This is quite interesting. It's funny how games can be something about social competence. Interesting take on that, anyway. Maybe that's why all the kids are like "yo I pwnz j00 @ Brawl". x3

This vid has made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside :)

This was quite refreshing to watch. It's great to know that there are people out there who can actually defend our video game's place in society with intelligence and civility rather than nerd rage and cursing.

That is veeery interesting to watch. Somehow I'm not surprised with the things that are said, and the "teaching the parents" thing is so true.

@Lyner:
You have no idea how many cliques play smash (Goths,Emos,Jocks,Nerds) and we all connect with each other through the pwning of n00bs.

The last part about kids wanting to plsy with their parents is really true. Being able to play a game with your mom and you being able to teach them is great stuff. I tried doing taht with my mom on the SNES and failed. :/

Also the social issue thing with people not playing games seems pretty scary. I wouldn't have never assume that. If you think about it rings pretty true.

They should bring this video to politicians!

imo, violent video games dont make violent people, violent people just choose to play violent video games.

That was indeed a good watch, but I'm quite skeptical of some of their findings. Perhaps I'd have to look more into their book to have a better understanding of how they came about those conclusions...

Just the fact that they'll talk in detail, over length of time about their findings. Something a lot of people don't do when their bashing everything.

These two are the heads of Harvard's Mental Health dept. and those mothers/lawyers/lobbyists will still all cry wolf on this subject.

I personally have to thank lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson for doing the research that will discount those people who think 'I know best, so you should listen to me'. On a subject that is close to me and I'm sure everyone here at Kotaku, these two have shed alot of light with this book.

I like that they are also not trying to completely say that violent games can't be responsible. The studies showed that those who played M rated games for extended periods were still damaging in some way. They also supplement this with the fact that videogames are a great form of escapism as well--allowing for an outlet for any malign emotions.

I think I'm definitely going to support these two by buying the book this weekend. Some good reading I'm sure.

Kudos you two.

@[KU]Shindokie:Is A Man On Monday!: I have also failed at trying to play a game with my mom.

That part about about people who don't play games creeped me out, but it makes sense.

its good to see some people actually care to research a subject throughly rather than research it for 2 seconds, see a change in a test subject's behavior and say something like "holy shit! he's going to turn into a killer!"

The fact that video games are becoming a social norm, as the video shows, just means that in a few years this whole video game violence "debate" is probably going to be a non-issue in a few years.

Great watch, was definitely expecting something different. I can just hear Jack in the background screaming "NOOOOOO!!! YOUR WRONG!!! YOUR ALL WRONG!!!" before rolling around on the floor in a fit of rage.

Is it possible, do I dare say it...... common sense breaking out across the world?

The fact is that different types of media have different effects on people. Most people can watch violent movies, play violent games and listen to violent music and remain just fine. There are always a few though who it might make them do something, or think something that they might not have considered otherwise.

However, in no way should one person going (just for an example mind you) crazy and commiting a crime after playing GTA or Halo become a national issue. When will people learn that even in the situations where a movie, game or song might have had a direct influence on someone, it isn't indicative of that media on the general populace?

@tajash: Hey, I'm part of the clique too. D: I'm just kinda strange with my Jigglypuffness. It's also the only way I can male bond with some of the other guys around the neighbourhood these days, so I do agree that it was an interesting take. ^^

@Noks415: Yeah some kinda do. To the very least I know dudes that at least play casual games and stuff. Good enough. :3

I would like to state that the Wii has allowed me to convert both my parents to play. Heck, I can't bring the Wii with me to residence because it has to stay at home now so they can play. XD Yay for Wii!

It's nice to see the other side of the argument. But what are the chances of these two joining a discussion on Fox (or any mainstream media outlet) alongside other "experts" in the field of videogame violence?

I'm definitely going to check out their book.

I think it's interesting, but I hate the host guy.

Wait for it though. People are going to take 50% of this research and trumpet it, and ignore the other half of the finding for male individuals who don't play games. From what I've personally read, antisocial behaviour is found the least in adaptive, experimentally inclined kids while those who are incapable of moderation (the kids who play too much Halo I guess?) and those who are socially rigid are the closest ones to problematic behaviour.

Hopefully, what everyone takes away from this is that moderation is the most important thing, not restriction or overuse.

IN YOUR FACE!

Liveblogging my viewing of this:

1. Hilarious juxtaposition of screen image of Dead or Alive Extreme and the spoken words "Mature content". Must be intentional.

