Do violent video games lead to violence in real life?

I'm curious to see what people think about this topic as I've never heard a definite answer to the question.

I would say very rarely a game influences violence. Unfortunately there are some grim stories where it is believed/alleged games are responsible for violence caused. However the proportion of these compared to the millions of gamers would suggest the answer is "No" with a minor "but"...

That is my personal opinion, however you cannot really answer it, seems to be a 'dark figure'. Do crime stats show crimes linked to gaming ? Unreported crimes linked to gaming ? and How could anyone know for sure the cause of violence in the first place ?

It's a very circumstantial question and probably impossible to truly answer with a YES or NO.

Does seem to be a good topic for a project, can add a lot of for/against arguments, lots of stuff to support/critique your work and maybe some good theories to link with it.

Only among the mentally ill who would have issues with anything that makes it hard to discern reality from non-reality.

ONLY NON-GAMER WILL SAY THAT

Maybe only when violent games are played from a young age.

Not really. If simply playing violent games made you violent, I would've gone on several killing sprees already and be planning to kill you all right now. But that hasn't happened, so....

You have to have some serious mental health issues to have a video game spur you to get violent with other people.

True 'dat.

Honestly it's just human nature to be violent. We're only evolved apes and societal bonds keep us from lashing out with any regularity.

Does playing goat simulator make you a goat?

what's with the double post sorry people.

Does playing goat simulator make you a goat?

Short answer: No

Long answer: Nope

To a normal person, no. Violence in Videogames has about the same effect on a person's behaviour in life as seeing violence in movies. For many it actually is a way for them to let out stress and pent up frustration potentially encountered in a day and thus make them even less likely to get angry and violent.

However to those with a Mental illness who could have trouble seperating fiction to reality then there might be a small risk that they could get affected and thus more violent, but it has yet to be proven and they may very likely get more violent through other media besides videogames aswell.

So if you want a definite answer then I'm afraid there isn't one.

Haha, love this

Not violent ones.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-26921743

No, not at all.

Only ignorant idiots say that.

@EnoshimaJunko: Maybe you're just a slow planner? =P

No, but overwriting my save game files does.

It's stupid to think violent video games make people violent. I've been playing violent games since I was 10 and never had any problems. People just like to point fingers.

No.

Of course it does.

Wired has an article on this.

"To date, researchers have tended to explore passive aspects of gaming, such as whether looking at violent material in electronic games desensitises or aggravates players," said co-author Andrew Przybylski. "We focused on the motives of people who play electronic games and found players have a psychological need to come out on top when playing.

"If players feel thwarted by the controls or the design of the game, they can wind up feeling aggressive. This need to master the game was far more significant than whether the game contained violent material. Players on games without any violent content were still feeling pretty aggressive if they hadn't been able to master the controls or progress through the levels at the end of the session."

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-04/08/game-aggression-and-incompetence

I agree with the findings of that research. Playing a game and then reaching a critical point only to be subjected to unresponsive controls or ridiculously difficult bosses can be frustrating. I have seen how it affects people firsthand.

Yes they do.

No.

I'd say any correlation between video games and violence would be the opposite: Violent people naturally gravitate toward violent games, but enjoying violent games doesn't make you a violent person.

I play Dead Space, The Darkness, Silent Hill, Just Cause 2, sleeping dogs, Max Payne 3 and many other incredibly violent games. Not once have I ever felt the need to pick up a gun and go on a shooting spree. If anything, playing a bloody game when I'm in a bad mood helps relieve my stress (not totally, but makes it better than it was).

Question answered.

no unless you're a 3 YO who played Manhunt.

Not physical violence, but do make me fucking aggressive!!!!! when I play for long hours.

no, just look at japan and S. korea. They play more video games than any country and they have 0 crime.

it does.

i just killed a turtle by jumping on it.

you're mostly all making good points about the topic, i didn't really expect any other response than what i'm getting on a website called Gamespot.

No, like many other forms of media, it is used as a convenient scapegoat to push aside things we would rather not focus on.. Those being things like mental illness, poor parenting, or irresponsibility of teachers etc etc.. The fact of the matter is we are on a huge low in violence nation wide compared to past decades like the 1970s where we had a spike in violent crimes.. Either video games do not promote violence in any meaningful way or that the effect is so small that it isn't changing the current trend.

Video games don't make gamers violent.

Lag does.