title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar (; 23 March 1853 – 3 January 1907), was the fifth shah of Qajar Iran, reigning from 1896 until his death in 1907. He is often credited with the creation of the Persian Constitution of 1906, which he approved of as one of his final actions as Shah.


title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: The son of the Qajar ruler Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, Mozaffar al-Din was named crown prince and sent as governor to the northern province of Azerbaijan in 1861. He spent his 35 years as crown prince in the pursuit of pleasure; his relations with his father were frequently strained, and he was not consulted in important matters of state. Thus, when he ascended the throne in May 1896, he was unprepared for the burdens of office.


title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: At Mozaffar al-Din's accession Persia faced a financial crisis, with annual governmental expenditures far in excess of revenues as a result of the policies of his father. During his reign, Mozzafar ad-Din attempted some reforms of the central treasury; however, the previous debt incurred by the Qajar court, owed to both England and Russia, significantly undermined this effort. He furthered this debt by borrowing even more funds from Britain, France, and Russia. The income from these later loans was used to pay earlier loans rather than create new economic developments. In 1908, oil was discovered in Persia but Mozzaffar ad-Din had already awarded William Knox D'Arcy, a British subject, the rights to oil in most of the country in 1901.


title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: Like his father he visited Europe three times. During these periods, on the encouragements of his chancellor Amin-os-Soltan, he borrowed money from Nicholas II of Russia to pay for his extravagant traveling expenses. During his first visit he was introduced to the "cinematographe" in Paris, France. Immediately falling in love with the silver screen the Shah ordered his personal photographer to acquire all the equipment and knowledge needed to bring the moving picture to Persia, thus starting Persian cinema. The following is a translated excerpt from the Shah's diary:


title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: Additionally, in order to manage the costs of the state and his extravagant personal lifestyle Mozzafar ad-din Shah decided to sign many concessions, providing foreigners with monopolistic control of various Persian industries and markets. One example was the D'Arcy Oil Concession.


title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: Widespread fears amongst the aristocracy, educated elites, and religious leaders about the concessions and foreign control resulted in some protests in 1906. These resulted in the Shah accepting a suggestion to create a Majles (National Consultative Assembly) in October 1906, by which the monarch's power was curtailed as he granted a constitution and parliament to the people. He died of a heart attack 40 days after granting this constitution and was buried in Imam Husayn Shrine in Kerbala.


title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: The Shah visited the United Kingdom in August 1902 with the anticipation of also receiving the Order of the Garter as it had been previously given to his father, Nasser-ed-Din Shah. King Edward VII refused to give this high honor to a non-Christian. Lord Lansdowne, the Foreign Secretary, had designs drawn up for a new version of the Order, without the Cross of St. George. The King was so enraged by the sight of the design, though, that he threw it out of his yacht's porthole. However, in 1903, the King had to back down and the Shah was appointed a member of the Order.


title: Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar

text: A nephew of his wife was Mohammed Mossadeq, the Prime Minister of Iran during the Pahlavi dynasty. Mossadeq was overthrown by a coup d'état staged by the United Kingdom and the United States in 1953.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video game controversies refers to a wide range of debates on the social effects of video games on players and broader society, as well as debates within the video game industry. Since the early 2000s, advocates of video games have emphasized their use as an expressive medium, arguing for their protection under the laws governing freedom of speech and also as an educational tool. Detractors argue that video games are harmful and therefore should be subject to legislative oversight and restrictions. The positive and negative characteristics and effects of video games are the subject of scientific study. Academic research has examined the links between video games and addiction, aggression, violence, social development, and a variety of stereotyping and sexual morality issues.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video games since their inception have been the subject of concern due to the depictions of violence they may contain, which have heightened as the technology behind video games improve the amount of visual detail and realism of games. Video games are often seen as a possible cause to violent actions, notably in the aftermath of the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, but academic studies have yet to identify solid evidences linking violence in video games and violent behavior. The American Psychological Association stated, in 2015, that a correlation between the use of violent video games and aggressive behavior was observed. However, it was noted, "the interpretations of these effects have varied dramatically, contributing to the public debate about the effects of violent video games." In 2017, Division 46 (Society for Media Psychology and Technology) of the American Psychological Association stated that "Scant evidence has emerged that makes any causal or correlational connection between playing violent video games and actually committing violent activities." Despite the lack of solid evidence and academic consensus, politicians and activists have sought for ways to restrict the sale of violent video games, particularly to minors, on the basis that they can lead to violent behavior. Within the United States, the issues of video game sales regulation led to both the formation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board in 1994, and the 2011 Supreme Court of the United States landmark case "Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association" that ruled that video games are a protected class of free speech and blocking legislation on such sales restrictions. According to The Pew Research Center, in 2008, a study found that 97% of kids from the ages 12–17 engaged with video games, and two-thirds of the kids in the study played some sort of action or adventure game which tended to contain violent content. Another analysis discovered that more than 50% of all games rated by ESRB included violence, which encompasses more than 90% of the games rated as suitable for kids 10 years or older.


title: Video game controversies

text: Tolerance of sexual themes in video games varies between nations. Controversy over sexual themes has occurred in the US. For instance, in June 2005, an entire portion of unused code was found within the main script of "", allowing the player to simulate sexual intercourse with the main character's girlfriends. This mode, "Hot Coffee", could be accessed in the PC version via mod, and through Action Replay codes in the PS2 and Xbox versions. The scene was left on the disc and could be accessed by altering a few bytes of the game's code via a hex editor. This feature prompted the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to change the rating of San Andreas on 20 July 2005 to "adults only". Furthermore, the game was withdrawn from sale in many stores. Rockstar Games posted a loss of $28.8 million in that financial quarter. This event was dubbed the " Hot Coffee" mod controversy.


title: Video game controversies

text: In Japan, controversy over an eroge called "Rape" in 1989 led to the game being banned a few months after its release. The game "RapeLay", a Japanese eroge with a storyline centering on the player's character stalking and raping a mother and her two daughters, also caused controversy. Campaigns against the sale of the game resulted in its being banned in many countries. "RapeLay"'s publisher, which intended the game only to be available in Japan, withdrew it from distribution.


title: Video game controversies

text: Since 2018, Sony has now issued new regulations for PlayStation 4 games with sexual content and fan service. For the localized release of "Senran Kagura Burst Re: Newal", "Intimacy Mode", a mode where the player can play with the characters' bodies was removed, but by comparison, the same mode that was featured in previous titles like "" and "" was not removed. PC release of "Burst Re: Newal" was not changed. The PS4 release of "Nekopara Vol. 1" was censored for similar reasons, resulting in the game receiving an "E" rating by the ESRB by comparison to the "M" rating for versions on Nintendo Switch and PC. Sony claimed it was their decision to ban "Omega Labyrinth Z" outside of Japan due to its content. According to Idea Factory International, the localized release of "Date a Live: Rio Reincarnation" will feature changes to certain event scenes and removal of illustrations that show characters in suggestive positions, although the PC version won't be changed.


title: Video game controversies

text: Support for video game regulation has been linked to moral panic. Even so, governments have enacted, or have tried to enact, legislation that regulates distribution of video games through censorship based on content rating systems or banning. In 2005, David Gauntlett claimed that grant funding, news headlines, and professional prestige more commonly go to authors who, in good faith, promote anti-media beliefs. Tom Grimes, James A. Anderson, and Lori Bergen reiterated these claims in a 2008 book examining sociological effects on the production of media effects research.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 2013, the Entertainment Software Association, the lobbying group for the video game industry, had enlisted over 500,000 members to the "Video Game Voters Network", a "grassroots" lobbying group to mobilize gamers to act against public policy that may negatively impact the gaming industry. The VGV was launched in 2006 by the ESA, and uses social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to inform members of allies and opponents. In 2013, the ESA spent over US$3.9 million on lobbying, including but not limited to against VGV legislation. This included opposing a bipartisan federal bill that would direct the National Academy of Sciences to study the effects of all forms of violent media. Such bills themselves had come under criticisms from some scholars for pressuring scientists to find specific outcomes rather than studying the issues neutrally.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video game consoles were banned in Mainland China in June 2000. This ban was finally lifted in January 2014. However, the Chinese would still police video games which would be


title: Video game controversies

text: "hostile to China or not in conformity with the outlook of China's government". Reported by Bloomberg, metaphorically speaking, Cai Wu, head of China's Ministry of Culture, said "We want to open the window a crack to get some fresh air, but we still need a screen to block the flies and mosquitoes."


title: Video game controversies

text: Voluntary rating systems adopted by the video game industry, such as the ESRB rating system in the United States and Canada (established in 1994), and the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) rating system in Europe (established in 2003), are aimed at informing parents about the types of games their children are playing (or are asking to play). Some ratings of controversial games indicate they are not targeted at young children ("Mature" (M) or "Adults Only" (AO) in the US, or 15 or 18 in the UK). The packaging warns such games should not be sold to children. In the US, ESRB ratings are not legally binding, but many retailers take it upon themselves to refuse the sale of these games to minors. In the United Kingdom (UK), the BBFC ratings are legally binding. UK retailers also enforce the PEGI ratings, which are not legally binding.


