Imagine entering a world where you can kill everyone in sight and be killed while not being hurt in real life.

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                                                                        Michael Lee

                                                                        English 1102

                                                                        May 3, 2000

Imagine entering a world where you can kill everyone in sight and be killed while not being hurt in real life.  You enter the battle arena armed with just a handgun and your fists.  As you start walking around, you suddenly see a man turn the corner aiming his shotgun barrel right between your eyes.  You follow your instincts and strafe around him while shooting him with your handgun.  The handgun suddenly runs out of bullets and you are forced to charge him with your fists while he is trying to blow your head off with his shotgun.  He succeeds in hitting you twice in the arms with his shotgun, but you reach him in time to deliver one last powerful blow to his neck to kill him.  You then pick up his shotgun and you notice a health kit at the end of the hallway.  You go to pick it up and your health is instantly restored to 100 percent.  You continue on your way down the corridor trying to acquire better weapons while annihilating anyone who stands in your path.

        The above scenario is a typical scene in any first-person shooter video game.  The adrenaline rush associated with it is unlike anything else and is the reason people are attracted to these types of video games.  Non-video game players may wonder why other people enjoy playing these video games so much.  There is no one clear-cut answer as to why people first become attracted to these games.  Stress is the main reason why people start playing video games in the first place.  College students and working-class people are the most prone to stress due to the nature of their lifestyle.  College students are always under stress because there is always too much work to do and not enough time to do it.  This can become very stressful, and people make irrational decisions while under

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great amounts of stress.  This is what leads many college students to play video games instead of completing homework assignments.  Working-class people are also easily stressed out because many jobs require more effort than what most people can handle.  These people might still be new to their job and haven’t fully adapted to their new lifestyle.  On the other hand, they might be veterans in their field of work and have grown bored of the same repetitive work.

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Another factor that relates to stress is aggression.  Young adults generally do not know how to properly manage stress and instead turn to aggression as a solution.  By playing violent video games, these people can channel their stress into a virtual world where their aggression won’t hurt anyone in real life.  Some factors that influence younger children to play video games include boredom, curiosity, and peer pressure.  Many elementary school and middle school students aren’t assigned that much homework and therefore have hours of free time everyday after school.  Many of these children play video games to pass the time ...

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