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Related Experiment Videos

Violence in E-rated video games.

K M Thompson1, K Haninger

  • 1Harvard School of Public Health, Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, 718 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115, USA. kimt@hsph.harvard.edu

JAMA
|August 14, 2001
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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Many E-rated video games contain violence, with 64% of those studied showing intentional violence. Parents should be aware that game genre and content descriptors do not always accurately reflect violent content in video games.

Area of Science:

  • Media Studies
  • Public Health
  • Game Design

Background:

  • Children's exposure to media violence, substances, and sexual content is a public health concern.
  • Content analysis of video games commonly played by children has been limited.
  • E-rated video games are intended for all audiences, similar to G-rated films.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To quantify and characterize the depiction of violence, alcohol, tobacco, other substances, and sex in E-rated video games.
  • To assess the accuracy of content descriptors for E-rated video games.
  • To inform parents and healthcare providers about potential risks in video game content.

Main Methods:

  • Created a database of E-rated video games available in the US by April 2001.
  • Analyzed a convenience sample of 55 E-rated video games released between 1985 and 2000.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Assessed game genre, violence duration, fatalities, weapon types, rewards for violence, substance use, and sexual content.

    • Main Results:

    • 77% of analyzed games were sports, racing, or action genres; 57% lacked content descriptors.
    • 64% of played games (35/55) featured intentional violence, averaging 30.7% of gameplay.
    • Violence was rewarded or required for advancement in 60% of games; 44% of games without a violence descriptor contained violent acts.
    • Action and shooting games had the highest number of deaths per minute; sexual content appeared in 2 games, alcohol in 1.

    Conclusions:

    • A significant amount of violence exists in some E-rated video games, contrary to their intended audience suitability.
    • Game genre influences the amount of violence; content descriptors are informative but not exhaustive.
    • Parents and physicians should recognize that E-rated games can expose children to unexpected violence and reward violent actions.