Call of Duty: Affects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behaviors

The impact of chronic violent video game play on player’s aggressive behaviors have been a passionate debate with mixed results supporting both sides of the issue. For over 40 years, violent video games have been able to efficiently market its violent plot and images to millions of players even in a market inundated with competition. Call of Duty, one of the most popular violent video games in the contemporary marketplace is a game that motivates its players to take on the role of military arms men and kill as many competitors as possible. This game has gained widespread appeal, even with a strong M-rating (mature) that advises consumers of its graphic storyline, characters, and weaponry. With this pervasive attraction to violence in video games, the possibility of players subconsciously retaining the violent action and images shown in the violent video games is a serious possibility. Through a sample of 300 college students, this research examined how habitual video game play can desensitize players and affect player’s aggression in real-life situations. The results should offer some educational elements for young adults to understand the critical issues related to violent video games playing. Limitations and suggestions for future research will be offered