There have been many debates on the social effects of video games on players and broader society, as well as debates within the video game industry. Since the early 2000s, advocates of video games have emphasized their use as an expressive medium, arguing for their protection under the laws governing freedom of speech and also as an educational tool. Detractors argue that video games are harmful and therefore should be subject to legislative oversight and restrictions. The positive and alleged negative characteristics and effects of video games are the subject of scientific study. Academic research has examined the links between video games and addiction, aggression, violence, social development, and a variety of stereotyping and sexual morality issues.Freedman J. Media violence and its effect on aggression: assessing the scientific evidence. University of Toronto Press, Toronto 2002 .
Areas of controversy Publicized incidents of violence caused by video games Public concern over the potential promotion of violent behavior by video games has led a number of cases to become popular and publicized.
In the United States On 22 November 1997, Noah Wilson, age 13, died when his friend, Yancy, stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife. Wilson's mother, Andrea Wilson, alleged her son was stabbed to death because of an obsession with the 1995 Midway game Mortal Kombat 3; that Yancy was so obsessed with the game that he believed himself to be the character, Cyrax, who uses a finishing move which Wilson claims involves taking the opponent in a headlock and stabbing them in the chest, despite the fact that Cyrax has never used this Fatality in any game he has appeared in. The court found "Wilson's complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."Wilson v. Midway Games, Inc. 198 F.Supp.2d 167, 27 March 2002.
There have also been video game-related crimes which took place at schools. On 24 March 1998, 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson and 11-year-old Andrew Golden killed four students and a teacher in the 1998 Westside Middle School shooting. Although no connection to video games was drawn by the press at the time, the case was re-examined by commentators a year later, subsequent to the events of the Columbine High School massacre, and it was determined that the two boys had often played GoldenEye 007 together and they enjoyed playing first-person shooter games.
On 20 April 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students, a teacher, and themselves in the Columbine High School massacre. The two were allegedly obsessed with the video game Doom. Harris also created WADs for the game, and created a large mod named "Tier" which he called his "life's work". Contrary to rumor, however, neither student had made a Doom level mimicking the school's layout, and there is no evidence the pair practiced the massacre in Doom.
2000s Controversy related to video games was sparked again in November 2001, when twenty-one-year-old Shawn Woolley committed suicide in a state his mother described as an addiction to EverQuest. Woolley's mother said:
Later video game controversies centered on whether some murderers were inspired by crime simulators. In February 2003, 16-year-old American Dustin Lynch was charged with aggravated murder. He pleaded insanity in that he was obsessed with Grand Theft Auto III. Jack Thompson, attorney and opponent of video games, offered to represent Lynch. Thompson encouraged the father of the victim to pass a note to the judge that read "the attorneys had better tell the jury about the violent video game that trained this kid [and] showed him how to kill our daughter, JoLynn. If they don't, I will."Hudak S. "State gets OK to try teenager as adult 16-year-old accused of killing Medina girl". Cleveland Plain Dealer 13 May 2003. Lynch later retracted his insanity plea. His mother, Jerrilyn Thomas, said:Hudak S. "Teen can stand trial in girl's murder; Father of slain Medina High pupil upset that video game critic won't be in court". Cleveland Plain Dealer 16 September 2003.
He pled guilty to the charges against the advice of his attorney in December 2003.
On 7 June 2003, 18-year-old American Devin Moore shot and killed two policemen and a dispatcher after grabbing one of the officers' weapons following an arrest for the possession of a stolen vehicle. At trial, the defense claimed that Moore had been inspired by the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City."Can a video game lead to murder?" CBS News. 19 June 2005.
On 25 June 2003, two American step brothers, Joshua and William Buckner, aged 14 and 16, respectively, used a rifle to fire at vehicles on Interstate 40 in Tennessee, killing a 45-year-old man and wounding a 19-year-old woman. The two shooters told investigators they had been inspired by Grand Theft Auto III.
In June 2007, 22-year-old Texan Alejandro Garcia shot and killed his cousin after arguing over whose turn it was to play the game Scarface: The World Is Yours. He pleaded guilty at his murder trial on 6 April 2011, and was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.
In September 2007, in Ohio, 16-year-old Daniel Petric sneaked out of his bedroom window to purchase the game Halo 3 against the orders of his father, a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, Ohio, His parents eventually banned him from the game after he spent up to 18 hours a day with it, and secured it in a lockbox in a closet where the father also kept a 9mm handgun according to prosecutors. In October 2007, Daniel used his father's key to open the lockbox and remove the gun and the game. He then entered the living room of his house and shot both of them in the head, killing his mother and wounding his father. Petric was sentenced to life with a minimum of 23 years in prison. Defense attorneys argued that Petric was influenced by video game addiction. The court dismissed these claims. The judge, James Burge, commented that while he thought there was ample evidence the boy knew what he was doing, Burge thought the game had affected him like a drug, saying "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever."
