Phrases and arguments like this really irritate me:

It has been well established that playing violent video games aggression in players.

(Nicholas L. Carnagey, “In Video Games, Not All Mayhem Is Created Equal“)

I’m sure you know the argument by now; playing violent games increases aggression in players, and there’s a theory that increased exposure to these games can permanently program someone to behave more aggressively. That’s certainly what this “well-established” – though typically anonymous – data proves, isn’t it? Well, no, not really.

Having played – and lost! – more than my fair share of games, I’ll testify that I experience a rise in aggression when playing certain kinds of games; mostly Pro Evolution actually, when my LAZY DONKEY PLAYERS won’t do what they’re told. Aggression probably does rise whilst playing games, but then it goes away.

The study itself spectacularly fails to take into account the way game players’ brains are already programmed. The study gave three different versions of a racing game – one where all violence was punished, one where it was rewarded, and a non-violent one. To nobody’s surprise, the version that rewarded punishment led to “increased hostile emotion, aggressive thinking and aggressive behaviour” in the players. No details of what this “aggressive behaviour” entailed are given, other than gamers following the words “K I” with “L L” or “S S  O F F, P U N K”.*

The study

All this study has proven is that gamers respond to rewards, which isn’t any surprise to anyone. If we get more points for driving around a track backwards, we’ll drive around a track backwards. If it’s hitting someone over the head with a baseball bat, we’ll do that. Hardly a breakthrough, even Pavlov got that far.

The worst part about all this is that I haven’t been this angry in a very long time, and I’m not even playing a game! I’d like to think this could be the final word on the topic, but I live on Planet Earth, so it’s not going to be. However, here goes anyway:

People who have trouble controlling anger in any situation will have trouble controlling anger arising from playing games. Those of us who are well-adjusted, with clearly-set moral boundaries and ethical guides from our parents and friends will be just fine.

* – super-points for anyone who can tell me what game this is from!