Former Today co-host Katie Couric says that while the "Are Video Games Ruining Your Life" special report of her day time talk show Katie may have been one sided, Bungie and the Entertainment Software Association declined invitations.
On Katie's "Follow Up Friday" segment, Couric read viewer's social media replies to what many saw as an unflattering representation of gamers on a whole.
"@katiecouric What upsets us is that video games are being used as a scapegoat as the root cause of horrible tragedies," Couric read from a tweet by @PSXExtreme.
Comments like those led the journalist to admit that she should have gotten another perspective.
"It probably would have been a good idea to have someone on the other side of the debate," said Couric. "But we did reach out to the ESA and Bungie, the company that created Halo and invited them to come on the show but they declined.
Aired last month, Katie's "Are Video Games Ruining Your Life" report enraged gamers for only stating the negative results of playing violent video games. The special report featured an interview with Daniel Petric, an obsessive Halo 3 player who killed his mother and wounded his minister father in 2007. Petric says that violent video games led him to shoot both of his parents. Following the segment, Couric asked gamers to "Tweet the positive side of violent games."
The debate of violent video game's effects on children have heated up in the wake of recent shootings. A recent controversial study concluded that constant exposure to violent video games can desensitize teens though studies have also concluded that aggressive behavior stems through competition.
Talking behind a closed doors during a gun legislation meeting, it was reported that U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said that "there's no legal reason" preventing the government from imposing a tax on violent video games and movies.
Katie's "Are Video Games Ruining Your Life" report can be seen here.
