A study on evolution of violence in video games, individual perceptions and its impact on society

Video games as a form of entertainment is wide spread and it is estimated that 90 percent of children in USA play video games. There have been several pointers indicating the role of violent video games in perpetration of crimes in the society. The aim of the study is to assess the perception among young individuals playing video games. About seventythree individuals from Manipal academy of higher education, Dubai campus who play video games were interviewed with a preformed questionnaire. The mean duration they were playing video games was 3.90 (SD±1.22) years. The average time spent for video games per week was 13.86 (SD±4.86) hours. 43.93% played because violent video games were interesting to them, 36.98% for pleasure and 19.17% played because violent video games kept them engrossed. 29 (39.72%) individuals felt playing violent video games made them aggressive. 38 (52.05%) felt they were not affected and 6 (8.21%) individuals were uncertain.