Study Shows Aggression From Video Games Linked to "Incompetence"

[seditary]

They should do a study on whether gamers watching other gamers suck at games make them more mad than if they're simply sucking at playing the game themselves cause oh boy.

 

[spartan231490]

None of these studies are ever valid because they never use a valid measure for violent behavior, nor do they every make a long-term comparison.

 

[loa]

If you play 5 minutes of league of legends, you would already know this.
It can turn the most benign person into a raving lunatic.
The "angry video game nerd" has been a stereotype for over a decade now for a reason.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Who keeps paying for all these studies? Seriously?? Also I could've told them that.

 

[Ryengu]

Which also may explain why pretty much every PVP game is rife with ragers jerkwads and griefers. Because there always has to be a loser so someone somewhere is getting that negative feeling of incompetence. It doesn't even have to be the fault of the game, just the player feeling outsmarted and helpless.

 

[RoonMian]

Next they should conduct a study on the effects of LoL's community on the psychology of gamers.

 

[carpathic]

I'd believe this. Despite years of practice I still suck at most video games and get very aggressive when things don't work right.

So there you go, I am halfway to a psychopath and it is ALL the fault of video games!

 

[SilverStuddedSquirre]

I like figuring stuff out. That wouldn't make me aggressive. But then, I'm a science geek with a degree in physics and the only thing that frustrates me is other people's incompetence. If I feel like I'm getting increasingly frustrated I just turn the thing off. I like my peace of mind and clarity of thought.

You know what is more frustrating than sucking at games? Watching other people suck at games. Especially games like Portal.

Oh wow, did you say it. I remember watching that Father struggle through the first couple of Levels of Portal.....Deep Hurting.

@ Iseko. I cannot see any of your answers. I am missing Funny's on ther Internet, my aggressive Nerd Rage is spiralling out of control!

 

[Rad Party God]

This just in! Millions of Dark Souls players rampaging across the nation!

AAARRRGGGHHHHH!, damn ninjas!, right in the VERY first post! >.<'

OT: Yeah, this study is kinda bullshit from where I see it. Big part of the appeal in Dark Souls is figuring out stuff on your own and I don't go out rampaging after a session of Dark Souls.

EDIT: The only thing that might get me incredibly annoyed is lag, especially with my shitty Wi-Fi connection, I'm >this< close to go out on a rampage when I'm playing Guild Wars 2 and BAM!, right to the login screen while I was on the middle of a fight -_-'

 

[Something Amyss]

Tell me about it. I've been playing the Amazing Spider-Man, and the crappy mechanics rile me worse than anything I've ever seen in a shooter or crime game.

I reckon this study won't change their minds, but it's good back-up data nonetheless for when the time comes.

What time, exactly? Just surious.

The problem is, I doubt any of these studies will change the minds of anyone on either side, and I doubt those who are undecided in this case make much of a difference. I mean, I find it interesting, but I don't know if there's any use to the study.

This is propably why I like "Super Meat Boy", but loathe "I Wanna Be The Guy".
In both games, you fully understand the controls, but in SMB, you also fully understand the gameworld. Every time you fail, it's something you see coming and just failed to counter.
In IWBTG, you can never see a death coming the first time. You can't blame yourself for failure, so you blame the game design. I know it kind of the point of IWBTG, I just don't like it, and if it wasn't such an elaborate joke game, these mechanics wouldn't be as well received.

Indeed, IWTBTG seems to have its roots in the classic game with wonky controls and "unfair": surprises designed to separate you from your tokens. Which persisted outside of the arcade. SMB, on the other hands, is retro in a lot of sense, but tight controls and relatively straightforward gameplay has gone a somewhat different route. And in SMB, you at least get the comfort of knowing if you fail, it's likely because you screwed up.

 

[UNHchabo]

Who keeps paying for all these studies? Seriously?? Also I could've told them that.

Because in scientific study, nothing is ever a given until you can test it. Not even "common sense" stuff.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I reckon this study won't change their minds, but it's good back-up data nonetheless for when the time comes.

What time, exactly? Just surious.

Whenever by some mind boggling fluke a serious case gets made to create a law against violent games.

Not that it ever will, but you never can be too certain. It happened to comic books once.

 

[Steve the Pocket]

I'm curious about this alleged "tutorial". Half-Life 2 (like most modern games) doesn't even have a tutorial; it uses button prompts to show players what controls do what, and lets them figure out the rest on their own. Even if you modded out those prompts, not knowing which button is "pick up that can and put it in the bin/throw it at the Combine officer" can only frustrate you for the 30 seconds it takes you to figure it out from trial and error.

They should do a study on whether gamers watching other gamers suck at games make them more mad than if they're simply sucking at playing the game themselves cause oh boy.

I know exactly whose videos they should use for this study, but her name escapes me at the moment.

 

[Risingblade]

Maybe these guys should look at what soccer does to people...

 

[dyre]

Ah, the Escapist. We all love science until it potentially challenges things we care about, eh? And of course, our own personal opinions and "common sense" trump the scientific method...why do people even bother doing studies of anything when we can just use anecdotes?!

Surely we should replace the researchers at the University of Oxford with the brilliant minds of this illustrious gaming site!

OT: Can't say for sure as I'm not about to pay $12 for the study, but it seems like the methodology they used for isolating frustration and violence separately is sound. As they say, this is only a study on short term effects related to frustration in gaming.

Wanna know something else that causes increased feelings of violence and aggression? Sports!
Out of all the studies performed on video games and aggression, I've yet to see a comparison to physical exertion and competition in sports, which I think is a far more relevant analogy to make than just making references to violent content.
Sports can turn people rabid, as is regularly seen in sports-related riots across the globe.
Yet, I see no politicians lobbying for protecting our children from phys.ed. :/

Why would you expect to see a comparison of sports and aggression in a study about video games and aggression??

 

[TwiZtah]

So, noobs will rage, something we already know and have for a long time.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Who keeps paying for all these studies? Seriously?? Also I could've told them that.

Because in scientific study, nothing is ever a given until you can test it. Not even "common sense" stuff.

That still doesn't explain who the hell keeps giving out the grants to perform all these studies.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

i can personally attest to getting aggressive from not the violence of a game, but the incompetent and frustrated feeling that comes about from either poor controls or poor execution. i remember kicking a hole in my wall once playing GTA on the PSP because how frustrating it was.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Gaming can make you frustrated. We all get frustrated when we have to do the same section again and again due to dying. But frustration in failing is different to getting angry and attacking others. Most i get is swearing or whatever, but i wouldnt attack some one else because of a game.

 

[1337mokro]

Oh yes... people have suffered when I played a bad game... I still remember it. The mile long health bars. The 4 on 1 boss fights. The fucking shielding that you had to wait for before you could shoot! The mandatory slow equipment that meant you couldn't dodge enemy fire! The GODDAMNED auto aim fucking up my accuracy!!! THE HOURS I SPENT GRINDING AWAY AT THE HEALTH ONLY TO FUCKING RUN OUT OF LIFE ON THE LAST BOSS!!! FUCK THIS GAME!!! MUST KILL!!! EXTERMINATE DEVELOPERS!!!! EXTERMINATE!!!! EXTERMINATE!!!!

Nothing pisses you off more than a bug that crashes your game before you save, bad mechanics that create fake difficulty or the game never telling you what it expects of you.