Do First Person Shooter Gamers Enjoy Getting Killed?
Date : 02 25 2008 Category : Business
Techdirt
It's no secret that there are ongoing arguments between those people who believe video games incite violence and those who believe it doesn't (or even those who believe it acts as a release valve). Despite claims to the contrary, there's little real evidence linking violent video games to violent acts. At most, it's been shown that playing such games makes people emotional (as it should) -- not that it leads to actual violent acts. A recent study may probably get folks on both sides of the debate claiming it supports their position. Apparently, when people are playing first-person shooters, they actually enjoy getting killed in the game. Well, perhaps "enjoy" is the wrong word. It sounds like it's more a sense of relief. Basically, the study found that in the process of trying to "kill" others in the game, it does increase stress level for the players (similar to what studies have found), and getting killed yourself, takes away that stress, providing some "relief." For those who don't believe violent video games leads to violence, this could be used to support that claim -- showing that while people are playing, they're still rather stressed out at the idea of killing even virtual characters. Of course, those who dislike violent video games will probably now claim that it promotes suicide as well.
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