title: Video game controversies

text: No video game console manufacturer has allowed any game marked AO to be published in North America; however, the PC gaming service Steam has allowed AO titles such as "Hatred" to be published on its platform. No major retailers are willing to sell AO-rated games. However, "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" was rated AO after the presence of the "Hot Coffee" add-on became evident. The add-on was later removed and the game rated "M". In the 109th Congress and 110th Congress, the Video Games Enforcement Act was introduced to the US House of Representatives. The act required an identification check for the purchase of M and AO rated games. The bill and others like it did not succeed because of likely First Amendment violations. Although no law mandates identification checking for games with adult content, a 2008 survey by the Federal Trade Commission showed that video game retailers have voluntarily increased ID verification for M- and AO-rated games, and sales of those games to underage potential buyers decreased from 83% in 2000 to 20% in 2008. A further survey in April 2011, found that video game retailers continued to enforce the ratings by allowing only 13% of underage teenage shoppers to buy M-rated video games, a statistically significant decrease from the 20% purchase rate in 2009.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 7 January 2009, Joe Baca, representative of California's 43rd District, introduced H.R. 231, the "Video game health labelling act". This bill called for a label to be placed in a "clear and conspicuous location on the packaging" on all video games with an ESRB rating of T (Teen) or higher stating,


title: Video game controversies

text: "WARNING: Excessive exposure to violent video games and other violent media has been linked to aggressive behavior." The proposed legislation was referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection. On 24 January 2011, Joe Baca reintroduced the "Video game health labelling act" as H.R. 400 of the 112th Congress. The bill was once again passed onto the subcommittee.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 27 June 2011, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on "Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association". Video games were protected speech under the First Amendment. The case centered on a California law that sought to restrict sales of violent video games to minors. The video game industry, led by the Entertainment Merchants Association and the Entertainment Software Association, successfully obtained an injunction on the bill, believing that the definition of violence as stated in the California law was too vague and would not treat video games as protected speech. This opinion was upheld in lower courts, and supported by the Supreme Court's decision. The majority of the justices did not consider the studies brought to their attention as convincing evidence of harm, and stated that they could not create a new class of restricted speech that was not applied to other forms of media.


title: Video game controversies

text: Deana Pollard Sacks, Brad Bushman, and Craig A. Anderson objected to the ruling, claiming that the thirteen experts who authored the Statement on Video Game Violence on the Brown side were considerably more academically merited, and had on average authored over 28 times as many peer-reviewed journal articles about aggression/violence based on original empirical research as the signatories supporting the EMA, whereas the over 100 signatories supporting Brown had on average authored over 14 times as many. Richard Hall, Ryan Hall, and Terri Day replied: "It is not surprising that Anderson and Bushman found their own qualifications and the qualifications of those who agree with them to be superior to the qualifications of those who disagree with them", and claimed that they might have used methodology which have undercounted contributions of some scholars. On 3 April 2013, Dianne Feinstein, a Californian senator and Democrat, spoke in San Francisco to a group of 500 constituents about gun violence. She said video games have "a very negative role for young people, and the industry ought to take note of that" and that Congress might have to step in if the video game industry did not cease to glorify guns.


title: Video game controversies

text: While religion is seen as a serious topic, video games are considered entertainment. As such, the use of religion and religious motifs in video games can sometimes be controversial. For example, "" (2002) sparked controversy due to a level featuring the killing of Sikhs within a depiction of their most holy site, the Harmandir Sahib.


title: Video game controversies

text: Some scholars have expressed the concern that video games may have the effect of reinforcing sexist stereotypes.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 1998, a study by Dietz, conducted at the University of Central Florida, found that of thirty-three games sampled, 41% did not feature female characters, 28% sexually objectified women, 21% depicted violence against women, and 30% did not represent the female population at all. Furthermore, characterizations of women tended to be stereotypical: highly sexualized ("visions of beauty with large breasts and hips"), dependent ("victim or as the proverbial "Damsel in Distress""), opponents ("evil or as obstacles to the goal of the game"), and trivial ("females depicted in fairly non-significant roles"). However, the study is criticized for not including a wide range of video games for study and for including old games published up to twenty years ago which do not represent current industry standards, for example, an increased presence of strong female characters.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 2002, Kennedy considered the characteristics of the character, Lara Croft in the "Tomb Raider" video game series. She is presented as a beautiful, clever, athletic, and brave English archaeologist-adventurer. Lara Croft has achieved popularity with both males and females as an action heroine, although depending on what perspective is applied she can either represent 'a positive role model for young girls' or a 'combination of eye and thumb candy for the boys'.


title: Video game controversies

text: Dietz's findings are supported by a survey commissioned in 2003 by Children Now. The survey found that gender stereotypes pervade most video games: male characters (52%) were more likely than females (32%) to engage in physical aggression; nearly 20% of female characters were hyper-sexualized in some way, while 35% of male characters were extremely muscular.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 2004, the game developer, Eidos, remodeled Lara Croft for "". The character was modified to have a more believable figure with less revealing clothing. In 2005, Terry Flew, academic, expressed a similar opinion: gender bias and stereotyping exists in many games. Male characters are portrayed as hard bodied, muscled men while female characters are portrayed as soft bodied, nearly naked women with large breasts, portrayed in a narrowly stereotypical manner. Females are usually constructed as visual objects in need of protection who wait for male rescue, whereas men are portrayed with more power. According to Flew, such depiction of females in games reflects underlying social ideas of male dominance and themes of masculinity. Although not all video games contain such stereotypes, Flew suggests that there are enough to make it a general trait and that "...different genders have different gaming."


title: Video game controversies

text: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) characters have been depicted in some video games since the 1980s, with "Caper in the Castro" in 1989 as one of the first games focusing on LGBT themes. LGBT content has been subject to changing rules and regulations by game companies. These rules are generally examples of heterosexism in that heterosexuality is normalized while homosexuality is subject to additional censorship or ridicule. Sexual orientation and gender identity were significant in some console and PC games, with the trend being toward greater visibility of LGBT identities, particularly in Japanese popular culture and games marketed to LGBT consumers.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video games may influence the learning of young players about race and urban culture. The portrayal of race in some video games such as the "Grand Theft Auto" series, "Custer's Revenge", "", and "" has been controversial. The 2002 game "" was criticized as promoting racist hate crime. The game takes place in 1986, in "Vice City", a fictionalized Miami. It involves a gang war between Haitian and Cuban refugees which involves the player's character. However, it is possible to play the game without excessive killing. The 2009 game "Resident Evil 5" is set in Africa, and as such has the player kill numerous African antagonists. In response to criticism, promoters of "Resident Evil 5" argued that to censor the portrayal of black antagonists was discrimination in itself.


title: Video game controversies

text: War-themed video games such as "" and "" have been criticized for how they portray Arab people and predominantly Islamic countries like Pakistan.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video game addiction is the excessive or compulsive use of computer and video games that interferes with daily life. Instances have been reported in which users play compulsively, isolating themselves from family and friends or from other forms of social contact, and focus almost entirely on in-game achievements rather than broader life events. The first video game to attract political controversy for its "addictive properties" was the 1978 arcade game "Space Invaders". One study from Chung Ang University observed that other structures affected by the use of video games include the anterior cingulate cortex and orbitofrontal cortex. The results from this experiment suggest an increase in stimulation of these areas, resembling a pattern similar to those with substance dependence. Researchers interpreted their results of this increase in activity of the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortices to be an indication of an early stage of video game addiction.


title: Video game controversies

text: The World Health Organization has included "gaming disorder" in the 11th edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems, which was approved by May 2019. It was defined as "a pattern of persistent or recurrent gaming behaviour ('digital gaming' or 'video-gaming')", defined by three criteria: the lack of control of playing video games, priority given to video games over other interests, and inability to stop playing video games even after being affected by negative consequences. The addition was contested by the video game industry and several academics, believing that its inclusion was too early and that more studies were needed.


title: Video game controversies

text: Outside of mental health, medical researchers are concerned that long-term playing of video games can lead to musculoskeletal issues, vision impairment, and obesity.


title: Video game controversies

text: A further issue that can occur through gaming is online harassment or bullying behaviors. Esports communities seem to be particularly suffering from toxic behaviors. Especially in competitive esports games, negative behavior, such as harassment, can create barriers to players achieving high performance and can reduce players' enjoyment which may cause them to leave the game. With its largely young, male-dominated population, gamers may exhibit habits and behaviors sometimes seen by outside groups as toxic and misogynistic, leading to harassment of other players. A specific example of harassing behavior occurring within a game can be found in Xbox Live services. With its online chat and party system, this leaves the service open to unwanted harassment, trolling, or bullying to occur between players. To address these concerns, Microsoft made improvements with reputation levels for a player's Xbox Live account. The system is set to warn, then punish bad behavior in hopes of better regulating Xbox Live accounts.


title: Video game controversies

text: The anonymous nature of the internet may be a factor of encouraging anti-social behavior. This type of behavior expands to other parts of the internet separate from gaming, such as online forums, social media sites, etc. Lack of accountability for one's actions on the internet may encourage others to engage in harassing behavior. Without minimal threat of punishment, some may find it easier to carry out negative behavior over online gaming. The Gamergate controversy that started in 2014 drew media attention to the negative portions of the culture of the video game community, highlighting the need to take steps against online harassment.


