Gaming Blog

Psychology

Violent Video Games – The Other Side Of The Story

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GTA IV
We’ve all heard about how violent video games can bring harm to people who play them, especially the young people. More often than not, hardcore gamers get sick of these studies and proclamations of violence making players immune. That is why when I read this blog post on a study looking at the other side of the coin, I was pleasantly surprised. I was even more surprised that I haven’t heard more of this study, conducted by Dr. Cheryl K. Olson, which was actually started in 2004.

So what are the findings of the study? Dr. Olson states in an interview:

Many children in our survey, as well as our focus groups with boys who play violent games, said they played games to manage their feelings. This included playing games to “help get my anger out,” to forget problems, to relax, and to feel less lonely. Children who played at least one M-rated video game “a lot in the past six months” were significantly more likely to agree that getting anger out was one reason they played video games.

The bottom line is that adolescents who play video games are better able to manage their feelings – anger in particular. This is due to the fact that they are able to vent out violent emotions through video games. Another thing that I liked about the study is how they approached the issue – not using the premise that violent games cause aggressive behaviors. Instead, they focused on something more concrete – the reason behind adolescents playing these games.

Video Games: Possible Tension Reliever

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children playing video games
Another study gives much needed support to video games. According to Carmen Russoniello, a professor at East Carolina University, video games are potentially beneficial when it comes to relieving stress and tension. Here is more information from IT World Canada:

Carmen Russoniello, a professor at East Carolina University, recently finished a six-month study of people playing Bejeweled 2, Peggle and Bookworm adventures. The study concluded the games could have “potential therapeutic applications,” according to a press release issued by PopCap games, which by sheer coincidence happens to be the developer of these three games.

The school’s department of recreational and leisure studies observed the behaviour of video game players and measured their stress, psychological tension, anger, depression, vigour, fatigue and confusion. For example, people who played Peggle experienced a 66 per cent reduction in “psychological tension” while 43 per cent of those who played Bookworm Adventures experienced a reduction in depression. Rumour has it people who reached the fourth screen in Space Invaders also experienced confusion, though that game was not included in Russoniello’s study.

It is interesting to note, however, that only specific games were covered by the study. The GTA series, which could be the most popular game franchise ever, was not included in the study.

The East Carolina University study did not include Grand Theft Auto, a game where players can pretend to be criminals taking on rival gang members and robbing banks. The game’s developer, Rock Star North, also makes Bully and Manhunt.

Oh well, it is a start, isn’t it?

Video Game Consoles: To Buy Or Not To Buy?

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I just could not resist this. I might be biting off more than I can chew but after reading the entry titled “Would You Buy Your Kid a Video Game Console!?!” I knew I had to write my own thoughts. Here is what the blogger had to say:

I remember one time our neighbors were over and the topic of video games came up. They were unsure if they were going to treat their kids with a computer box of pointlessness. I immediately said “Don’t ever buy them or let them get a video game console”. WHY? Because after 14 years of playing video games I have learned NOTHING except for how to be a better video game player. If I could go back and erase any type of video game console from my life I honestly believe that I would become a smarter and more active person.

First it made me think. I have been playing video games for longer as this guy – on the PC and consoles combined. What have I learned? Faster and better reflexes? Interacting with other people? Strategy? Even simple math. Persistence perhaps.

I wouldn’t go as far as to say that I have learned NOTHING. Then again, he does have a point about being a more active person. I suppose it all boils down to how parents monitor and control the use of the video game consoles and computers. Just like anything else, moderation is the key.

How about you, would you buy your kids a video game console?

Have You Got An Addictive Personality? (From the Archives)

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Apparently, Mark Wahlberg does and that is why he refuses to play Max Payne even if he is playing the starring role in the movie adaptation. I am sure that you know all about Max Payne but let me refresh your memory nonetheless.

Max Payne is a third person shooter game that can trace its origins back to the year 2001. Back then, the game was developed for the personal computer and was compatible with Windows. Soon after the Windows version was released, Max Payne for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox were developed by Rockstar Games (of course you know who they are, right?). A year after, Mac users had the chance to play Max Payne on their babies.

The first game became very popular that in 2003, a sequel was published. This time, it was dubbed Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. To date, this video game franchise has sold over 7 million copies worldwide.

As the trend seems to be these days, popular video games are being made into movies – and that is what Mark Wahlberg is working on. The movie is set to be released in October of this year with Mark being the star. And yet he refuses to get himself a copy of the game and actually play it for himself. He said:

I didn’t want to play because I have an addictive personality. I got more responsibility now than I’ve ever had with the kids and everything else. I don’t want to be spending 14 hours on the videogame and then eight hours on the set. It’s not going to work out.

Nightmares And Video Games (From the Archives)

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I remember having really bad dreams after watching a scary movie when I was a kid. Come to think of it, it still happens every now and then as an adult. Maybe that is why I do not really have an affinity for scary movies.