2. Geoff Keighley: my hair is still exponentially better than his.

3. Geoff Keighley: I hate my own voice and I still think it's better than his.

4. G4, pay me $200,000 a year and I'll consider a job. Resume: been on MTV news, hate videogames with a passion, dated a swimsuit model for a year.

5. Harvard!

6. I like these people! They're good people!

7. I like the way the woman keeps looking at the man out of the corner of her eyes. Like she's hoping he doesn't say something that she knows he's going to say.

8. I don't think he says it.

9. Love the quarter-second impression of a "media pundit". Love the way he snaps out of it the instant he realizes he's making fun of someone specific he's seen on TV, and he shouldn't "make fun" of people on TV. Conclusion: guy is probably hilarious. Bashcraft, give me this guy's phone number. I'd like to hang out with him if he's ever in Tokyo.

10. Ultimate analysis: Some day, when the old people are all dead, when we're the old people, games will be like movies are now: something everyone is involved in in some degree. Having sex with a woman in order to save your game won't sound silly or ridiculous -- it'll probably be a staple, the stuff life is made of.

11. Conclusion: Will probably read the book.

12. Final thought: Rich though I may be, must find way to get this book for free, experience temporary swell of ego when the voice on the other side of the intercom says "FedEx for Mister Rogers", experience another temporary swell of ego when I retort "That's Rogers-san".

I think the title is a bit misleading - isn't it the other way around?

Aw the never ending fight for video games. Why must they always be branded as a negative part of our society? I hope that in the coming years people see it as a positive addition to a child in the sense that it stimulates parts of their minds that real life can't do.

Might have to pick that good up, very cool.

@tajash: truth

I've been trying to get my mom into the games. Failed.

But she likes watching some time.

She watched be play from beginning to end, Assassin Creed. I was amazed. She cant wait to see AC2.

@tehFluffz: Nope, the title expresses just what their findings showed (although the research also showed that kids that are playing nothing but M-rated games and doing so excessively also see a statistically elevated risk, but I think we all intuited that already, just from encountering those kids on Xbox Live/PSN/the intertubes).

@tehFluffz: Or did you mean the title of their book, and not the title of the Kotaku article?

Imo this is bullshit. Not playing games doesnt make you more aggressive social influences can make you aggressive but that has NOTHING to do with games.

Hell i've gamed my whole life and i was a vey aggressive child. Not because of videogames but because i used to get bullied ALOT. And i was generally unhappy about myself

Sure for a child with those kind of problems escapism is great. But games and aggression? I really dont see a link. And i don't think someone that doesn't know exactly whats going on should bring out his or her findings as truth.

@tehFluffz: It is slightly misleading because it only presents one portion of their findings, but it isn't completely the other way around because there are two extremes.

@108: Um, yeah I suppose if this Harvard guy ever swings by Tokyo he'll want to hang out with whoever has his phone number? Why would Bashcraft have his.. what? Anyway, creepy.

Going over the whole thing again, it is interesting that they tear into other people's methodologies (practising on University students IS quite common, but the professors know the drawbacks of using the demographic that is most easily available to them) so I'm kinda interested in their own procedures, which I'm sure are NOT explained in detail in their book, so maybe I'll have to hunt around in my library (assuming it got published - which if this is a new finding, probably hasn't been yet). I mean, surveys are useful and all, but they have drawbacks too...

This is one of the best thing I have seen all week. I tried to teach my mom to play Gears Of War one time.... Let's just say It did not end well.

@Cchrist: A clarification may be in order here. They never implied that not playing games CAUSES antisocial behavior. They claimed that their research shows, for boys, a correlation between playing no video games and an elevated level of "risk" (however they defined that... from the context, I'm thinking violent/aggressive behavior or getting in trouble with school/police).

There could be a number of explanations for that. Perhaps games serve as a non-harmful release for aggressive feelings or destructive impulses. Perhaps games provide a shared experience to aid in relating to peers. Perhaps one reason young men play games is to fit in with their peers, and so those who don't have strong social connections are less likely to play games, making non-playing an indicator of "risk" if lack of social connections correlates with increased "risk".

There could be a lot of explanations, and exploring the causes of the correlations between non-play and excessive playing of Mature games with negative behaviors could make for illuminating future research.

So true about teaching parents to play games.

I had my mom (who is in her sixties)play thru a couple levels of portal. I think she enjoyed it. I think she had trouble rapping her head around "thinking with portals" but yeah, interesting video.

@Krytha: @108: Um, yeah I suppose if this Harvard guy ever swings by Tokyo he'll want to hang out with whoever has his phone number? Why would Bashcraft have his.. what? Anyway, creepy.

