NPR Offers Intriguing Look at the Effects of Violence in Games

With everyone from Congress to the NRA suddenly pointing their crosshairs at violent video games these days, it’s refreshing to hear a balanced look at the subject from actual specialists. Thus I was more than impressed when I came across a write-up from NPR doing just that today. Rather than making broad claims they instead offer interviews and actual studies being conducted to come to a reasonable outcome that most logical people (i.e. not in government offices) could probably agree on. A little excerpt:

“There are two things that force us to pay attention,” Gentile says.
“One is violence; the other is sex. Whenever either of those are
present in our environment, they have survival value for us.”

Gentile explains that there is a very basic reason that a lot of
people think violent games are more exciting than say, Tetris. “These
gamers do have an adrenaline rush, and it’s noradrenaline and it’s
testosterone, and it’s cortisol — these are the so-called stress
hormones,” Gentile says. “That’s exactly the same cocktail of hormones
you drop into your bloodstream if I punched you.”

Be sure to check out the full article at NPR.