Comments on: In other news: behind the video game scare

By: Idiot

Idiot — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 00:14:12 +0000

I play goldeneye online multiplayer on the Wii quite a lot.

Its a good vantage point from where to observe yourself in “the zone”. Frankly my best performance is when I visualise myself as a sort of viking berserker, mentally screaming “die”.

This is not to say I have “lost control”, rather the opposite.

I find that when I am in this frame of mind my powers of perception speed up. Even more so when you are on a “kill streak” and seem to be able to pull off feats which seemed impossible earlier.

By: Nathaniel

Nathaniel — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 14:41:51 +0000

I did not see any one discussing the attention increase presented in the article, so I thought I would make a clarification that is important. Attention is a process in psychology and not a single action : one aquires an object of attention, focuses on that object, and then shifts attention to the next object. (Obvoiusly this description is simplified.) What the studies show is an increase in acquisition and transition speeds–not an increase in focus. This can be confusing because of the common usage of the word attention.

By: dc9001

dc9001 — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 10:17:43 +0000

Not placid people don’t really need play video games to commit violency. Neither normal people do. And”Disturbed people” are far more victims of violency than the contrary. What people really forgets is that violent games is just an escapism. It doesn’t really transform you into a soldier or someone prepared to dealing with a real situation or anything like that. When someone decides to kiil innocent people in a school, so much it’s going on in his head than straight “Call of Duty..must compensate violence..bleep..bleep..”. There’s no simple answer, never.

By: amelie

amelie — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 15:46:00 +0000

I am glad the piece mentioned exercise. The question in my mind is: does exercise improve mental health? The NY Times had a great article on the runner’s high but they did not say if this has important emotional benefits. Yes, many gamers are peaceful but I’m thinking of those who play video games day in and day out. Among those who are disturbed (or, you know, not placid) would sedentary living (and even indoor air, no I’m not joking) cause a downturn in mood or, more significantly, would physical activity create stability – to me that is the question.

By: thecellularscale

thecellularscale — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:57:45 +0000

Do you think the dopamine released during FPS play transfers to liking actual shooting more? I’m skeptical: http://cellularscale.blogspot.com/2012/12/video-game-shooting-vs-real-shooting.html

By: Dan Simons

Dan Simons — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 13:17:21 +0000

What are the newer, better-designed studies of game training benefits you mention? I’ve seen exactly none that avoid the design problems that Boot et al discuss. I’d be curious to hear if you have other information.

By: Clarisse Thorn

Clarisse Thorn — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 11:19:28 +0000

I recently published an anthology about sexual assault in virtual worlds, which I co-edited with tech journalist Julian Dibbell. I wrote the Introduction, in which I discussed the phenomenon of video game rape from the perspective of both a feminist and a BDSMer. Needless to say, these are complicated issues. I'm certainly willing to entertain the idea that negative effects exist, as you note, but the popular vision of those negative effects is so limited -- and typical social justice writing doesn't help matters.