For gamers who are old enough to remember the politics of the late 90s, it may feel like history is starting to repeat itself (and we don't just mean all the remastered ports). The violence in video games debate has returned to the forefront of the American political conversation, in reaction to recent violent tragedies, and the potential negative influence games have on kids is once again a major issue. The White House has made video game violence a talking point and even recently met with some members of the industry to discuss its current state.

A recent video was released to highlight violence in video games, but many members of the community feel the footage only concentrated on a very small piece of the gaming experience. Games can be beautiful, moving, tragic, and hilarious. None of those emotions were evoked in the political video and some some members of the community have put together their own video to show the other side of the scene.

The #GameOn Together video, which is the exact same length as the violent video game montage, was produced by the Games for Change group. Here's a look...

"After seeing that the White House produced a video depicting video games as ultra-violent, we felt compelled to share a different view of games. Video games, their innovative creators and the vast community of players are so much more than what is depicted in the White House’s video. We wanted to create our own version, at the same length, to challenge the White House’s misdirected blame being placed upon video games. We urge you to join us in celebrating the multifaceted features of video games: the beauty, creativity and joy that is inherent in this medium. To all you game developers and players who create and use games to connect with friends, to relax, to share experiences, to learn about new things, to inspire, to explore the unknown – this is for you!"

Although the footage length perfectly matched the violent video that it was responding to, it seems like this montage could have gone on for hours and included thousands of more touching moments. The number of contemporary games that are more about experience and emotion than violence is huge and there are many great choices that didn't get a chance to shine in this video.

We'll continue to monitor the ongoing video game violence debate and post updates as they arrive.

Source: Games for Change