Video games are fun, a way to express creativity, challenging, and most importantly, censored! From the end of the 19th century to the present day there have been many technological advancements, and one of these advancements is well known throughout the world: video games. Video games have become a part of the lives of many people in the United States, both adults and children play them, and for this reason video games have become the subject of much controversy. Most of these controversies have died down over time, such as video games rotting the brain, but there is one that is a hot topic today, censorship of video game content. Censorship is “the suppression or prohibition of any part of books, films, news, etc. considered obscene, politically unacceptable or a threat to security." However, when censorship is used to take away creators' ability to express themselves, problems with constitutional rights begin to arise. The right in question is the First Amendment right, freedom of speech. Therefore, when major video game publishers and government agencies censor games based on what is considered "out of line" or offensive, video game companies and government agencies threaten the creators' First Amendment rights. This includes censoring any part of the game, from acts of violence to sexual content. Therefore, video game content should not be censored because it violates the First Amendment right, free speech. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay For starters, the topic of video game content censorship has been controversial since violent and sexual content first appeared, most notably in “Night Trap” and “ Mortal Kombat.” In 1993, both games caused a strong reaction from Congress. "Night Trap", for the Sega CD, was removed from store shelves at Toys "R" Us and FAO Schwartz locations in the United States in correlation with the response to a hearing. joint meeting of December 9, 1993, of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Governmental Affairs on violence in video games. This is what the Senate Judiciary and Governmental Affairs Committee established. "Night Trap" is cited as "shameful", "ultraviolent". , "sick" and "disgusting", encouraging an "effort to trap and kill women". However, the game's purpose was not to harm women, but to save them from harm. However, the game was still pulled from store shelves and possession was prohibited. The second game to spark the censorship argument was "Mortal Combat," which was the first video game to feature realistic, realistic violence. This caused another outrage in the Senate the same year that “Night Trap” was banned. Although “Mortal Combat” was not banned, it opened the door for the formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) which was created shortly after these controversies, just a year later in 1994. The Entertainment Software Rating Board was formed due of the political reaction on the games. While this may not seem like anything is being censored, there is more to the rating system than meets the eye. After the formation of the ESRB, video game creators had the ability to age-rate the game or not. However, most stores that sold games did not put unrated games on store shelves, leading most video game companies to put the games down so they could sell them in stores. It was a kind of censorship because it denied video game creators the right toselling games that weren't rated. All of this leads to violation of the creator's first amendment right. Furthermore, not only are government agencies trying to censor video game content, but now some of the major video game companies are taking control of what is allowed in a video game; forcing creators to censor certain aspects of their video game content. An example of this is the recent censorship code enforced by Sony's censorship policy. Sony Corporation of America implemented a stricter censorship policy that targeted imported games, for example from Japan, and denied them the right to have the original content on the games if classified as too "risqué". In an interview, a spokesperson confirmed the existence of a corporate censorship policy, which they said was developed out of a desire to protect children and in response to developments in American society (Sony). This statement from Sony is broad and biased in many ways. For example, claiming that video game content must be censored to protect children when most censored games are rated mature. This not only undermines the adult audience that censored games try to appeal to, but also takes away the first amendment from these very independent game developers who are trying to release a video game, for example, those who work in the United States. sector of the gaming industry. Sony's decision to censor games was heavily criticized by the gaming community. A player with the username PurplePin said in a statement about it: “…It is up to consumers and adults to purchase based on what they deem appropriate. That's why age ratings exist, why there should be further censorship...". This also shows that not only do video game creators not want censorship, but neither do gamers. Mandate that video games should not be censored because it hinders first amendment rights. However, it is true that some argue that censorship protects children from viewing inappropriate content. For example, according to Rachel Bradly: "Various studies have found that, compared to nonviolent or prosocial video games, violent video games lead to aggression and desensitize players to violence." There are also studies that show that sexual content in video games leads to the oversexualization of women and men, which is why some video game companies are stricter about censorship. This information might sound good on paper and to those who favor censorship, but all of these researched studies have been debunked. One such study by Greitemeyer and Osswald found in their studies of violent video games that they failed to find concrete evidence that these types of games lead to aggression or antisocial behavior. The claim that video games affect how people act has yet to be proven, and what is said to be true has not provided definitive evidence; too many variables that are not taken into account. While I agree that censorship is justified for games aimed at younger audiences, that argument cannot justify censoring adult games. For example, games rated for adults, when adult games are intended for adults. Therefore, game censorship is not intended to protect children's eyes, but is instead used to take away the First Amendment right from video game creators who want to express ideas originally intended for players to play and have fun. Keep in mind: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get an essay 2019. 2019.