Murder Simulators

Did video games have a part in the Virginia Tech. massacre?   The day after the tragic event took place, former lawyer Jack Thompson was on the news blaming violent video games. This man misinformed America and gave the emerging hobby a horrible name.   In the aftermath of the Virginia Tech. massacre, it was found that the gunman had not played video games throughout his entire life.   The media wants you to believe that video games will result in violent children, but many studies over the last few years have proven to be quite the opposite (Benedetti).
Although video games are receiving a very hard time, this is not the first time the Public has perceived a new form of media incorrectly.   In August 1910 when the first motion pictures appeared, the Good Housekeeping magazine had this to say:
What is going to be done with the motion picture shows ... grinding out their reels of excitement and enchantment before the eyes of the motley throng of men and women, boys and girls? ... These moving pictures are even more degrading than the dime novel, because they represent real flesh-and-blood forms, and impart their lessons directly through the senses (McKeever 16).
During the 1950s, comic books and television were both falsely harassed as well.   “Watching television was said to make us stupid, reading comics was said to engender violence. Except, once again, there was no real evidence. Just wrong, learned opinions” (Levinson).   One man even went so far as to tell the world that television made you illiterate and could give you cancer.   In 1978, a New York Times study showed that there had actually been no decrease in literacy since the era of television (Levinson).
The first video game was created in 1974, years before anyone had seen a personal computer. Pong was wildly addictive and popular when it was released in 1974 and since then video games have skyrocketed into a multibillion dollar industry. In less than 20 years, we have seen video games that went from simple...