Typical conversation between a politician and gamer regarding the link between real-world violence and videogames goes something like this:

Politician/Parent/Teacher: The recent wave of violent games are simulating murder. It is warping the minds of impressionable kids.

 
Gamer/Gaming Journalist: That’s nonsense. Me and my friends have been playing games since we were kids and none of us go out and shoot people.

            It is so productive when people approach a problem ignore the possibility that the counter-argument could hold some valid points. It goes without saying that I don’t view violent games as “murder simulators” nor do I believe that they warp children into desensitized violent creatures. But I do believe that there is justification in wanting to study the effects of videogames further. The juvenile counter-argument of “Hey, I play videogames, how come I don’t kill anyone?” is an insult to the intelligence of our politicians and teachers. They aren’t idiots, at least most of them aren’t.

            The juvenile defence or total denial offered by gamers and gaming journalists counter the claim that videogames are turning masses into criminals. No one is making such a stupid case. I believe a more refined statement of the concern is whether videogames can be counted among the elements that factor in when tipping scales towards a violent act. Not many of us will reach a moment in our lives when we are faced with the option of pulling a trigger or smashing a hard object into somebody’s face. But it is a reality that will be faced by a percentage of the population over a lifetime. They may be members of a gang, they may be holding a gun towards a burglar in the middle of the night, they may have gotten their hands on a knife after receiving a beating from their spouse or a parent and so forth. It is at that point, when they are caught between a choice of violent action or to resolve the issue passively that their values are brought into the light. Do they fear god or their parents or hold sacred human life to the point that they cannot pull the trigger or are they capable of weighing the life of another human being against their own suffering and choose to lash out by smashing said person’s head into a wall? Do playing violent videogames or watching countless shootings on TV make the choice easier? That to me is a valid question.

            But if we are to believe that the accumulation of digital memories is a catalyst for spurring us into violent behavior when the conditions push us to the limits, why don’t these discussions ever include positive behavior that may appear due to the same reasons? This point kind of occurred to me while I was fiddling away with Phantom Hourglass. I won’t spoil the story for anyone, but basically Link needs to rescue a friend and faces quite the odds to achieve said task. It is almost a given for any game that if a friend is in trouble, you will go to the ends of the world (ie. the five or so temples, abandoned Russian depot, secret lab etc.) to save them. If anyone in an RPG is being hassled, abused, it does not matter whether they are friends or family, you will go in to help 90% of the time. This usually results in valuable information, XP or gold, but that is beside the point. The first response in most videogames is that of altruism. Whether something will come of the action will usually not be spelled out in advance.

            In addition to altruistic action, paying attention to the surroundings and exploration is rewarded nearly every time. Rarely will any game punish a player for taking the extra effort, ingenuity and resources to access a difficult patch of terrain. Asking questions is welcomed. Learning more about the world is always a plus. Aren’t these positive qualities to have in the real world?

            How often will we face the question of whether to shoot or seriously injure another human being? Compare this to the number of times that we will be expected to choose between sticking out our neck for a friend or the leave them out to dry, when we are expected to pick between putting ourselves in danger to help a complete stranger or to simply watch from the sideline, the difference between questioning or exploring the unknown or to simply be content with what is given to us. I’m not claiming that videogames can make a person violent or virtuous, I simply don’t know. But if the discussions on the topic are to be made and research is to be conducted, they should answer the more comprehensive and scientific question of whether videogames can alter behavior (for better or for worse), not the incomplete but politically exciting question of whether playing videogames leads to violent behavior.

I remember reading an article about a study that was published in Japan in (roughly) 2000 that demonstrated a link between videogame playing and violence in children; this link was not what people anticipated though ...

The study demonstrated that the content wasn't that important it was the quantity of videogames a child played that was correlated to how violent they were; if I remember correctly, up to 2 hours a day had little impact, 2 to  4  hours a day had a minor impact, 4 or more  hours a day was very noticeable. They also mentioned that studies demonstrated a similar patter related to the ammount of television a child watched.

I came to the conclusion (at that point in time) that children who are not spending enough time interacting with other children and adults probably have very underdeveloped social skills and are probably going to resort to violence out of frustration.

Certainly, I think Manhunt is an inappropriate game for someone under 17 (or so) but I also think that parrents should be careful about assuming that spongebob squarepants is a 'good' choice.

Of course it may be possible that children with underdeveloped social skills avoid making contact with the real world and spend their lives immersed in virtual worlds. In other words it may not be that they are spending too much time playing videogames and thus lack social skills, other psychological (or genetic) factors might be underlying cause of social problems and excessive gaming might be the side effect.