Have you heard of people putting the blame on video games for nightmares, though? I have not, really. Yet apparently, someone has been fingering video games as being the cause of nightmares in children. Thank goodness for researchers, though, as they have conducted a study that negates this belief.

I read an article over at Canada.com about this topic:

Television and computer games aren’t to blame for dark dreams about things that go bump in the night, according to a new study that finds no link between children’s viewing or gaming habits and their nightmares.

The research debunks popular wisdom as well as previous studies in which parents and children reported that frightening dreams were triggered by TV programs.

“We found no correlation between the amount of TV watching and computer game playing and nightmare frequency,” says Michael Schredl, head of research for the Sleep Laboratory at Germany’s Central Institute of Mental Health.

The researchers were surprised to find there was no connection between nightmares and computer games or TV shows – including the police and crime shows that 14 per cent of the children said they watched regularly.

This is a very interesting finding. To be honest with you, I would have thought that TV and video games causing nightmares was logical. Don’t think that I am not happy with the finding though.

Generation Video Game

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We have this propensity for naming generations according to a distinctive attribute. Remember the Baby Boomers? Generation X? How about this generation? Have they been labeled yet?

If you were to ask me, I would say Generation Video Games, or Gamers, or whatever sounds better. The reason for this is a study that was conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project. This study highlighted the fact that nearly every kid – at least in the United States – plays video games.

To be honest, we could all have made that statement – probably almost every person we know plays video games. Then again, having a “scientific” study back up your idea is something else. So what did the study find out aside from that general fact?

Ninety-seven percent of young respondents play video games. That’s 99 percent of boys and 94 percent of girls, with little difference in the percentages among various racial and ethnic groups and incomes. In fact, 7 percent of those surveyed said they didn’t have a computer at home, but did have a game console, such as Sony Corp.’s PlayStation, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox or Nintendo Co.’s Wii.

They play often. When surveyed, half of the respondents said they had played a video game the previous day.

Their games of choice are as diverse as their tastes in music or TV. Eighty percent of respondents play five or more different game genres, with racing, puzzles, sports and action the most common. Favorites were “Guitar Hero,” “Halo 3,” “Madden NFL,” solitaire and “Dance Dance Revolution.”
The last two points do not surprise me at all. The same thing would apply to adults I know. The first point, however, was a bit surprising. I thought that despite the popularity of video games, personal computers would still be present in homes. I guess I was wrong.

One question – would you want your child’s generation to be labeled based on video games?

Video Games Teach Empathy

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Boy lying in lounge playing video game

Contrary to common belief, video games teach players empathy and not aggression. At least that is what a new study is saying. Got Game’s feature states:

Dr. Kourosh Dini, a Chicago-based psychiatrist and self-declared gamer recently published Video Game Addiction: A Guide for Parents, which includes a study that reveals video games to be a beneficial teacher of understanding the way others think. Dini reached such a conclusion after much observation–and even participation–in gameplay. In his studies, he analyzed from three different perspectives: the psychiatrist, the first-person player, and the third-person play observer. According to the book’s website, such analysis led Dini to conclude that “age appropriate multi-player video games can allow children to learn how other people think – a key aspect of empathy.”

I really like his point of view – it makes total sense. However, we cannot discount the fact that other studies – and there are more of them, I think – have results that are quite different from that of Dr. Dini’s. So which is which?

I am no expert in the matter but I suppose that this study will be enough for other researchers to take a second look at their studies. Perhaps there are other factors that should be taken into consideration. Perhaps it is not a simple matter of stating that video games make children (or even adults) into so and so people. As for me – and other gamers like, I am sure – a study like this is a good start in forcing people NOT to immediately pinpoint video games as the “evil” they are supposed to be.

Is Video Gaming a Sport?

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madden 06
Off the top of my head, I probably would say no. As defined by Merriam-Webster, a sport is “physical activity engaged in for pleasure.” Take note of the qualification “physical activity.” Yet with today’s video games becoming more and more of a physical nature – thanks to the Wii, I think – I could be wrong. Add to this the fact that more video game developers are focusing on games that are based on real life sports. You have NBA, Madden, and so on.

Thanks to Ben of Gathering of Gamers, I also discovered that ESPN now has a whole section devoted to video games in its web site! We all know that when it comes to sports, ESPN is the undoubted king. With this development – ESPN seeming to recognize that video gaming could be considered a sport – it seems that things just might change somehow!

I can still recall the times when people generally considered video games and sports two whole different things. I have heard it said many times before – hunks play sports and geeks play video games. I think it is rather an obsolete comment, don’t you think? I just saw this feature on TV about sports stars and movie stars who are into gaming. They are definitely hunks, I would say. Anyhow, so what is wrong with being a geek?

I am deviating from the topic here, but anyway, so can we say conclusively that video gaming is now a sport? Maybe not. Until professional video gamers get big fat paychecks like those at the NBA and NFL do, I wouldn’t go that far (just kidding!).