Literature Review

It is well known that if you play or do something over and over it sticks in your mind but this also means that it can happen with video games? “Tony Hawk's fans find their eyes searching out fantastical skateboard routes among pedestrian walkways and telephone lines.” (Robertson, 13 August 2007) this is showing that just because you have switched off a consol you can start labelling things around you in a game context without thinking, the same writer also states “I know that, if I've spent an entire weekend playing Halo and you stick me behind a crowd of slow-moving tourists, there's a split second when I wish I had my pistol.” (Robertson, 13 August 2007) this is only a mild response, it’s one thing to be thinking about it, it’s another thing entirely to actually act upon it. Though this is stating that there is a bad influence on peoples’ minds, there have also been results from other studies finding no link between video games and real life violence, in fact it has been shown to help children learn and develop important skills, “At least one study argues that make-believe violence helps children 'conquer fears and develop a sense of identity', as gruesome fairytales once did.” (Hinsliff 21 May 2006). Both of the above sources state different findings about the reaction on people’s mental well being and actual well being so the main thing to be bought forward is to think about the context in which video games are played.