Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy manual

Trigger Happy

videogames might be said to have an influence on reallife violence in the same way that films or any other media do—by having a particular style that may be imitated. The Columbine murderers are thought to have dressed in black trench coats in emulation of Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. It is possible that Michael Carneal killed his schoolmates deliberately in the manner of a Doom deathmatch. But it would be wrong to conclude that those teenagers would not have killed if they hadn’t seen that film or played that game. It seems far more likely that they would simply have picked another wardrobe statement off the rack from television or the cinema.

Modern media, including videogames, offer a vast library of imagery. But the intent to commit violence in the first place is not caused by that imagery; most of the time, stylistic imitation is safely indulged in a play form, such as when children of past generations pretended to reenact scenes from their favorite cowboy shows. Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange does not argue that Beethoven and bowler hats cause murder; they merely provide a convenient style to wrap around Alex’s sadistic fantasies. Famously, Stanley Kubrick withdrew his film of that novel after reports of “copycat” crimes. But if you are going to

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