c

: Thank you very much for that Robert.

Next, we have another very special guest, someone

who is highly respected in the world of video game development, head designer for Rockstar
games, Andrew Soenksen!
 Thank you so much for that introduction Matt, and thank you for having me on the
show today.
c

: My pleasure. Now, as many of us know, Rockstar is a game developer who was
responsible for Grand Theft Auto and many other violent games. How do you feel about the
question we are addressing today?
: Well you know Matt, I have received a lot of criticism for my work, but I feel that all of
it is unwarranted. As Mr. Salvo previously stated, there have been two major cases in which
people have blamed video games for violence that has happened. An April 2008 report by the
NPD Group, has discovered that 72% of Americas population play video games. Senator Rob
Blagojevich stated that, ³98% of the games considered suitable by the industry for teenagers
contain graphic violence.´ If you take that stat into account, as well as considering that 72% of
the over 300,000,000 people living in the United States, you see that over 210,000,000 people are
exposed to violence in video games once in their life. I do not believe those words from Senator
Blagojevich for an instant.
c

 What does all that mean to you?
 What it really means, is that the research being done by people on this topic is
completely irrelevant to the real issue. As stated by Daniel Koffler in his book titled ˜


 

  he says that, ³American politicians frequently target video games for increased
legislative regulation over mature subject matter such as violence or sexually explicit content.
However, their arguments that violent video games are negatively affecting American children
are emotionally driven and not supported by scientific research.´
c

 What about other studies that have been done on the topic?
 There have been over 200 studies on this topic, but this topic in particular is known for
their results being inconsistent. The studies are so skewed that as stated by Benjamin Radford in
his book Teens at Risk, he says, ³the approximately 200 studies on media violence are
remarkable primarily for their inconsistency and their weak conclusions. Some studies show a
correlation between television and violence; others don¶t. Some find that violent programming
can increase aggressiveness¶ another finds that c


 



does.´
c

 And how do those studies relate to video games?
 The studies deal directly with violence in the media in general, which also encompasses
video games. It also shows how inconsistent studies on the subject in general are, which is very
relevant.
c

 Mr. Soenksen, a lot of criticism that comes from people say that because of these violent
and graphic video games, the levels of teen sex and violent crime rates would also come up. Do
you have any information regarding this?

m| 2008 teens engaging in sex was less. 1995-2002 significantly dropped.

m| As video games have become increasingly popular over the past 20 years, violent crime
rates have actually dropped substantially.
m| NIMF Senator Lieberman says- graphic scenes of cannibalism in games  should we now
fear cannibalism in teens«?
m| Ane simple fact: violence and killing is considered mainstream entertainment
m| ARTICLE: ³video games do not case violence page 2´