Violent Video Games: Then VS Now

Video games have been blamed for causing ADHD, depression, violence, and improved reaction time (that one is actually true), but no one wants to talk about the real reason people young and old want to grab a controller and sit unadvisedly close to their plasma screen TV: they're fun as heck. Blowing up zombies? A complete blast. Disemboweling a horde of ravenous ogres? Satisfying and sensational. Quick-saving before you spend 40 minutes completely annihilating harmless village folk? Whatever floats your boat. But video games, especially violent video games (the best kind of video games), have gotten a bad rap since the dawn of 8-bit time. 

Although people in power want to blame all sorts of societal ills on the innocent shoot-em-up, these plucky underdog games just keep being released and enjoyed from nursery, to dorm room, to retirement village. Here's how things have changed from the introduction of violent video games to now.