Skip to main content

Pres. Obama, Republican and Democrat senators back new study into the effects of violent video games on children

Image used with permission by copyright holder

As promised, President Barack Obama is pushing forward with legislation to tackle gun violence in the United States in the wake of the Dec. 14 massacre in Newtown. Included in these efforts is a plan to fund new studies into how violent media, and particular video games, effect the development of children. Senate Bill 134, the Violent Content Research Act of 2013, was introduced by Senator Jar Rockefeller (D-WV) on Thursday and the bill is already garnering bipartisan support in the Senate.

“The reality is we are living in an increasingly violent culture which, when coupled with mental illness, can create a very dangerous situation,” said Nevada Republican Senator Dean Heller, “This bill is a step in the right direction towards better understanding the effects of violence on children, and I look forward to the recommendations that result from this report.”

The proposed National Academy of Sciences study will try to determine if violent video games and movies have a “direct and long-lasting impact” on children, and whether that violent media encourages aggressive behavior.

Sen. Rockefeller first proposed the study less than a week after the Newtown shootings. While the Senator’s initiative to study the effects of violent media on people is an appropriate response in the wake of myriad shootings in the United States, particularly after the Colorado shooting during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises, his other proposals calling for the Federal Trade Commission and Federal Communications Commission to curb violent media is more concerning.

“At times like this, we need to take a comprehensive look at all the ways we can keep our kids safe,” said Rockefeller in December, “I have long expressed concern about the impact of the violent content our kids see and interact with every day. Recent court decisions demonstrate that some people still do not get it. They believe that violent video games are no more dangerous to young minds than classic literature or Saturday morning cartoons. Parents, pediatricians, and psychologists know better.”

It will be interesting to see if the NAS’ findings differ significantly from the 2010 study conducted by Dr. Christopher J. Fergusson and Dr. Stephanie M. Rueda, “The Hitman study: Violent video game exposure effects on aggressive behavior, hostile feelings, and depression.

“[They] took a sample of 103 young adults and had them solve a ‘frustration task.’ Separating the participants into four groups, the researches [sic] had one group play no video game, one play a non-violent video game, one play as good guys in a violent game, and one play as bad guys in a violent game,” the study claimed.

“They found that the games had no impact on aggressive behavior whatsoever, and that the group which played no game at all was the most aggressive after the task, whereas the group that played the violent games were the least hostile and depressed.”

It should be noted that Dr. Fergusson and Dr. Rueda studied the effects on young adults, not young children. Young children though, can’t purchase violent video games of their own accord. The ESRB ratings system is in place to prevent just that.

Anthony John Agnello
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Anthony John Agnello is a writer living in New York. He works as the Community Manager of Joystiq.com and his writing has…
The best Dragon’s Dogma 2 mods
Dragon's Dogma 2 key art featuring a knight with a fiery hole in their chest.

Even before release, there were some red flags about how Dragon's Dogma 2 would perform on a technical level. While console players need to wait and hope for patches to fix things, those on PC can already improve their games through the hard work of modders. Of course, technical improvements are only one area where modders focus. With such a massive world and many systems in place, Dragon's Dogma 2 is brimming with potential for mods of all shapes and sizes. Aside from mods that just improve your performance, most are better saved for after you've reached the true ending, but no one is going to stop you if you'd rather start experimenting from the start. Here are a handful of the best mods you should try in Dragon's Dogma 2.
Dragon's Dogma 2 DLSS3 Enabler 01 - Puredark

For whatever reason, Dragon's Dogma 2 launched with its DLSS3 function disabled. While it is assumed it will be turned on at some point with a patch, modder Puredark went ahead and released the simple Dragon's Dogma 2 DLSS3 Enabler 01 to let you actually play the game with better visuals and framerates. If you have an Nvidia 4000 series GPU, there's no reason not to install this simple enabler.
Crazy's Shop

Read more
V Rising – Legacy of Castlevania crossover will let you fight Simon Belmont
Castlevania's Simon Belmont in V Rising.

Stunlock Studios and Konami have revealed that the survival crafting game V Rising will feature Castlevania crossover content when it leaves early access this May.

V Rising is a survival game where players control a vampire, and this crossover adds Simon Belmont as a hunter who's constantly trying to track down and kill players. If Simon Belmont is defeated, players will be able to equip and use his whip as a weapon. While that content is being added to V Rising free of charge as soon as it hits 1.0, a paid Legacy of Castlevania Premium Pack DLC will also be released. Purchasing it will net players Castlevania-themed decorations and music for their lair. These are all fitting crossover spots for a game that already heavily features vampires and pumps some life back into an unfortunately dormant game series.

Read more
What is dragonsplague in Dragon’s Dogma 2 and how is it cured?
A dragon roars in Dragon's Dogma 2.

Dragon's Dogma 2 likes to keep many of its mechanics and systems a secret until you discover them. You will learn quickly that you can't fast travel around the map freely, but there's one mechanic that is far more detrimental to your game. This is called dragonsplague and it is a disease that can't be cured with a simple tonic. In fact, you may not even realize if you have it in your game because it isn't something that affects your character at all; instead, it affects your Pawns. Failing to recognize you have dragonsplague and deal with it in a timely manner can ruin your entire playthrough if you're not careful. To avoid such a catastrophe, here are all the details about this cruel disease.
What is dragonsplague?

Dragonsplague is a special kind of disease that Pawns can contract seemingly by interacting with either Drakes or Dragons. That part isn't fully clear yet, however, we do know that Pawns with dragonsplague can spread the disease to other Pawns. Since Pawns are able to pass between worlds to join other players, you are never fully safe from being infected if you're playing online. Unlike a real sickness, though, dragonsplague actually transfers between Pawns rather than spreads, meaning it won't fully run rampant through the game.

Read more