Videogames/violence research

New research challenges alleged link between video games and violence

Tiga said today that research produced by Patrick Kierkegaard of the University of Essex, showing that there is little evidence to suggest that video games are anything but harmless, was an important contribution to the debate on video games and violence.

Richard Wilson, CEO of Tiga, said:

“Kierkegaard’s argument that there is no obvious link between real-world violence statistics and video games is an important contribution to the debate on video games and violence. Too often video games are blamed for all manner of society’s ills. Kierkegaard’s research helps to redress the balance.

“No single piece of research will settle the issue concerning the influence of video games conclusively. The crucial points are that children and young people should be protected from viewing inappropriate content, while adult gamers should typically be free to play mature games.”

Tiga is the national trade association that represents games developers in the UK and in Europe. They have 157 members, the majority of whom are games developers, but they also have outsourcing companies and technology businesses as members who provide services to games developers. Tiga’s vision is to make the UK the best place in the world to do games business.

Patrick Kierkegaard of the University of Essex suggested in the International Journal of Liability and Scientific Enquiry on May 14th that there was scant scientific evidence that video games lead to real world aggression. He also suggested that some previous work was biased towards the opposite conclusion. See http://sciencedaily.com/releases/2008.../080514213432.htm