Violence Proven as #1 Cause of Video Games By Jason Cross

It is an unfortunate and well-known fact that the existence of video games has undergone a recent and sudden growth spurt over the past few years. Until now, the source of such atrocities was unknown, but a new study performed by the National Association for the Study of Things Scientifical (NASTS) points to society's focus on violence as a major cause for the recent outbreak of video games, rap music, and even alcohol.

Many advocates of violence will argue that the rise in video games is completely unrelated to the recent and consistent popularity of violent behavior, but statistical analysis by the NASTS has decisively proven otherwise. Consider the following figures:

In the year 1999, violence levels were set at an average 13.53 decavi (the unit of measurement applied to violence), while the figures peaked at a maximum of 15.70 decavi. These figures represent any fairly average and normal year before 1999. Video game figures, on the other hand, were slowly rising with a record 294,995.39 pameters, nearly 50% higher than the 1998 value of 175,283.23 pam.

By 2000, violence levels had reached a staggering peak of 21.45 decavi, while video games rocketed up to a huge 845,203.26 pameters. These figures clearly speak for themselves. Comparisons for 2001 show an even greater rise in both violence levels and video games.

But I won't bore you with stale figures and numeric comparisons. Instead, I will explain the situation using this informative graph.

Clearly, it shows that as the decavi index of violence increases at an approximate 35.57% rate of growth, at an average gain of 3.76 decavi/yr., the video game value climbs at an average gain of 26,363.19 pam/yr., with a growth rate of approximately 41.53%.

Even the most stupid of children can plainly see that there can be only one explanation for such trends - clearly, the amount of violence willfully enacted by the public is directly influencing our society's level of video games - we cannot hope to eliminate the problem of rampant video-game usage without first altering or at least limiting our use of beloved violence.

I understand that this may come as a shock to many violence-loving citizens, but we must understand - we must sometimes make sacrifices in order to defeat such evils as video games... although the silencing of violent acts may seem unfair, we must consider the ultimate outcome - it is for the greater good, despite the apparent ridiculousness of giving up such an integral part of society as violence.

For more information on violence and its effect on video games, visit the NASTS website at www.nasts.com.

- Jason Cross