In Real Life

Is ‘All This Violence’ Really What Video Games Are Made Of?

Last week, in the chaos around the total meltdown of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning developer 38 Studios, one line stood out.


May 2, 2012
News

Science Says Don’t Play Super Mario Galaxy Before Trying To Shoot Someone In The Face

The zombie is five steps away, you’re cornered, and you’ve got one last bullet in the chamber. If you were just playing Super Mario Galaxy you might as well turn the gun on yourself. A recent highly scientific study found that when it comes to putting a bullet in a humanoid target’s brain, Super Mario Galaxy doesn’t help.


December 29, 2011
In Real Life

Police Say Christmas Gaming Drove Woman To Attack Children With Butcher Knife

Allegedly enraged over her five-year-old son’s playing of a video game he received as a Christmas gift, Jutrina Tillman of Phoenix, Arizona, dragged the young boy into his bedroom and began to strangle him before threatening to kill him and his 13-year-old sister with a butcher knife.


November 30, 2011
News

Scientists Prove Once Again That Playing Violent Video Games Alters Young Men’s Brains

In a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America earlier this week, researchers believe they’ve found proof that violent video games alter the portion of the brain responsible for controlling emotion and aggressive behaviour. How many times are we going to prove this?


November 2, 2011
In Real Life

Activision Uninvites Celebrity From Modern Warfare 3 Party After Learning She’s A Porn Star

Dutch porn star Kim Holland was invited and then quickly uninvited from a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 VIP party in Amsterdam later this month after the game’s publisher discovered what she did for a living, Eigenwereld reports.


September 17, 2011
News

Study On Effects Of Violent Games: Blame The Player, Not The Game

A study by Villanova University psychologist Patrick Markey suggests that the personality of the person playing a video game is more likely the cause of violent behaviour than the actual content of the game.


August 31, 2011
News

It’s Video Game Competition, Not Violence, That Sparks Aggression

Do violent video games cause aggressive behaviour? According to a recent report published in the journal Psychology of Violence, the competitive aspect of gaming is more likely to generate aggro than mere violence. All this from a bunch of university students, some video games, and some hot sauce. Science is an amazing thing.


July 29, 2011
In Real Life

Expert Says Blaming Massacres On Video Games Smacks Of Racism

When tragedies such as the recent massacre in Oslo, Norway occur, the first place many look to lay blame is in the video games the perpetrators played. According to clinical psychologist Christopher Ferguson, when white males kill and games are blamed, there may be racism at play.


July 6, 2011
News

Violent Video Games And The Rights Of Parents

In this essay originally penned for First Things, Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput discusses the recent Supreme Court decision that granted video games First Amendment protection. Opening with his memories of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, Chaput is clearly against the decision.


June 28, 2011
News

Know Your Rights

Justice of the Supreme Court Antonin Scalia defends the Supreme Court’s decision to keep violent video games in the hands of California gamers based on the First Amendment.