title: Video game controversies

text: Regarding whether attitudes towards women in games and gaming culture extend as far as misogyny, opinions have been divided. For example, VentureBeat writer Rus McLaughlin sees it as a status quo "ingrained in video-game DNA", while Joe Yang (writing for the same source) regards such claims to be misleading, and sees misogyny as a problem where it does occur, but disputes that it is inherent or normative, or that the whole culture should be described that way.


title: Video game controversies

text: A further issue related to online behavior is the presence of younger players who may be exposed to behaviors of more mature players beyond the ability for parents to control this exposure, coupled with issues such as harassment and bullying. In the past, this has typically been controlled through the closed online environments from each of the major console systems that could maintain a safe environment, but with the wider availability of cross-platform play to allow console players on one system to play with those on other systems or with players on personal computers, these environments are no longer as controlled. In December 2020, the three major console manufacturers Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo announced a joint plan to promote safer gaming based on the three principles of prevention, partnership, and responsibility to combat harassing and troubling behavior.


title: Video game controversies

text: Related to video game content (particularly violence), gaming addiction, and online harassment, there is ongoing concern that video games may have a negative impact on the development of children. Video games are commonly marketed towards younger audiences, and in a 2008 Pew Research Center study, 97% of teenagers from ages 12 to 17 played video games, with games featuring violent content generally among the preferred types of games these minors played. Many of the studies related to linking violence and gambling addiction to video games are performed in consideration of how younger minds can be more susceptible to the possible effects. There has also been studies to try to consider positive effects of video games on youth development, since they encourage cognitive skills and thinking and cooperative participation.


title: Video game controversies

text: Some countries have adopted laws or regulations to limit minors' access to video games. Most notably is China, which was the first country to classify video games as having potentially addictive measures in 2008. Since 2005, China has passed regulations that are aimed to regulate how long a minor can play a video game, with new regulations imposing more stricter means to track this. As of 2019, the current Chinese law limits minors to 90 minutes of video games each weekday, and three hours on weekends. Other countries enforce content limits for video games that may be purchased by minors. The Australian Classification Board's content ratings have legal weight, preventing games that are refused classification from being sold and requiring strict checks on a purchaser's age for those given a rating of MA15+, R18+, or X18+. Germany's "Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle" also has similar restrictions on retail of games that are considered harmful to minors. Otherwise, these content rating systems are used as guidelines that are otherwise not directly enforceable, but typically still practiced in retail to prevent direct sale of mature titles to minors. For example, with the U.S.'s ESRB system, retailers generally will check age identification before selling M (mature) rated games to minors, and will refuse to stock AO (Adults Only) games.


title: Video game controversies

text: Other options to monitor and regulation video game playing by youth are given through parental controls implemented in hardware or software. According to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), parents believe that parental controls on gaming consoles are useful. Parents have resources they can use to gain more knowledge about the media that their children are consuming. Researchers of video game violence, Dr. Cheryl Olson and Dr. Lawrence Kutner, have compiled a list of advice for parents who want to better monitor their children. The Entertainment Software Rating Board provides easy access to the ratings of a large database of video games. Common Sense Media is database which shows the ratings of movies, games, TV shows, and other media. For each piece of media, it lists a suggested age rating, and scales that measure positive messages, language, violence, drug use, and consumerism. It also provides a summary of the content of the media from a fellow-parent's perspective. The ESRB's website states that "Our rating system was established with the help of child development and academic experts, based on an analysis of other rating systems and what kind of information is valuable to parents. We found that consumers respond best to an age-based rating system that includes information about the content of a game. As games evolved, we found that parents place equal importance on understanding the ways in which some [video] games are played, such as interacting with others online and spending money on in-game items."


title: Video game controversies

text: A connection between video gaming and the alt-right has been suggested, tied to the Gamergate controversy in 2014, which contributed to a culture war at that time that continued with the election of Donald Trump as United States President. The interactivity of video games may encourage players to gain enjoyment from far-right themes, which may potentially lead them to be more open to the extreme right positions, effectively being an incubator for the far right. Based on this, some alt- and far-right groups have been discovered to be organizing efforts to reach out to other players in various competitive online games and forums, typically to the younger and male ones, to indoctrinate them into their ways of thinking. Since these game chats and forums typically go unmoderated, it has been difficult to detect and prevent such recruitment from occurring. This has further been pushed by violent events, such as the 2017 Unite the Right rally where the Discord chat application developed for video game players was found to be hosting the far-right groups that were planning the rally. A 2021 report by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue found that gaming services like Steam, Discord, DLive, and Twitch had drawn groups of far-right and neo-Nazi people together in shared communities, some which try to use propaganda to recruit new members but most as a means for the multinational groups to congregate. The Institute found that Steam had the largest population of such groups, attributed to the lack of moderation used on the service's social features.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video game advocates have challenged the notion that video games are inherently right-wing. They argue games may allow play towards what would be alt- or far-right actions, but they can also be played to more liberal goals as well, and it is how the player chooses to play that should be of concern. Advocates caution that there is a lack of scale in the concerns raised; not all games foster the environments that would promote alt-right ideals or recruits, and many games are apolitical, simply meant to be enjoyed.


title: Video game controversies

text: Other common occurrences include online casino scams, phishing, cell phone dialers, malware in illegal downloads, and money laundering. Others have found ways to use a built-in systems for illegal profit, notably the use of skin gambling tied to games like "" drew attention to how in-game virtual items could be used for gambling for real-world funds.


title: Video game controversies

text: Players have increasingly been targeted by cybercriminals. According to cybersecurity firm Akamai, between July 2018 and June 2020, 1 in 10 of the 100 billion credential stuffing attacks recorded were targeted at the video game industry and its players, along with 1.4 in 10 of the web application attacks (152 million out of 10.6 billion). Cybercriminals attack video game players to steal their credentials, ID or data, as well as to steal payment card details or cash held in gaming accounts. Part of the motivation for attacking players is that they are seen as both a honeypot (they have something worth stealing), are a relatively vulnerable target (because many are young people or children) and some of their activities increase the opportunity to attack them (social behaviour, accessing cheats, downloading and sharing free games). Sometimes the target of attacks is not the players themselves but the companies who produce the games, with cybersecurity researchers finding over a million compromised corporate accounts of game companies in January 2021.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video games have nearly always been subject to cheating by players. Early on, prior to online games, cheating had little impact to other players and was considered innocuous: players would find secret cheat codes in games typically left as testing codes by the developer (such as the Konami code that would give them numerous lives or other bonuses), or there were devices that could edit a game cartridge's memory on the fly, such as the Game Genie. Players often developed trainers to extend options and give a player additional cheats for games with more advanced personal computer games. These cheats would allow players to complete games, and rarely would have any further advantage for the player.


title: Video game controversies

text: As multiplayer games developed which used a client-server architecture, certain players began developing a number of tools like aimbots and wallhacks that modified the game on the client side for the benefit of that player, giving them an advantage over others. With the potential to earn in-game or real-world prizes within virtual economies from online games, these tools became more sophisticated with more and more features, with developers charging money to use these tools. This in turn led to game and middleware developers creating anti-cheat technology solutions to try to detect when these tools were being used to automatically ban such players from the game. This has led to a constant battle between the game developers and publishers to eliminate cheaters from their games, and cheat creators to find new methods to bypass these automated detection tools. As these cheats often violate acceptable use policies and other conditions for using the game, developers and publishers have also been successful in litigation against cheat developers as another means to stop their use.


title: Video game controversies

text: Related to cheating are similar means of exploiting video games for financial gains. Examples of such include gold farming, paying low-income labors to level characters or earn in-game items that can then be sold to players at a profit, and twinking or smurfing, paying skilled players to quickly level low-level characters.


title: Video game controversies

text: Just as with representation of women, LGBT, and minorities in video games themselves, these groups also can be marginalized within the video game development industry in Western markets. The industry is primarily made up of Caucasian, heterosexual males, according to 2017 industry studies, a result of the marketing of video games during the 70s and 80s. Experts have stressed the need to draw underrepresented groups into the industry to help developers gain broader insights for the stories and characters for video games, so that new games will appeal to the largest possible audiences. While the industry has had isolated cases where minorities reported mistreatment, there had not yet been a moment like the Me Too movement in other entertainment fields as of 2021. However, with major legal cases of sexual misconduct towards female employees at Riot Games, Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard filed from 2018 to 2021, some analysts and academics see such a watershed moment for the video game industry to be approaching.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video game developers are considered creative professionals and thus typically do not qualify for overtime pay. Larger studios, particularly those backed by Triple A publishers, will frequently set game completion deadlines, and require employees to complete their tasks by this deadline, often requires several weeks of overtime work. This has become known as "crunch time" within the industry. While infrequent periods of crunch time are tolerated, there have been several reported cases where developers have been forced into a crunch time mode for months at a time, even well before a game's set completion deadline. Such practices have caused developers and other groups starting in 2018 for discussing unionization within the industry and establishing reasonable limits on crunch time and other workers' rights.


