pbs.org— An MIT professor tries to separate fact from fiction by doing an unbiased study on the affects of video games. Definitely worth the read, and he seems very credible.
Jul 20, 2005View in Crawl 4
I think if people started equating violence in games to making violent people then this would mean the military should have their soldiers isolated from rest of society. Of course this isn't true and isn't the case.On the other hand, I do believe that the culture created around and within these games defines the negative or positive environment within it and this in turn can influence people actions. The hilarious "pwned" website ( <a class="user" href="http://www.pwned.nl/">http://www.pwned.nl/</a> ) is a perfect example of this negative derogatory culture in action within Counter-Strike(although not to the extreme that they show at the end of the Flash movie of course). The reverse can happen as well though. My friends and I had our own Counter-Strike server a couple of years back and it was an extremely positive and supportive place to hang out.People just need to define the cultural environment that they want to be within and that will in turn define the people within it. If you allow or enjoy an environment where others are negative and derogatory to each other, then you'll only attract more people of that kind. If you set rules and guidelines to prevent this and instead attract cooperation and support, then you'll attract people with those same supportive ideals as well.
steve693Jul 21, 2005
Very good read. Excellent article. Someone e-mail this to Hilary Clinton's people. . .
nollindJul 21, 2005
I think if people started equating violence in games to making violent people then this would mean the military should have their soldiers isolated from rest of society. Of course this isn't true and isn't the case.On the other hand, I do believe that the culture created around and within these games defines the negative or positive environment within it and this in turn can influence people actions. The hilarious "pwned" website ( <a class="user" href="http://www.pwned.nl/">http://www.pwned.nl/</a> ) is a perfect example of this negative derogatory culture in action within Counter-Strike(although not to the extreme that they show at the end of the Flash movie of course). The reverse can happen as well though. My friends and I had our own Counter-Strike server a couple of years back and it was an extremely positive and supportive place to hang out.People just need to define the cultural environment that they want to be within and that will in turn define the people within it. If you allow or enjoy an environment where others are negative and derogatory to each other, then you'll only attract more people of that kind. If you set rules and guidelines to prevent this and instead attract cooperation and support, then you'll attract people with those same supportive ideals as well.
ronaldscottJul 21, 2005
The OP text is incorrect, the man didn't really do a study. He just wrote a well-documented essay.