Comments on: Why Video Games Really Are Linked to Moral Panic http://www.geekstudies.org/2007/05/why-video-games-really-are-linked-to-moral-panic Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:01:37 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Jason Tocci http://www.geekstudies.org/2007/05/why-video-games-really-are-linked-to-moral-panic/comment-page-1#comment-62 Jason Tocci Tue, 29 May 2007 23:30:20 +0000 http://www.geekstudies.org/2007/05/why-video-games-really-are-linked-to-moral-panic#comment-62 You're on the right track, I think: there has been some discussion of content vs. form, but I don't think it's clear that one is more important than the other. Something with really poor graphics and little sense of immersion in which you kill people might not cause as much "aggression" as something with high immersion and killing deer (though I don't know of a study offhand that checks for that). These interact with many other factors, too, like whether you're playing alone or with others, what your own personality is, whether the violence is justified in-game, and so on. I saw a lot of interesting stuff about video games and aggression at the conference I was just at, so I want to pick this train of thought up again in a new post. I don't know of a specific study about D&D murders, either, but maybe Google Scholar does... You’re on the right track, I think: there has been some discussion of content vs. form, but I don’t think it’s clear that one is more important than the other. Something with really poor graphics and little sense of immersion in which you kill people might not cause as much “aggression” as something with high immersion and killing deer (though I don’t know of a study offhand that checks for that). These interact with many other factors, too, like whether you’re playing alone or with others, what your own personality is, whether the violence is justified in-game, and so on. I saw a lot of interesting stuff about video games and aggression at the conference I was just at, so I want to pick this train of thought up again in a new post.

I don’t know of a specific study about D&D murders, either, but maybe Google Scholar does…

]]> By: Chris http://www.geekstudies.org/2007/05/why-video-games-really-are-linked-to-moral-panic/comment-page-1#comment-56 Chris Fri, 18 May 2007 14:04:57 +0000 http://www.geekstudies.org/2007/05/why-video-games-really-are-linked-to-moral-panic#comment-56 Jason, I was curious if anyone has looked at content vs. form in this debate. As you say comparing wolfeinstein to myst is something of a no brainer. I feel like much of the debate talking about categories in the same way that one could the talk about "R" movies. I feel like if violence is somehow caused by something it would be the content, not the form. After all, you could have a FPS where you are a deer killing people (Deer Hunter) or where you are a milk man trying to make chex soggy in milk (a freebie game that came in my chex cereal when I was 15?). It seems like someone could make an argument that a specific game causes violence (or a specific set of game experiences/qualities/tendencies) and I might be willing to buy into that. Or that a certain set of people are more likely to be pushed toward violence by a game (here are the qualities in a person that make them vulnerable to pulling emotions out of a game and incorporating them into their life). Also, I was curious if the Dungeon and Dragons murders thing (which might be a urban myth and/or a single case) has been looked at. The story in short was I think that a kid had been abusing drugs and playing D and D and then killed someone based on drug induced confusion. I don't know if there was any study of this or if they produced anything and I figured you might know? Jason, I was curious if anyone has looked at content vs. form in this debate. As you say comparing wolfeinstein to myst is something of a no brainer. I feel like much of the debate talking about categories in the same way that one could the talk about “R” movies. I feel like if violence is somehow caused by something it would be the content, not the form. After all, you could have a FPS where you are a deer killing people (Deer Hunter) or where you are a milk man trying to make chex soggy in milk (a freebie game that came in my chex cereal when I was 15?). It seems like someone could make an argument that a specific game causes violence (or a specific set of game experiences/qualities/tendencies) and I might be willing to buy into that. Or that a certain set of people are more likely to be pushed toward violence by a game (here are the qualities in a person that make them vulnerable to pulling emotions out of a game and incorporating them into their life).

Also, I was curious if the Dungeon and Dragons murders thing (which might be a urban myth and/or a single case) has been looked at. The story in short was I think that a kid had been abusing drugs and playing D and D and then killed someone based on drug induced confusion. I don’t know if there was any study of this or if they produced anything and I figured you might know?

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