"The video gaming industry is a large part of modern society, and has come under scrutiny time and time again for the content we put into the games we produce. Some time ago, video games were seen as a toy for children, something immature and not fit for anyone other than the youth of our society. But the industry has changed, and so have our consumers. Only 26% of gamers today are under the age of 18, and companies are now marketing towards those 20-somethings that have grown up with the gaming industry. The argument of violence in games affecting growth is largely moot at this point, as the majority of games are no longer marketed towards younger people. In fact, only 14% of all games released in 2014 received a Mature rating, which further shows how small the margin of obscenity is in the gaming industry. For the amount of studies attempting to prove a correlation between gaming and violent behavior, there is still little to no solid evidence to support it. And for all those studies, there are just as many showing positive effects of gaming. Games have been proven to increase hand-eye coordination, improve problem solving abilities, and increase social, teamwork and leadership skills. So while there is still no solid argument on the relationship between violence and games, there is very conclusive evidence that games can have positive effects on development."
- Good Games Inc.
Johnny Gamer Replies: "I understand your point here, you're right in that there isn't much evidence to prove a relation between video games and aggressive behavior, but there are a lot of other negative effects that should be addressed. Obsession and ADHD are serious problems that can be caused by gaming, and there is a lot more evidence behind those than any relation to aggressive behavior. And even if developers aren't marketing these games to children, they need to address the fact that they may still wind up in the hands of minors. This is a reality that developers need to consider when making games. Maybe they don't need to put that scene in Grand Theft Auto where you shoot a hooker, maybe the industry doesn't need more games about shooting innocent people, even if that's what makes money. The industry needs to pay more attention to the morality of the content of their games, and less to what makes money."
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