Social development

Over 200 studies have been published which examine the effects of violence in entertainment media and which is at least partially focused on violence in game in particular. Some psychological studies have shown a correlation between children playing violent video games and suffering psychological effects, although many other studies find no such link causation.

LGBT characters

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender characters have been depicted in games since the 1980s, the first being Moonmist (Infocom 1986).
Content has been subject to change by some game companies, which are generally examples of heterosexism in that heterosexuality is normalized while homosexuality is subject to aditional censorship or ridicule.

Sexual orientation and gender identity have served a significant role in some console and personal computer games with the trend being towards greater visibility of LGBT indentities, in particular, Japanese popular culture and games marketed towards LGBT consumers.

Portrayal of Gender.

Representions of gender in games are stereotyped . Eg: Male characters portrayed as muscular, female characters portrayed as soft bodied. Females in games seem narrowly stereotyped, they are constructed to be the one who needs to be rescued or is the goal or reward of the game. Male characters are portrayed with more power.

Some video games do not conform to this, for example: Lara Croft who is portrayed as beautiful and athletic but also independent.

Reinforcment of sexsist stereotypes have also been claimed a result of violent games.

Sexual Themes

Sexual themes in games are much less tolerated in the US than violent themes. The most controversial game of this type was Rapelay. Worldwide campaigns against it to get it banned.

Nudity-
Few games in North America show full frontal nudity. Sexual themes are more common in Japanese PC games such as Eroge and the visual novel genre.
They often play a similar role to the obligatory sex scenes in Hollywood movies. Releases in Europe and North America have been sporadic.

Biological links

Some researchers believe that while playing violent video games lead to violent behaviour, there also biological influences that impact a persons choice. According to Sean P. Neubert, a person who is biologically predisposed to agression will be more strongly influenced by violent scenes.

Crime and Violence

-A common criticism of games is that they increase violent behaviour in children and young adults.

Death Race (Exidy, 1976) was the first widely accepted controversial game. Long Island PTA Ronnie Lamm pushed for legislation in the early 1980s to place restrictions on how close arcades were to schools, saying that they caused children to fight.

Grand Theft Auto is another popular example. Vice City was criticised for racisim towards Haitians. Many crimes have been said to have been based off of activitys in GTA.

Susan Greenfield.

Claims games are to blame for the financial crisis. She believes that the current generation of bankers grew up playing video games and video games make you more reckless. She is a neuroscientist and believes video games effect the prefrontal cortext of the brain which apparently makes people more reckless if it is compromised or under-active.

Other points made:
1.Reckless behaviour is related to a mindset where the prefrontal cortes under functions. Premium shifts to the thrill of here and now.
2.Brains shaped by environment.
3.Screens creates a world dominated by sensation and process reather than, content, significance and narrative.