Is it only a game? Video games and violence

This is video game play: video games, authority and metacommunication

Gregory Bateson claims that all play acts should be primarily understood as meta-communicative. In other words, playing a game implies being able to transmit and receive the metamessage ‘this is play’, which establishes a psychological frame among the players. I will propose a radical reading of Bateson’s theory in the context of video games; specifically, I will attempt at analysing the charac...

This is your brain on violent video games: Neural desensitization to violence predicts increased aggression following violent video game exposure

Violent Video Games Increase Aggression and Violence

Distinguished Senators, ladies, and gentlemen. I am Craig Anderson, Professor of Psychology and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Iowa State University. I have studied human behavior for over 25 years. My first research publication, in 1979, concerned one potential contributing factor in the outbreak of riots. My first publication on video game violence appeared in 1987. Next month, the ...

Violence in E-rated video games.

CONTEXT Children's exposure to violence, alcohol, tobacco and other substances, and sexual messages in the media are a source of public health concern; however, content in video games commonly played by children has not been quantified. OBJECTIVES To quantify and characterize the depiction of violence, alcohol, tobacco and other substances, and sex in video games rated E (for "Everyone"), ana...

Violence in teen-rated video games.

CONTEXT Children's exposure to violence in the media remains a source of public health concern; however, violence in video games rated T (for "Teen") by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has not been quantified. OBJECTIVE To quantify and characterize the depiction of violence and blood in T-rated video games. According to the ESRB, T-rated video games may be suitable for persons ...