title: Video game controversies

text: A 2015 "Polygon" article stated that crediting "has long been a sensitive topic in the game industry". There have been instances of employees, or even entire studios, not being listed in the credits of a game. Sometimes, this is mutually agreed upon by publishers and developers, or even desired by the developing party; see for more information on this. In other instances, it is against their wishes, or something they reluctantly consent to because it's the only work they can get. Lack of crediting has been a contended issue since the early days of the industry. In the 1970s and 80s, Atari never credited developers, which game designer Warren Robinett said was "a power play to keep the game designers from getting recognition and therefore more bargaining power". This led Robinett to create the first well-known Easter egg in "Adventure" (1980) to acknowledge his authorship.


title: Video game controversies

text: In-game credits serve as official references, and are aggregated by websites such as MobyGames and Giant Bomb. If a person is not credited, they could still include their work experience in their portfolio or CV, but they might have difficulties backing this up during a job interview. Moreover, non-disclosure agreements might actually prevent them from doing so. In 2006, a survey by the IGDA found that 35% of the respondents either "don't ever" or "only sometimes" receive official credit. In subsequent years, Mythic, Codemasters, and Rockstar Games all self-confirmed that they at some point had a policy of only crediting employees who stayed until the end of development. This has been denounced as a way of trapping workers in the company, and punishing them if they leave. Rockstar, which was particularly criticized over this, eventually abolished the policy. A 2021 "Washington Post" article stated the issue was still "a huge area of concern". Švelch (2021), in "Games and Culture", found that credit omission frequently occurs when work is outsourced, and is particularly common in freemium games.


title: Video game controversies

text: Video games as computer software are potentially easy to copy and duplicate outside of the copyright owner's control, which can lead to widespread copyright infringement. Prior to digital distribution, some games included an in-game step that required the player to check part of the game's printed manual or material shipped with the game such as a code wheel, which they entered into the game to validate ownership, though such simply checks were easily defeated through photocopies and shared information. With wide availability of the Internet making such physical schemes impractical to control copyright infringement, many developers and publishers turned to digital rights management (DRM) to control the use of digital content and devices after purchase and to protect an entity's intellectual property from public access. DRM technologies typically tie the specific installation of a game to the computer it is installed on, preventing a user from sharing the same files with a second user; however this also can limit legitimate reuse of the installation of the game by the purchaser on different computers they own. Because of limitations placed on what a user can do with purchases games bundled with DRM, consumers argue it inconveniences legitimate customers and allows big business to stifle innovation and competition. In some types of "always-in DRM", the DRM must have a persistent connection to an external server, which has raised further concerns about the ability for a user to play a game if they temporarily lack an Internet connection, and the fate of the game if the DRM server should be discontinued.


title: Video game controversies

text: With the advent of digital distribution and online storefronts for video games, publishers and developers sought ways to further monetize the game as to obtain further revenue after the initial sale. Larger expansion packs led way to the nature of microtransactions, small purchases, typically under for a small benefit in the game. One of the first examples of this was a piece of horse armor for "", which proved controversial. Publishers and developers would continue to develop other monetization methods, such as freemium games that are free to play but the player benefits by spending real-life money for in-game boosts. A more recent approach is the idea of loot boxes, popularized in games like "Overwatch", where the player can purchase with either in-game or real-life funds a virtual box that contains a set of in-game items, with the items being distributed by various rarity levels. Loot boxes came under intense government and media scrutiny in 2018 as it felt these mechanics were too close or were like gambling, and would violate their local laws. Some countries like Denmark and the Netherlands banned the use of loot boxes, while other countries like the United States and United Kingdom urged the video game industry to voluntarily regulate the use of loot boxes.


title: Video game controversies

text: The video game industry does contribute towards environmental concerns with how large it has grown in the 2010s. Both the sourcing of electronics hardware to make consoles and personal computers, and the generation of electricity for playing games are considered part of the industry's environmental footprint. Newer game technology such as cloud gaming utilize data centers which is also generally less energy efficient compared to traditional computing, though provide performance benefits. In the United States, as of 2019, it was estimated that the total power used by video games was about 34 TWh/year or 2.4% of the total domestic energy market, and associated 24 MT/year of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to that of 5 million gas-engine automobiles. Major console manufactures Sony and Microsoft have both committed to improving their console hardware to be more sustainable and reducing power requirements.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 22 November 1997, Noah Wilson, aged 13, died when his friend, Yancy, stabbed him in the chest with a kitchen knife. Wilson's mother, Andrea Wilson, alleged her son was stabbed to death because of an obsession with the 1995 Midway game "Mortal Kombat 3"; that Yancy was so obsessed with the game that he believed himself to be the character, Cyrax, who uses a finishing move which Wilson claims involves taking the opponent in a headlock and stabbing them in the chest, despite the fact that Cyrax has never used this Fatality in any game he has appeared in. The court found "Wilson's complaint fails to state a claim upon which relief can be granted."


title: Video game controversies

text: There have also been video game-related crimes which took place at schools. On 24 March 1998, 13-year-old Mitchell Johnson and 11-year-old Andrew Golden killed four students and a teacher in the Westside Middle School massacre. Although no connection to video games was drawn by the press at the time, the case was re-examined by commentators a year later, subsequent to the events of the Columbine High School massacre, and it was determined that the two boys had often played "GoldenEye 007" together and they enjoyed playing first-person shooter games.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 20 April 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 students, a teacher, and themselves in the Columbine High School massacre. The two were allegedly obsessed with the video game "Doom". Harris also created WADs for the game, and created a large mod named "Tier" which he called his "life's work". Contrary to rumor, however, neither student had made a "Doom" level mimicking the school's layout, and there is no evidence the pair practiced the massacre in "Doom".


title: Video game controversies

text: Controversy related to video games was sparked again in November 2001, when twenty-one-year-old Shawn Woolley committed suicide in a state his mother described as an addiction to "EverQuest". Woolley's mother said,


title: Video game controversies

text: Later video game controversies centered on whether some murderers were inspired by crime simulators. In February 2003, 16-year-old American Dustin Lynch was charged with aggravated murder. He pleaded insanity in that he was obsessed with "Grand Theft Auto III". Jack Thompson, an attorney and an opponent of video games, offered to represent Lynch. Thompson encouraged the father of the victim to pass a note to the judge that read "the attorneys had better tell the jury about the violent video game that trained this kid [and] showed him how to kill our daughter, JoLynn. If they don't, I will." Lynch later retracted his insanity plea. His mother, Jerrilyn Thomas, said,


title: Video game controversies

text: On 7 June 2003, 18-year-old American Devin Moore shot and killed two policemen and a dispatcher after grabbing one of the officers' weapons following an arrest for the possession of a stolen vehicle. At trial, the defense claimed that Moore had been inspired by the video game "". On 25 June 2003, two American step brothers, Joshua and William Buckner, aged 14 and 16, respectively, used a rifle to fire at vehicles on Interstate 40 in Tennessee, killing a 45-year-old man and wounding a 19-year-old woman. The two shooters told investigators they had been inspired by "Grand Theft Auto III". In June 2007, 22-year-old Texan Alejandro Garcia shot and killed his cousin after arguing over whose turn it was to play the game "". He pleaded guilty at his murder trial on 6 April 2011, and was sentenced to 15 to 30 years in prison.


title: Video game controversies

text: In September 2007, in Ohio, 16-year-old Daniel Petric sneaked out of his bedroom window to purchase the game "Halo 3" against the orders of his father, a minister at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, Ohio, U.S. His parents eventually banned him from the game after he spent up to 18 hours a day with it, and secured it in a lockbox in a closet where the father also kept a 9mm handgun according to prosecutors. In October 2007, Daniel used his father's key to open the lockbox and remove the gun and the game. He then entered the living room of his house and shot both of them in the head, killing his mother and wounding his father. Petric was sentenced to life in prison without parole, which was later commuted to 23 years in prison. Defense attorneys argued that Petric was influenced by video game addiction. The court dismissed these claims. The judge, James Burge, commented that while he thought there was ample evidence the boy knew what he was doing, Burge thought the game had affected him like a drug, saying "I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever."


title: Video game controversies

text: In December 2007, 17-year-old Lamar Roberts and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Heather Trujillo, were accused of beating a 7-year-old girl to death. They were said to have been imitating the content of "Mortal Kombat". In July 2008, Heather was sentenced to 18 years in prison and 6 years in a youth-offender program, and, on 16 January 2009, Lamar was sentenced to 36 years in prison.


title: Video game controversies

text: In June 2008, four teens allegedly obsessed with "Grand Theft Auto IV" went on a crime spree after being in New Hyde Park, New York. They first robbed a man, knocking out his teeth and then they stopped a woman driving a black BMW and stole her car and her cigarettes.


title: Video game controversies

text: In April 2009, Joseph Johnson III was charged with murder after shooting his friend, Danny Taylor, during a quarrel over a video game in Taylor's apartment in Chicago, Illinois.


