Blazing Angels or Resident Evil? Can Violent Video Games be a Force for Good?

Abstract

Violent video games have been a source of controversy in the United States and elsewhere for several decades. Considerable concern has been raised in the public and scientific communities about the alleged deleterious effects of violent games. These concerns may coincide with periodic moral panics about media's influence, particularly on youth. This paper argues that the negative effects of violent games have been exaggerated by some elements of the scientific community, fitting with past cycles of media-focused moral panics. By contrast, potential positive effects of violent video game play have been ignored in the debate on violent games. The current paper considers research in several areas, including aggression, but also the nascent research fields of visuospatial cognition, social networking, and use as educational tools. It is argued that the debate on video game violence should be broadened to include both potential negative and positive effects.