In December 2007, 17-year-old Lamar Roberts and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Heather Trujillo, were accused of beating a 7-year-old girl to death. They were said to have been imitating the content of Mortal Kombat. In July 2008, Heather was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 6 years in a youth-offender program, and, on 16 January 2009, Lamar was sentenced to 36 years in prison.
In June 2008, four teens allegedly obsessed with Grand Theft Auto IV went on a crime spree after being in New Hyde Park, New York. They first robbed a man, knocking out his teeth and then they stopped a woman driving a black BMW and stole her car and her cigarettes.
In April 2009, Joseph Johnson III was charged with murder after shooting his friend, Danny Taylor, during a quarrel over a video game in Taylor's apartment in Chicago, Illinois.
2010s In January 2010, 9-year-old Anthony Maldonado was stabbed to death by his 25-year-old relative, Alejandro Morales, after an argument regarding Maldonado's recently purchased copy of Tony Hawk: Ride and a PlayStation 3 console.
On 29 November 2010 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old boy, Kendall Anderson, bludgeoned his mother to death in her sleep with a claw hammer after she took away his PlayStation.Henry D. "South Phila. teenager charged with killing mom". ABC 30 November 2010. Accessed 12 July 2010.
On 24 March 2012, 13-year-old Noah Crooks was accused of shooting Gretchen, his 32-year-old mother, dead with a .22 caliber rifle after a failed attempt to rape her. He was charged with first-degree murder and assault. During the dispatch call to 911 shortly after the murder, Crooks revealed that his mother had taken away his Call of Duty video game because his grades had turned poor and that this was the reason why he snapped. According to dispatch, Crooks did not seem emotional even though he had killed his mother a couple of hours earlier. In 2016, Crooks was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Sandy Hook After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on 14 December 2012, initial media reports misidentified the shooter as Ryan Lanza, the brother of the actual perpetrator. After discovering that Ryan had liked Mass Effect on Facebook, an internet mob immediately attacked the game's Facebook page, labelling its developers "child killers". Once it was discovered that it was his brother who had carried out the massacre, early news stories about Adam claimed a link to between his actions and obsessively playing other video games such as StarCraft and Dance Dance Revolution. After a UK tabloid claimed that Lanza had an obsession with the violent Call of Duty and Dynasty Warriors game series which he owned some titles from, this became widely repeated across the internet, although many fans of these series disputed the claims.
Subsequently, representatives of Southington, Connecticut, a small town near Sandy Hook, organized the collection and potential burning of violent video games in exchange for gift certificates, although they also took music and movies deemed harmful. A report by CBS claimed that anonymous law enforcement sources suggested a link to video games, which was later dismissed by the Connecticut police, saying that it was "all speculation".
However, the incident prompted a wave of legislative and bureaucratic efforts against violent video games in the following months, including a meeting between US vice president Joe Biden and representatives from the video game industry on the topic of video game violence. The official investigation report, released on 25 November 2013, discussed video games only briefly in the 48-page document and did not suggest they contributed to Lanza's motive. The report revealed that Lanza played a variety of video games, although he was most fond of non-violent video games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Super Mario Brothers. The report particularly focused on Dance Dance Revolution which he played regularly, for hours, and at times with an associate.
On 22 August 2013, 90-year-old Marie Smothers was shot dead by her 8-year-old grandson after the boy had been playing Grand Theft Auto IV. As the boy lived in Louisiana, he was considered too young to be charged.
In the wake of the El Paso, Texas shooting on 3 August, and the Dayton, Ohio shooting on 4 August in 2019, President Donald Trump partially attributed the shootings to video games. Trump stated "We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence." Similar concerns were raised by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Outside the United States In April 2000, a Spanish 16-year-old, José Rabadán Pardo, murdered his father, mother, and sister with a katana, proclaiming that he was on an "avenging mission" for Squall Leonhart, the main character of the video game Final Fantasy VIII.
On 27 February 2004, in Leicester, England, 17-year-old Warren Leblanc lured 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah into a park and murdered him by stabbing him repeatedly with a claw hammer and a knife. Leblanc was reportedly obsessed with Manhunt, later, reports claimed that police had found a copy of the game in Leblanc's bedroom. The victim's mother, Giselle Pakeerah, has been campaigning against violent video games in the UK ever since. The police investigating the case have dismissed any link.
In October 2004, a 41-year-old Chinese man named Qiu Chengwei stabbed 26-year-old Zhu Caoyuan to death over a dispute regarding the sale of a virtual weapon the two had jointly won in the game The Legend of Mir 3.Lil C. "Death sentence for online gamer". China Daily 8 June 2005.