title: Video game controversies

text: In January 2010, 9-year-old Anthony Maldonado was stabbed to death by his 25-year-old relative, Alejandro Morales, after an argument regarding Maldonado's recently purchased copy of "" and a PlayStation 3 console.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 29 November 2010 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a 16-year-old boy, Kendall Anderson, bludgeoned his mother to death in her sleep with a claw hammer after she took away his PlayStation.


title: Video game controversies

text: After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on 14 December 2012, initial media reports mis-identified the shooter as Ryan Lanza, the brother of the perpetrator. After discovering that Ryan had liked "Mass Effect" on Facebook, an internet mob immediately attacked the game's Facebook page, labelling the developers "child killers". Once it was discovered that it was his brother, Adam, who had carried out the massacre, initial news stories claimed a link to two video games, "StarCraft" and "Dance Dance Revolution". After a UK tabloid claimed that Lanza had a "Call of Duty" obsession, this was widely repeated across the internet, Subsequently, a small town near Sandy Hook organized the collection and burning of video games in exchange for a gift certificate. A report by CBS claimed that anonymous law enforcement sources suggested a link to video games, which was later dismissed by the Connecticut police, saying that it was "all speculation". However, the incident prompted a wave of legislative and bureaucratic efforts against violent video games in the following months, including a meeting between US vice president, Joe Biden, and representatives from the video game industry on the topic of video game violence. The official investigation report, released on 25 November 2013, discussed video games only briefly in the 48-page document and did not suggest they contributed to Lanza's motive. The report revealed that Lanza played a variety of video games, although he was most fond of non-violent video games such as "Dance, Dance Revolution" and "Super Mario Brothers". The report particularly focused on "Dance, Dance Revolution" which he played regularly, for hours, with an associate.


title: Video game controversies

text: In the wake of the El Paso, Texas shooting on 3 August, and the Dayton, Ohio shooting on 4 August in 2019, President Donald Trump partially attributed the shootings to video games. Trump stated "We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. It is too easy today for troubled youth to surround themselves with a culture that celebrates violence." Similar concerns were raised by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.


title: Video game controversies

text: In April 2000, a Spanish 16-year-old, José Rabadán Pardo, murdered his father, mother, and his sister with a katana, proclaiming that he was on an "avenging mission" for Squall Leonhart, the main character of the video game "Final Fantasy VIII".


title: Video game controversies

text: On 27 February 2004, in Leicester, England, 17-year-old Warren Leblanc lured 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah into a park and murdered him by stabbing him repeatedly with a claw hammer and a knife. Leblanc was reportedly obsessed with "Manhunt", although investigation quickly revealed that the killer did not even own a copy of the game. The victim's mother, Giselle Pakeerah, has been campaigning against violent video games in the UK ever since. The police investigating the case have dismissed any link.


title: Video game controversies

text: In October 2004, a 41-year-old Chinese man named Qiu Chengwei stabbed 26-year-old Zhu Caoyuan to death over a dispute regarding the sale of a virtual weapon the two had jointly won in the game "The Legend of Mir 3".


title: Video game controversies

text: On 27 December 2004, 13-year-old Xiao Yi committed suicide by jumping from a twenty-four story building in Tianjin, China, as a result of the effects of his video game addiction, hoping to be "reunited" with his fellow gamers in the afterlife, according to his suicide notes. Prior to his death, he had spent thirty-six consecutive hours playing "".


title: Video game controversies

text: In August 2005, 28-year-old South Korean Lee Seung Seop died after continuously playing "StarCraft" for 50 hours.


title: Video game controversies

text: In September 2007, a Chinese man in Guangzhou, China, died after playing internet video games for three consecutive days in an internet cafe.


title: Video game controversies

text: In December 2007, a Russian man was beaten to death over an argument about "Lineage II". The man was killed when his guild and a rival challenged each other to a real-life brawl.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 2 August 2008, Polwat Chinno, a 19-year-old Thai teenager, stabbed and killed a Bangkok taxi driver during an attempt to steal the driver's cab in order to obtain money to buy a copy of "Grand Theft Auto IV". A police official said that the teen was trying to copy a similar act in the game. As a consequence, officials ordered the banning of the game and later the series, which led its distributor, New Era Interactive Media, to withdraw it, including its installment, from shops across Thailand.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 13 October 2008, the disappearance of Brandon Crisp and his subsequent death involved, according to his parents, obsessive playing of "" has been referenced in discussions about video game obsession and spawned a report aired by CBC's "The Fifth Estate" TV show on video game addiction and Crisp's story titled "Top Gun", subtitled "When a video gaming obsession turns to addiction and tragedy".


title: Video game controversies

text: In January 2010, Gary Alcock punched, slapped and pinched his partner's 15-month-old daughter in the three weeks leading up to her death before he delivered a fatal blow to the stomach which tore her internal organs because she interrupted him playing his Xbox. She died from internal bleeding after suffering thirty-five separate injuries including multiple bruises, rib fractures and brain damage, which were comparable to injuries suffered in a car crash. Alcock was jailed for life and must serve at least 21 years.


title: Video game controversies

text: In May 2010, French gamer Julien Barreaux located and stabbed a fellow player known only as "Mikhael" who had stabbed Barreaux in the game "Counter-Strike" 6 months earlier. The judge at his trial called him "a menace to society".


title: Video game controversies

text: On 9 April 2011 in Alphen aan den Rijn, the Netherlands, 24-year-old Tristan van der Vlis opened fire in a shopping mall, firing more than a hundred times with a semi-automatic rifle and a handgun, killing 6 people and wounding 17 others, after which he also killed himself. A fair amount of attention was given to Van Der Vlis' playing of "" and to the alleged similarities between the events in Alphen a/d Rijn and the controversial in the game, where the player can choose to (or choose not to) partake in the killing of a large group of innocent people inside an airport terminal.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 22 July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik perpetrated the 2011 Norway attacks, detonating a car bomb in the executive government quarter, and then travelled to a summer camp for teenagers, where he proceeded to stalk and kill a large number of people. Seventy-seven people were killed in the attacks, a majority of them being teenagers who were at the summer camp. Hundreds were injured by the car bomb explosion. Breivik himself claimed in court that he had deliberately used the 2009 video game "" to train for the attacks, specifically by practicing his aim using a "holographic aiming device". He stated in his manifesto that he had been planning the attacks since 2002.


title: Video game controversies

text: On 24 March 2012, 14-year-old Noah Crooks was accused of shooting Gretchen, his 32-year-old mother, dead with a .22 caliber rifle after a failed attempt to rape her. He was charged with first-degree murder and assault. During the dispatch call to 911 shortly following the murder, Crooks revealed that his mother had taken away his "Call of Duty" video game because his grades had turned poor and that this was the reason why he snapped. According to dispatch, Crooks did not seem emotional even though he had killed his mother a couple of hours earlier.


title: Video game controversies

text: On the night of 14 April 2012, in Clydebank, Scotland, a 13-year-old boy slashed his friend's throat after a session of "Gears of War 3". The wound was deep enough to expose his trachea and required 20 staples after his surgery. In March 2013, Brian Docherty, a chairman of the Scottish Police Federation, commented that "These games are rated 18 and shouldn't be played by children of this young age" and that "We need to look again at what we can do to [prevent children from playing games meant for adults]." Similar and other effects were denounced in 2004 by Gary Webb in his article "The Killing Game", exposing the use of increased reality video games by the US Army.


title: Video game controversies

text: In February 2018, after 15-year-old Ben Walmsley of Greater Manchester, England, committed suicide, his father Darren stated that he believed the visual novel "Doki Doki Literature Club!" may have contributed to "dragging" his son into a dark place, due to a subplot of the game involving two characters (Sayori and Yuri) suffering from depression who independently commit suicide. Walmsley also claimed that Ben had been frequently awoken at night due to text messages he attributed to coming from the game's characters, despite no such function existing in the game. In June 2018, the controversy was discussed by Victoria Derbyshire on BBC News, and she called the game a "risk to children" and thought it should've had a higher age rating. The game being blamed for Walmsley's death, as well as the BBC interview discussing the controversy, was met with criticism on social media, with some being sick of video games being blamed for instigating tragic events, while others thought the game's discussion on the BBC was not necessary. Darren Walmsley was also criticized for claiming the video game characters had literally been sending his son text messages due to it not being a feature in the game.


title: Video game controversies

text: Some researchers claim that video games, more than causing no harm, are beneficial to social and cognitive development and psychological well-being. Certain scholars admit that games can be addictive, and part of their research explores how games connect to the reward circuits of the human brain. But they recognize the cognitive benefits of playing video games: pattern recognition, system thinking, and patience.