It's called a joke T-T

Also, people who wouldn't want to hang out with me probably don't exist :(

@Cchrist: "Imo this is bullshit. Not playing games doesnt make you more aggressive "

Yeah, see, there You People go again n-- the conclusion of their research was not that playing games makes kids more aggressive, it's that kids who don't play games tend to be more aggressive.

"Tend to be" does not equal "makes", for God's sake.

great video

@Cchrist:

They were saying it showed a social disconnect, not that the act of not playing video games itself had any ill effect.

It's like saying 'he didn't go out much' about a violent person, him not going out wasn't what made him violent but it was an indicator of a social disconnect.

@DireWombat: @108:

What i'm saying is that i don't believe that risk exist. For fucks sake this way you can say that christmas can highten the risk of suicide in young children. Why? Because everyone got the the pokemon or whatever fad is going on right now and they didn't.

Don't even think about telling people that there might be a risk if you're not sure of your findings. Their telling people to not believe what other people are saying about videogame violence and then they come up with nothing more than some bullshit theory. Asif we should believe that.

I remember playing Chip 'N Dale: Rescue Rangers with my mom back in the good old NES days, but haven't really found anything interresting to play with her ever since (besides Wii Sports). Really looking forward to LBP though, as I think that could get her interrested again (she still occasionally asks me if I have any games she would like - I alway have to reply no).

Great video. Must read the book now - any word if/when it's getting to Europe?

Thanks for posting this!

@Dumari:
Do they really need videogames to show that? Isn't the not having any friends or killing too many bugs or letting megatron hump barbie a bit to often a bettr sign than "Oh yeah they say he never did play videogames. What a strange child. What kind of kid doesnt play videogames?" enough?

@Cchrist: They aren't telling you to believe anything. They have done some research, and their findings suggest a trend. That's all it is. They aren't jumping down your throat and telling you how it's going to be from now on. You can accept or reject their theoretical framework if you want, and I believe there is at least some merit to what they are saying. Also, how do you know their theory is bullshit? What is the contrary evidence? You can't call them out and falsely accuse them of doing something, especially when you don't have anything to go on other than "personal experience". Sorry, but it just isn't credible.

I wish this were ran on nightly news or some major news organization.

A victory for rational thinking!! We need to shove this up JT's arse.

Send this to anybody who says games cause violence.

@Krytha: Oh and whats their proof? I'm just saying i think its bullshit because i have never seen any evidence of it. I'm not saying its bullshit i'm saying I THINK it's bullshit. I don't like people just blurting out whatever they think without any evidence to proove their point just because other people might start calling it truth.

Really interesting, Though the part about boys who didn't play being more prone to violence pretty suspect. I'll have to read the book, but while I can see the escapism of games placating people toward violent fantasies I doubt it's by much of a margin.

To say that I was shocked with the results, would be a lie. The social relationships of teenage guys did surprise me a little until I thought about how many people my age I knew who didn't actually engage in gaming. Nice to hear such refreshing information with some solid backing to it. Yay empirical evidence!

Very nice interview and pushed me to want to purchase the book next time I am near a bookstore. My hat is off to the authors. :D

@Cchrist: But... their research is their evidence. Granted, I haven't been able to see their results myself (which I talked about earlier), but it's not like they just showed up at the G4TV or whatever and said "Hey, we think we should send out a public service announcement." They've done enough work on this (or so it appears) that they've formed a valid opinion, so I wouldn't say that they are "just blurting out whatever they think without any evidence to prove their point" as you say...

Once again, from the video-
There were 2 extremes.
First, boys and girls who played large amounts of M rated games + for more than 15 hours a week were statistically linked with social problems.
Second, boys who played NO video games were also statistically linked with social problems.

I don't have a lot to go on here, because that's all you can get out of a 5 minute video clip, and I don't know if both correlations were equally significant, or if one was stronger than the other, but that is their evidence for this theory.

Now, presumably they have found that there is a connection between not playing video games and social issues. So, what would you cite as evidence contrary to that? This doesn't have to be solved immediately by any stretch of the imagination, I'm just saying that they've done some work and they're entitled to at least talk about what they've done.

the biggest truth there is that games don't turn kids into killers lol, which is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard come out of the mouth of those anti-game politicians. The records been there that during the biggest gaming era teen crime has greatly decreased, probably not because of video games but to say teen crimes are increased due to them is being an idiot in every sense of the word. I have no doubt games make people more aggressive though during the period they are playing them, excessive game play can also lead to exclusion from the real world and lead to social problems in school and other places.