Intern's Log: Week 11.2

http://kotaku.com/5841130/study-on-effects-of-violent-games-blame-the-player-not-the-game

A study popped up lately in gaming sites and even USA Today that addressed violent games and their possible connection (or lack therof) of violent outbursts in players.  Sensationalized through other forms of media, which were the focus of moral raging before, violent games as well as gaming in general has been in the crosshairs for inducing violence and training individuals for violence.  Unfortunately, with games research being on the backburner for the most part there has been little to refute it beyond anecdotal evidence of "Yeah well *I* don't murder people!" 

This study suggests that the colloquilism "don't hate the player, hate the game" may have been bad advice all along.  If the primary reason for people to have these violent outburts lie within themselves and are triggered through stress and competition, progress may be able to be made in coming up with ways to resolve the issue rather than scapegoating each new media that causes the events.  With any luck, more studies will be done for this topic and gaming as a whole should this yield positive results.

--Zack