title: Video game controversies

text: Action video game players have better hand–eye coordination and visuo-motor skills, such as resistance to distraction, sensitivity to information in the peripheral vision and ability to count briefly presented objects, than non-players. Through the development of the PlayStation Move, Kinect and Wii, video games can help develop motor skills through full body movement. Furthermore, video games have also been linked with increased visual and attentional skills. Studies have shown that video game players were not only able to track 2 more objects on average than non video-game players, but were also more likely to recognize targets in a cluttered area. Experiments have indicated increases in cognition and problem solving skills in professional gamers. A common viewpoint is that playing video games is an intellectually lazy activity, but research suggests it may actually strengthen children's spatial navigation, reasoning, memory and perception skills.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 1994, a study conducted by the University of California in which fifth graders played extensive hours of video games, they managed to gain better spatial skills. The children were split into two groups, with the experimental group playing "Marble Madness", while the control group played "Conjecture". The distinction is important because "Marble Madness" requires spatial skills while "Conjecture" does not. The results may not be generalizable, since the sample of kids is taken from a single private school, and may not necessarily be representative of the population. The children practiced their respective game for forty-five minutes per session for three sessions, all on separate days. Appropriate pre- and post-tests were also assessed for spatial ability, on the day before and after the sessions. Irrespective of gender, practicing "Marble Madness" significantly increased spatial ability, especially in the children who had low performance on the spatial ability pre-test. Conversely, playing "Conjecture" did not increase children's spatial skills. This indicates that the type of game is important to consider when changes to cognitive abilities appear to be present. It is unknown if these increases in spatial ability persist into the long-term. This could mean that any benefits to practicing may only last if practice sessions are done at least intermittently.


title: Video game controversies

text: Olsen suggests video games can have social benefits for children, for example, video games can provide a topic of discussion and something over which children can bond, and can help children make friends; playing video games can increase a child's self-esteem when they are struggling in one aspect of their life, but are able to do something correctly in a video game; and, children can also learn to take on leadership roles within a multi-player online game. Christopher Ferguson, a psychologist well known for his video game research, conducted a study in which results suggest that violent games reduce depression and hostile feelings in players through mood management.


title: Video game controversies

text: According to a research paper done by Radboud University, creating positive emotions help to build motivation, relationships, and cope with failure. It also helps to monitor negative emotions such as anger, frustration or anxiety and control these emotions in order to achieve a goal (Isabela Granic, Adam Lobel, and Rutger C.M.E. Engels). By learning to motivate themselves, students could push themselves to achieve goals and improve their performance academically as they would improve their performance similarly in their video games. Also, social games that rely on interactions with other people would promote healthy relationships and better communication between their fellow students, teachers and others outside of school. This could also benefit the students to work harder in class to achieve better grades and learn from their mistakes and improve rather than become frustrated. As video games are a favored pastime among many students, having a game that promotes positive emotions will help to alleviate stress in the classroom, making the environment fun and sociable.


title: Video game controversies

text: A 2020 Oxford Internet Institute study involving over 3000 adult players involving the games "" and "" during the COVID-19 pandemic found that those that played games longer felt happier and were less stressed. The researches concluded that these effects were partially contributed by a combination of the competence and social interaction brought through the games, and suggested that longer play times could improve a player's well-being. However, the researchers also identified other factors that could influence this benefit, including the player's experiences outside of the game which may actually lead to a negative impact on well-being with longer playtimes.


title: Video game controversies

text: Studies have also tried using video games to assist in physical rehabilitation. Researchers used video games to provide physical therapy, improved disease self-management, distraction from discomfort, and increased physical activity, among other things. All of the above studies showed a significant improvement among testers. In addition, research done in Taiwan has shown that video game therapy can be used to improve the physical health of children with developmental delays.


title: Video game controversies

text: Other studies have examined the benefits of multiplayer video games in a family setting; the use of video games in a classroom setting; online gaming; and the effects of video game playing on dexterity, computer literacy, fact recall processes and problem solving skills.


title: Video game controversies

text: Glazer, a researcher, suggests, "A kid in the classroom has to worry about looking like an idiot. In a game, they're raising their hand all the time, and true learning comes from failing."


title: Video game controversies

text: Not all video games are mindless. According to John L. Sherry, assistant professor at Michigan State University, 'educators are increasingly using educational games in the classroom as a motivational tool. The right video games help children master everything from basic grammar to complex math without the drudgery of old-school flash cards.'


title: Video game controversies

text: Certain studies indicate that video games may have value in terms of academic performance, perhaps because of the skills that are developed in the process. "When you play ... games you're solving puzzles to move to the next level and that involves using some of the general knowledge and skills in maths, reading and science that you've been taught during the day," said Alberto Posso, an associate professor at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, after analysing data from the results of standardized testing completed by over 12,000 high school students across Australia. As summarized by "The Guardian", the study [published in the "International Journal of Communication"], "found that students who played online games almost every day scored 15 points above average in maths and reading tests and 17 points above average in science". However, the reporter also stated that "[the] methodology cannot prove that playing video games were the cause of the improvement". "The Guardian" also reported that a Columbia University study indicated that extensive video gaming by students in the 6 to 11 age group provided a greatly increased chance of high intellectual functioning and overall school competence.


title: Video game controversies

text: In a study done in 2017 by the International Conference Educational Technologies they explored the educational purposes of the video game Minecraft. The results that they concluded from this experiment was that it increased collaboration between groups, increased problem solving skills, improved computer skills and more.


title: Video game controversies

text: In an interview with CNN, Edward Castronova, a professor of Telecommunications at Indiana University Bloomington said he was not surprised by the outcome of the Australian study but also discussed the issue of causal connection. "Though there is a link between gaming and higher math and science scores, it doesn't mean playing games caused the higher scores. It could just be that kids who are sharp are looking for a challenge, and they don't find it on social media, and maybe they do find it on board games and video games," he explained.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 1997, Herz and in 2006, Wade and Beck, authors, suggested video game playing may increase entrepreneurial skills. Herz argued that many so-called negative effects of video games, such as aggression and lack of pro-social behavior, are both necessary and useful traits to have in a capitalistic society. Specifically, Herz argued that many academic researchers have an anti-capitalist bias, and thus failed to notice the benefits of such traits.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 2010, Tobias Greitemeyer and Silvia Osswald conducted a series of 4 experiments where some people played a prosocially themed video game, and others played a neutral video game. They found that the people who played the prosocial game were more helpful compared to the people who played the neutral game when another person had a mishap and asked for help. The people who played prosocial games were also more likely to assist in further experiments as a favor to the researcher, and more likely to step in and calm down a situation where someone was being harassed.


title: Video game controversies

text: In 2012, a study approved by Iowa State University assessed whether prosocial games could promote helpful behavior in children. In this study, children aged 9–14 years old played three different types of video games. They were first assessed for aggression in order to avoid confounding. Afterwards, they completed a puzzle task with a partner and then assigned tangrams to a fictitious person in another room. The participants were told that the person in the other room, who they did not know was not actually real, had an opportunity to win a prize. The children were told they were not eligible for the gift card. The measure for helpful or hurtful behavior was based on how many easy or difficult tangrams they assigned to the fictitious person. Results indicated that playing prosocial games significantly more helpful behaviors in children than those who played violent video games. Conversely, playing violent video games had significantly more hurtful behaviors in children than the children who played prosocial games. Deviations from the expected pattern were also non-significant. The short-term effects observed after only thirty minutes of playing are substantial enough to consider the possibility that the longer amount of time a child plays a video game, the more effect it will have on their behavior. The researchers concluded that playing prosocial games affects a child's social cognition, because it changes their attitudes and affect. It is also important to note that outside the confines of a study, playing a video game may affect how a child acts, but it is not the only factor present that can affect this.


title: Video game controversies

text: A study conducted in June 2014 at the University of Buffalo concluded that violent behavior in a virtual environment could lead to players' increased sensitivity of the moral codes that they violated, due to immoral behavior in video games eliciting guilt in players.


title: Video game controversies

text: Studies have shown that video games, whether they are designed to be therapeutic or not, can be used to lower anxiety levels of those who suffer from chronic anxiety issues. Furthermore, a study done on children with mental disorders showed specifically designed therapeutic games, that provide a "lifelike alternate reality", which can help treat problems such as schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and ADHD.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: Lieutenant General Igor Yevgenyevich Konashenkov (; born 15 May 1966) is a Russian military officer serving as the chief spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: Konashenkov graduated with distinction from the engineering department of Zhitomir Higher Military School of Radioelectronics of Air Defence in 1988. In 1998, he graduated from the Air Defence Military Academy. In 2006, he graduated from the higher courses of the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: He has served in the Soviet Air Defence Forces and in the Russian Aerospace Defence Forces, in the directorate of the major command of the Territorial Air Defence Forces.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: From 1998, Konashenkov was the senior officer, chief of group, and deputy chief of the Department for Cooperation with Russian and Foreign Media of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence Press Service.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: In 2003, he became chief of the press service and assistant commander of the North Caucasus Military District for public and media affairs. In 2005 he became chief of the press service of the army and assistant commander-in-chief of the army for public and media affairs.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: In 2009, he was appointed deputy chief of the Department of Media Affairs and Information of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence. In August 2011, he became chief of the Department of Media Affairs and Information of the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence. He is Russia's chief military spokesman.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: He has headed units for informational support of the Russian military in the North Caucasus, and the Collective Force for Peacekeeping in the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict zone.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Konashenkov claimed that U.S. forces had planned to infect birds in Ukraine with a spreadable form of the H5N1 flu strain "with a mortality rate of 50 percent" as well as Newcastle disease. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: In April 2022, Konashenkov was added to the European Union sanctions list "in response to the ongoing unjustified and unprovoked Russian military aggression against Ukraine and other actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine".


