Research and media attention has usually focused on possible negative impacts of video games. But a clear case to support such links is yet to emerge and even people who argue that video games have a negative…
Research suggests violent videogames such as Hitman don’t make people antisocial, so is it time to change the debate?
Michael Heilemann
Earlier this week on The Conversation, Morgan Tear wrote a terrific article calling into question the supposed negative effect of videogame violence on players’ behaviour. And I would argue we could use…
Research showing no effect on antisocial behaviour after playing violent videogames (such as Call of Duty: Black Ops) should not be discounted.
hmomoy
The debate over the impact of playing violent videogames on aggressive attitudes and behaviour is a long and heated one. Based on my research, I would argue the link is not as straightforward as A + B…
A grand narrative is more important than bloodlust.
jit
Battlefield 3, a video game developed by Electronic Arts (EA), has caused a stir. The debate of violence in computer games has become not just a regulatory issue but a political one too. Perhaps understanding…
After many months of rumours, speculation and discussion on the next offering of Microsoft’s gaming console, details of the new Xbox have finally been revealed. Christened Xbox One, it is to be their third…
Sony fired its salvo in the next-generation console wars with last month’s announcement of the PlayStation 4, set to be released later this year. But the hardware specifications of the new console – placed…
If you were born before 1985 there’s a good chance you watched Looney Tunes on a Saturday morning and followed the exploits of Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Poor old Daffy, at times disguised…
In the wake of the Sandy Hook shootings, we need to more concerned than ever about the effects of violent videogames.
JBLivin/Flickr
The Connecticut town of Southington last week introduced a videogames return program, offering a $25 gift card to parents who wanted to rid their households of violent titles. The program comes in the…
Tough enemies tend to become easier by the end of a game, normally because you learn and they don’t.
Robots image from www.shutterstock.com
When you first stare down that tough opponent in a videogame (think Big Daddies in Bioshock or Striders in Half-Life 2), it can seem impossible to beat the computer-controlled character you’re facing…
Google Ingress turns walking the city streets into a game of territorial control.
Google
Don’t read technology blogs? Then a new innovation in massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMPORGs) may be passing you by. Perhaps, like me, such games have never been of much interest to you…
Black Ops II was one of the most-anticipated games of 2012, and it’s had the sales figures to match.
Activision
Last week, the first-person military shooter game Call of Duty: Black Ops II hit the shelves. The release marks the fourth year in a row that a game in the Call of Duty series has had the “biggest entertainment…
When we’re deciding how our character should act in-game, do we default to our real-world moral codes?
rachel a. k.
A recently published study in the journal of Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking suggests most videogame players are governed by the same moral codes they apply to real life. But there are…
Like the cultural forms that came before them, videogames overlap with everything.
Axel Pfaender
Last week’s Freeplay Independent Games Festival in Melbourne served as a reminder that videogames – all videogames – are culturally significant. Freeplay, which gives people from Australia’s videogame…
The videogame classification scheme was revised to better protect minors from inappropriate content.
Ian Muttoo
New guidelines for the classification of videogames have been released by Federal Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare and, despite being a step in the right direction, the revisions are largely disappointing…
Could you survive if the world was overrun by undead?
DayZ
Amid the resurgent popularity of zombies in recent years – think The Walking Dead, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Shaun of the Dead and so on – the 2011 publication of Dan Drezner’s Theories of International…
Could the answer to obesity be sitting right in front of us?
pizzasso
Here’s an idea for improving the health of our children: let them play more videogames. Obesity has numerous health risks and it is most frightening in children as early learned behaviours will last throughout…
Historically, strong competitors have had greater access to both resources and mates.
studio.catastrophe
Of all violent videogames, first-person shooters are viewed as the biggest problem because of the perspective taken during gaming: the first-person standpoint makes it seem as if the player is performing…