EA's Position on Banning Violent Video Games?
Hi everyone, specifically EA Representatives yourselves,
My name is Brendan Shea and I'm a 27 year old senior here at UMass Lowell. I've been playing video games for a very long time going back to SNES and such, I love your products and I'm absolutely a loyal customer. I'm a 27 year old guy, but hell yeah I play some Battlefield in my down time when I'm bored, just like a huge number of people in their 20's.
I'm double majoring in History & Psychology; and here in Massachusetts, in my Psychology classes, I've heard lots of talk about how many people believe that video games like the ones your company produces (which are extremely popular and sell millions of copies) are very, very dangerous for anyone to play, because of how violent they are. I have heard people propose that perhaps people should not even be allowed to play video games like yours. I've been told by my (obviously quite biased) Psychology professors that these games will make someone commit acts of violence in real life.
My professors keep stating that "these games are so bad for kids, they're so bad for children", yet when I explain that a person must show government issued photo identification to purchase them stating that they're over the age of 17, they don't understand that this fact means that these games aren't for children, they are in fact for "Mature" (as the rating system rates them) adults. I've been playing video games since I was a kid in my off time, and no, neither I, nor anyone I've ever known has EVER committed a random act of violence because they play a "violent video game", so its quite obvious that their arguments are completely ridiculous and unfounded.
I was wondering if you could please give me your company's official stated position on this assumption by professionals in the Psychology field that your company's products are the direct cause of random acts of violence in this country, and should perhaps be banned, so that I can use it as a good piece of evidence in my Psychology classes against these obviously biased anti-video game arguments?
Thank you very much guys, again, I love your products,
(I'd also love to hear from anyone else who agrees with my position here, which I assume everyone in this forum does)
Brendan Shea