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: Konashenkov has received the Order of Courage, Order of Military Merit, Order of Friendship, and 14 other medals.


title: Igor Konashenkov

text: Konashenkov is a member of the presidium of the Union of Journalists in Moscow who awarded him a diploma for services to openness in the press in 2016.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The 2022 Mediterranean Games (), officially known as the XIX Mediterranean Games and commonly known as Oran 2022, was an international multi-sport event held from 25 June to 6 July 2022 in Oran, Algeria. Oran was announced as the host city at the ICMG General Assembly in Pescara, Italy, on 15 August 2015. 3,390 athletes took part in the games.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: Five cities signed an official declaration of candidacy for hosting the 2021 Mediterranean Games, two from Africa and three from Europe:


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The final candidates were Oran and Sfax. Oran planned to take the Games to Algeria for the second time after the 1975 Mediterranean Games in Algiers.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: Sfax planned to take the Games to Tunisia for the third time after the 1967 Mediterranean Games and the 2001 Mediterranean Games, both in Tunis.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: Cities from five countries submitted their bids to host the 2021 Mediterranean Games. Oran, Algeria, has been chosen to host the Games. The North African city was elected during the International Committee for the Mediterranean Games (ICMG) General Assembly, which took place on August 27, 2015, in Pescara, Italy.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: Oran took the vote by a considerable margin, winning 51 to 17 over Sfax, Tunisia, which was the other final contender to host the 2021 Games. This is the second time that an Algerian city has hosted the Mediterranean Games, the first was in 1975, in Algiers, the country's capital. Oran is the 2nd largest city in Algeria, with a population of roughly 1.2 million.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The Minister of Youth and Sports, El Hadi Ould Ali, inaugurated on October 30, 2016 at Oran, the headquarters of the organizing committee of the 19th Mediterranean Games 2021 in the presence of the Wali, Abdelghani Zaalane, the Presidents of the People's Provincial Assembly (APW), Fethallah Chaâbni, the Presidents of the People's Municipal Assembly (CPA), Nourredine Boukhatem and the President of the Algerian Olympic Committee, Mustapha Berraf. Several personalities from the world of sport took part in the inauguration as a legendary football star, Lakhdar Belloumi, and the boxer star, Mustapha Moussa, and also consuls of different Mediterranean countries.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The headquarters of the Committee was located in NLA boulevard in the old daïra completely renovated. It was Senator and Secretary General of the Organizing Committee of the Mediterranean Games (COMG), Abdelhak Kazi-Tani and Secretary General of the Algerian Sports and Olympic Committee, Abdelhafid Izem, who initialed the seat allocation paper.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The main stadium of the 2022 Mediterranean Games is the Oran Olympic Stadium (Miloud Hadefi Stadium) which is a part of the Miloud Hadefi Olympic Complex in Bir El Djir District, Oran. The stadium hosted both the opening and closing ceremonies.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The Wilaya of Oran has allocated 5 billion DA for the construction of a large sports infrastructure program including an Olympic complex in Bir El Djir, Miloud Hadefi Stadium, athletics stadium, multi-purpose sports halls, center hosting sports, playgrounds and green spaces, in addition to the Mediterranean village in progress. The planned rehabilitation of the old sports infrastructure of Oran was taken.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The logo as well as the graphic charter of the Mediterranean Games Oran 2021 was redone in September 2019. Wihro, the mascot of the Mediterranean Games Oran 2021 represents a lion (symbol of the city of Oran) with the colors of the games and of the Mediterranean basin.


title: 2022 Mediterranean Games

text: The European broadcasting union subsidiary Eurovision Sport is the owner of the broadcasting rights according to a contract signed with CIJM.


title: Governor-general

text: Governor-general (plural "governors-general"), or governor general (plural "governors general"), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy to represent the monarch of a personal union in any sovereign state over which the monarch does not normally reign in person. Governors-general have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, such as Japan in Korea and France in Indochina.


title: Governor-general

text: In modern usage, in the context of governor-generals and former British colonies, the term "governor-general" originated in those British colonies that became self-governing within the British Empire. Before World War I, the title was used only in federated colonies in which its constituents had had "governors" prior to federating, namely Canada, Australia, and the Union of South Africa. In these cases, the Crown's representative in the federated Dominion was given the superior title of "governor-general". The first exception to this rule was New Zealand, which was granted Dominion status in 1907, but it was not until 28 June 1917 that Arthur Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool, was appointed the first governor-general of New Zealand.


title: Governor-general

text: Since the 1950s, the title "governor-general" has been given to all representatives of the sovereign in independent Commonwealth realms. In these cases, the former office of colonial governor was altered (sometimes for the same incumbent) to become governor-general upon independence, as the nature of the office became an entirely independent constitutional representative of the monarch rather than a symbol of previous colonial rule. In these countries the governor-general acts as the monarch's representative, performing the ceremonial and constitutional functions of a head of state.


title: Governor-general

text: The only other nation which currently uses the governor-general designation is Iran, which has no connection with any monarchy or the Commonwealth. In Iran, the provincial authority is headed by a governor general (Persian: استاندار "ostāndār"), who is appointed by the minister of the interior.


title: Governor-general

text: Until the 1920s, governors-general were British subjects, appointed on the advice of the British government, who acted as agents of the British government in each Dominion, as well as being representatives of the monarch. As such they notionally held the prerogative powers of the monarch, and also held the executive power of the country to which they were assigned. The governor-general could be instructed by the colonial secretary on the exercise of some of his functions and duties, such as the use or withholding of royal assent from legislation; history shows many examples of governors-general using their prerogative and executive powers. The monarch or imperial government could overrule any governor-general, though this could often be cumbersome, due to the remoteness of the territories from London.


title: Governor-general

text: The governor-general was also usually the commander-in-chief of the armed forces in their territory and, because of the governor-general's control of the military, the post was as much a military appointment as a civil one. The governors-general are entitled to wear a unique uniform, which is not generally worn today. If of the rank of major general, equivalent or above, they were entitled to wear that military uniform.


title: Governor-general

text: Following the Imperial Conference, and subsequent issuing of the Balfour Declaration in 1926, the role and responsibilities of the governor-general began to shift, reflecting the increased independence of the Dominions (which were in 1952 renamed Realms; a term which includes the UK itself). As the sovereign came to be regarded as monarch of each territory independently, and, as such, advised only by the ministers of each country in regard to that country's national affairs (as opposed to a single British monarch ruling all the Dominions as a conglomerate and advised only by an imperial parliament), so too did the governor-general become a direct representative of the national monarch only, who no longer answered to the British government. The report resulting from the 1926 Imperial Conference stated: "It is an essential consequence of the equality of status existing among the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations that the Governor General of a Dominion is the representative of the Crown, holding in all essential respects the same position in relation to the administration of public affairs in the Dominion as is held by His Majesty the King in Great Britain, and that he is not the representative or agent of His Majesty's Government in Great Britain or of any Department of that Government." These concepts were entrenched in legislation with the enactment of the Statute of Westminster in 1931, and governmental relations with the United Kingdom were placed in the hands of a British High Commissioner in each country.


title: Governor-general

text: In other words, the political reality of a self-governing Dominion within the British Empire with a governor-general answerable to the sovereign became clear. British interference in the Dominion was not acceptable and independent country status was clearly displayed. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand were clearly not controlled by the United Kingdom. The monarch of these countries (Charles III) is in law King of Canada, King of Australia, and King of New Zealand and only acts on the advice of the ministers in each country and is in no way influenced by the British government. Today, therefore, in former British colonies that are now independent Commonwealth realms, the governor-general is constitutionally the representative of the monarch in their state and may exercise the reserve powers of the monarch according to their own constitutional authority. The governor-general, however, is still appointed by the monarch and takes an oath of allegiance to the monarch of his or her own country. Executive authority is also vested in the monarch, though much of it can be exercisable only by the governor-general on behalf of the sovereign of the independent realm. Letters of credence or letters of recall are in some realms received or issued in the name of the monarch, but in others (such as Canada and Australia) are issued in the name of the governor-general alone.


title: Governor-general

text: At diplomatic functions where the governor-general is present, the visiting diplomat or head of state toasts "The King" or "The Queen" of the relevant realm, not the governor-general, with any reference to the governor-general being subsidiary in later toasts if featuring at all, and will involve a toast to the governor-general by name, not office. (e.g., "Mrs. Smith", not "Her Excellency, the Governor-General". Sometimes a toast might be made using name and office, e.g., "Governor-General Smith".)


