Halo and Grand Theft Auto don’t create real-life killers-prof
A California university professor on Friday said her research confirms what gamers and game makers have long maintained: violent video games don’t lead to a more violent society.
The debate has raged for years on whether virtual murder leads to real-life death, with many claiming the realistic graphics and awards for virtual killing in games like Halo and Grand Theft Auto create teenage blood lust.
University of Southern California sociologist Karen Sternheimer said statistics don’t support that argument, since video game sales have shot up as violence has fallen.
U.S. computer and video game software sales quadrupled to $11.7 billion from 1996 to 2008, and more than two-thirds of American households currently play games according to the Entertainment Software Association.
During approximately the same period, violent crime rates in the United States have actually fallen – FBI statistics show juvenile arrests for violent crimes fell 20 percent between 1997 and 2006, and juvenile arrests for homicides fell by a third from the mid-nineties, Sternheimer said.
Sternheimer also said that while the studies that equate bloody games to real life violence are popular, typically they measure aggression, not actual violence.
“They use proxies for violence that don’t exactly translate in the real world,” she said.
“Resident Evil 5″ ups the action — and the violence
It’s the third day of E3. The press conferences are finished and we are finally getting to spend some quality time with some of the most buzzed about games of the coming year.
Video games reporter Kemp Powers stopped by the Capcom booth and shot and slashed his way through one of the most impressive games of the show, “Resident Evil 5.” (Video below)
The follow-up to the 2005 hit “Resident Evil 4″ on the Nintendo GameCube, Sony Playstation 2 and Wii, this new game is the first offering in the survival horror series for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3. It’s due for a worldwide release on March 13, 2009.
More than just a typical sequel, “RE4″ was a critical and sales smash that rewrote the book on horror games and pioneered a unique over-the-shoulder view that is now ubiquitous in action titles. “Gears of War,” “Mass Effect” and “Metal Gear Solid 4″ are just a few of the big games that now employ the view.
The new game, though definitely a massive upgrade in the graphics department, appears to be sticking with the adage “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it,” which should make loyal fans of the series very happy.
Hero Chris Redfield travels to a fictional city in Africa, where the entire population of the city has been transformed into mindless zombie-like creatures. In this adventure, players are accompanied by a computer-controlled partner, Sheva, who shares weapons and ammunition, opens doors and even heals Chris when he is injured.
She is also pretty handy with guns and rifles, which is a relief when being attacked by swarming hordes of enemies.
Don, the prof is a sociolgist. She most likely did the collection of raw data to get her stats. I’m sure she didn’t just google them.Noah, the distinction between violence and agression is an important one. Especially since her study showed that increased aggression doesn’t correlate to increased violence.