First Person Shooter

Cogent/Benger Productions, Inc.

Violent interactive video games make up a 20 billion dollar industry. These games may have an addictive quality, especially to teenage boys, whose lives often become dominated by them. What effect does brutality in virtual reality have on the minds and psyches of the young?

First Person Shooter is a game from Counterpoint which has wordwide afficionados. The filmmaker’s son and friends became hooked on the game, playing into the night at parlors away from home. School hobbies, and family were seemingly obliterated. As a parent, he tried to control his son’s obsession but it was so powerfully mesmerizing that nothing could get break the spell. When he questioned other parents, he found they were equally powerless to free their children from the downward spiral of this disturbing addiction.

First Person Shooter may be the first documentary to bring attention to the impact of violent interactive video games on family, school and community life.

50 min. Video or DVD. Sale $295. Video rental $75.

"The video contains useful material for both public and academic libraries. Although the audience is clearly adult, I think younger students will identify with the director’s son, and/or find it interesting to see how parents view what they are doing. This is extremely highly recommended and very useful for provoking discussions as few other venues raise these issues as compellingly. " Educational Media Reviews OnLine