title: Governor-general

text: Except in rare cases (for example, a constitutional crisis), the governor-general usually acts in accordance with constitutional convention and upon the advice of the national prime minister (who is head of the nation's government). The governors-general are still the local representatives of the sovereign and perform the same duties as they carried out historically, though their role is for the most part ceremonial (or partly ceremonial). Rare and controversial exceptions occurred in 1926, when Canadian governor general the Viscount Byng of Vimy refused Prime Minister Mackenzie King's request for a dissolution of parliament; in 1953 and 1954 when the governor-general of Pakistan, Ghulam Mohammad, staged a constitutional coup against the prime minister and then the Constituent Assembly; and in 1975, when the governor-general of Australia, Sir John Kerr, dismissed the prime minister, Gough Whitlam (to name a few). It should be remembered that while governors-general do not normally take drastic action, they still have a responsibility to ensure that the constitution is respected and followed at all times. In many ways, the governor-general acts as an umpire/mediator (who must remain independent/non-partisan and objective) in the political scene. In some realms, the monarch could in principle overrule a governor-general, as governors-general are representatives of the monarch rather than holding power in their own right, but this has not happened in recent times.


title: Governor-general

text: In Australia, the present king is generally assumed to be the head of state, since the governor-general and the state governors are defined as his "representatives". However, since the governor-general performs almost all national regal functions, the governor-general has occasionally been referred to as the head of state in political and media discussion. To a lesser extent, uncertainty has been expressed in Canada as to which officeholder—the monarch, the governor-general, or both—can be considered the head of state.


title: Governor-general

text: A governor-general is usually a person with a distinguished record of public service, often a retired politician, judge or military commander; however, some countries have also appointed prominent academics, members of the clergy, philanthropists, or figures from the news media to the office.


title: Governor-general

text: Traditionally, the governor-general's official attire was a unique uniform, but this practice has been abandoned except on occasions when it is appropriate to be worn (and in some countries abandoned altogether). In South Africa, the governor-general of the Union of South Africa nominated by the Afrikaner Nationalist government chose not to wear uniform on any occasion. Most governors-general continue to wear appropriate medals on their clothing when required.


title: Governor-general

text: The governor-general's official residence is usually called "Government House." The governor-general of the Irish Free State resided in the then Viceregal Lodge in Phoenix Park, Dublin, but the government of Éamon de Valera sought to downgrade the office and the last governor-general, Domhnall Ua Buachalla, did not reside there. The office was abolished there in 1936.


title: Governor-general

text: In most Commonwealth realms, the flag of the governor-general has been the standard pattern of a blue field with the royal crest (a lion standing on a crown) above a scroll with the name of the jurisdiction. In Canada, however, this was replaced with a crowned lion clasping a maple leaf. In the Solomon Islands, the scroll was replaced with a two-headed frigate bird motif, while in Fiji, the former governor general's flag featured a whale's tooth. In New Zealand, the flag was replaced in 2008 with the shield of the coat of arms of New Zealand surmounted by a crown on a blue field.


title: Governor-general

text: Governors-general are accorded the style of "Their Excellency". This style is also extended to their spouses.


title: Governor-general

text: Until the 1920s, governors general were British, and appointed on the advice of the British Government.


title: Governor-general

text: Following the changes to the structure of the Commonwealth in the late 1920s, in 1929, the Australian prime minister James Scullin established the right of a Dominion prime minister to advise the monarch directly on the appointment of a governor-general, by insisting that his choice (Isaac Isaacs, an Australian) prevail over the recommendation of the British government. The convention was gradually established throughout the Commonwealth that the governor-general would be a citizen of the country concerned, and would be appointed on the advice of the government of that country, with no input from the British government; governor general of Canada since 1952 and governor-general of New Zealand since 1967. Since 1931 as each former Dominion has patriated its constitution from the UK, the convention has become law, or, since 1947, when the first realms established with a patriated constitution, India and Pakistan, were established, was always law, and no government of any realm can advise the Monarch on any matter pertaining to another realm, including the appointment of a governor-general. The monarch appoints a governor-general (in Canada: "governor general") as a personal representative only on the advice of the prime minister of each realm; for example, the governor-general of New Zealand is appointed by the king of New Zealand on the advice of the New Zealand prime minister, the governor-general of Tuvalu is appointed by the king of Tuvalu on the advice of the Tuvaluan prime minister, and the governor-general of Jamaica is appointed by the king of Jamaica on the advice of the Jamaican prime minister. In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the prime minister's advice is based on the result of a vote in the national parliament.


title: Governor-general

text: The formalities for appointing governors-general are not the same in all realms. For example: When appointed, a governor-general of Australia issues a proclamation in his own name, countersigned by the head of government and under the Great Seal of Australia, formally announcing that he has been appointed by the monarch's commission, previously issued also under the Great Seal of Australia. The practice in Canada is to include in the governor general's proclamation of appointment, issued under the Great Seal of Canada, the monarch's commission naming the governor general as commander-in-chief of the Canadian Forces. Also dissimilar among the realms are the powers of governors-general. The Belizean constitution provides the governor-general with the power to assent or to withhold assent to laws, while Papua New Guinea has no requirement for royal assent at all, with laws entering into force when certified as having been passed in Parliament by the Speaker.


title: Governor-general

text: Different realms have different constitutional arrangements governing who acts in place of the governor-general in the event of their death, resignation, or incapacity.


title: Governor-general

text: The title has been used in many former British colonies, which became independent realms and then later became republics. Each of these realms had a governor-general.


title: Governor-general

text: In Brazil, after a few governors, from 1578 until its promotion in 1763 to a viceroyalty (though various members of the nobility since 1640 had assumed, without sovereign authority, the title of Viceroy).


title: Governor-general

text: Furthermore, in Napoleonic Europe successive French governors-general were appointed by Napoleon I in:


title: Governor-general

text: From 1895 to 1945, Japanese-administered Taiwan had a governor-general. From 1910 to 1945, Japanese-administered Korea had a governor-general. From 1905 to 1910, Japan had a resident-general in Korea.


title: Governor-general

text: From 1610 to 1942 the Dutch appointed a "gouverneur-generaal" ("governor-general") to govern the Netherlands East Indies, now Indonesia. Between the capitulation of the Dutch East Indies in 1942 and the formal end of colonial rule over Indonesia by the Dutch in 1949, no governor-general was appointed.


title: Governor-general

text: While in the Caribbean, various other titles were used, Curaçao had three governors-general between 1816 and 1820:


title: Governor-general

text: The equivalent word in Portuguese is "governador-geral". This title was only used for the governors of the major colonies, indicating that they had, under their authority, several subordinate governors. In most of the colonies, lower titles, mainly "governador" (governor) or formerly captain-major ("capitão-mor"), prevailed


title: Governor-general

text: The Philippines from the 16th through the 20th century had a series of governors-general during the Spanish and American colonial periods, as well as the Japanese occupation of the Philippines during World War II


title: Governor-general

text: From 21 November 1564 the Spanish East Indies had a governor-general, which was under the Viceroy of New Spain based in Mexico. After the successful Mexican War of Independence in 1821, the governor-general reported directly to Spain.


title: Governor-general

text: From 1899 to 1935 under the Insular Government, the Philippines was administered by a series of governors-general, first military and then civilian, appointed by the United States federal government.


title: Governor-general

text: The Balkan Wars of 1912–13 led to the Greek acquisition of the so-called "New Lands" (Epirus, Macedonia, Crete and the islands of the eastern Aegean), almost doubling the country's territory. Instead of fully incorporating these new lands into Greece by dividing them into prefectures, the Ottoman administrative system continued in existence for a while, and Law ΔΡΛΔ΄ of 1913 established five governorates-general (Γενικαὶ Διοικήσεις, sing. Γενική Διοίκησις): Epirus, Macedonia, Crete, Aegean and Samos–Ikaria. The governors-general had wide-ranging authority in their territories, and were almost autonomous of the government in Athens.


title: Governor-general

text: Law 524 in 1914 abolished the governorates-general and divided the New Lands into regular prefectures, but in 1918 Law 1149 re-instated them as a superordinate administrative level above the prefectures, with Macedonia now divided in two governorates-general, those of Thessaloniki and Kozani–Florina. The governors-general of Thessaloniki, Crete and Epirus were also given ministerial rank. To these was added the Governorate-General of Thrace in 1920–22, comprising Western Thrace and Eastern Thrace (returned to Turkey in the Armistice of Mudanya in 1922). The extensive but hitherto legally rather undefined powers of the governors-general created friction and confusion with other government branches, until their remit was exactly delineated in 1925. The governorates-general, except for that of Thessaloniki, were abolished in 1928, but re-established in December 1929—for Crete, Epirus, Thrace, and Macedonia—and delegated practically all ministerial authorities for their respective areas. Over the next decade, however, in a see-saw of legislative measures that in turn gave and took away authority, they gradually lost most of their powers in favour of the prefectures and the central government in Athens.


title: Governor-general

text: Following liberation from the Axis occupation, in 1945 the Governorate-General of Northern Greece was established, initially with subordinate governorates for West Macedonia, Central Macedonia, East Macedonia, and Thrace, the first three of which were then grouped anew into a new Governorate-General of Macedonia, albeit still subject to the Governorate-General of Northern Greece. This awkward arrangement lasted until 1950, when the administration of Macedonia was streamlined, the junior governorates abolished and only the Governorate-General of Northern Greece retained. Finally, in 1955, the Governorate-General of Northern Greece was transformed into the Ministry of Northern Greece, and all other governorates-general elsewhere in Greece were abolished.