood productions and award winning novels. Today, video games contain intricate plots, character development and situations that can provoke meaningful thought. When the video game industry started out some twenty or thirty years ago, developers consisted of small teams of programmers that handled the sound, design and coding all at the same time during the production of the game. Today, development teams can average between twenty to fifty people, some can even reach into the hundreds. The growth of development teams has allowed smaller teams to handle different aspects of creating a video game. These can all centralize their efforts into these different areas of development that include programming, graphic design, sound design, level design and story development.

With the inclusion of advanced technology and Hollywood story production, mature themes have arisen in games creating a public outcry against these themes. The current technology that developers are capable of using has allowed them to create grizzly, violent themes that one would expect to see in horror movies. Stories have also included such topics like sex, violence, drugs and alcohol.

The gaming industry, like the movie and television industries, has come to compromises with society creating a rating system that informs parents and gamers of the material that is included within the game. The gaming industry is not all blood and gore though, proving this by creating games that have thought provoking stories without including a single drop of blood or word of vulgar language. I hope to inform people of the video game industry though this essay and prove that there is substance without violence.

Research Paper Topic

I have chosen to use violence in video games as my topic for my research paper.

I have chosen this topic because it is a story that is currently gaining some buzz in the news world. There are many things that are happening in terms of congressmen against video games because of their violent and sometimes sexual content. Parents are also concerned about keeping violent games away from their kids.

There are many proponents for video games that stand by the belief that video games do not lead to violent behavior.