Data Visualization of Published Findings on Video Games and Aggression in Children 1984-1995

Data Visualization of Published Findings on Video Games and Aggression in Children 1984-1995
n = 13
That is, only 13 published studies, specifically on the relationship between video games and aggressive behavior, existed in that time frame. Subjects are mostly children and adolescents, with two studies testing undergraduates.

In the News! Mortal Kombat Video Game Playlist – 1993-1995

Courtesy Mortal Kombat Secrets – MKSecrets.Net

90s CD-ROM Boom! (Notes. Comments, corrections welcome!)

CD-ROM BOOM

The push for mass use of CD-ROM “for the common man” came with the initial installation, and subsequent standardization of CD-ROM drives in the personal computer in the late 1980s. On their own CD-ROM drives were expensive, costing between $600 to $1,200 (roughly $1,130 to $2,260 in 2013).^[1] CD-ROM titles were also few and expensive. The first personal computer system that came with installed, low-cost CD-ROM drives were the Headstart LX-CD and Headstart III-CD, made in 1989 by Philips subsidiary, Headstart Technologies Company.^[2] They company was able to reduce the price of CD-ROM drives by half. CD-ROM became immediately popular, and by 1990 drives were on backorder by two months with Apple.^[3] Other companies, including as Panasonic, Pioneer, Toshiba, IBM, Tandy Corporation, Microsoft (who preferred the term “multimedia”), and Warner New Media, all promised CD-ROM drives as standard features within the coming years, with an expected growth of the CD-ROM market of 40% between 1988 and 1993.^[4]

In the 1990s, Guns Were on the Nation’s Mind

So what does History of Science look like when your project is on media violence? Sort of like every other history project. Context, context, context. What was happening in 1993? Well, guns.

The 1990s Focus on Guns

In the early 1990s, the United States was faced with what some described as “epidemic proportions” of violence, and the public was keenly aware of gun violence in particular.^[1] Though increased trends in violent crime in general could be attributed in part to changes in police practices and reporting standards, and while specific trends in rape, robbery, and burglary did not increase over time, trends in youth homicide and aggravated assault did escalate, and escalated as a direct result of proliferating gun violence.^[2] Homicide and aggravated assault showed steady increases since 1980, with the peak rate for homicide occurring in 1993 at more than twice the rate at 1980.^[3] For example, in that year in California, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, murder was the leading cause of death among those between 20 and 24 years old, and the second leading cause of death for those 13 to 19 years old.^[4] Much of the increased violence was due to rampant, and widely publicized gang activity of the 1980s and early 1990s in many urban communities.^[5] The violence was so prevalent in so many communities, that it was reflected in mainstream art and pop culture. For example, the lyrical content of gangsta rap, the most globally lucrative of all hip-hop movements, during this era was heavily themed on gun use, drug use, and violent crime, consistent with the realities of inner-city violence.^[6] Of course the violence was not limited to the inner cities, but the Los Angeles riots in 1992 only emphasized the obvious disparity.

LIEBERMAN CALLS FOR PARENTAL WARNINGS ON VIDEO GAMES SENATOR SAYS SOME GAMES PROMOTE VIOLENCE, SEX (1993)

From: Rating Video Games: A Parent’s Guide to Games 
Joint Hearings before the Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice and the Subcommittee on Regulation and Government Information US Senate, 103rd Congress, 1st Session 
December 9, 1993, March 4 and July 29, 1994

PDF