Violent video games!

[XemaSab]

I don't game, but I have a lot of friends who game.

Blaming video games for mass murder is ridiculous.

I would guess that for the average young (or not-so-young) person, such games are more a stress release valve than practice for mass murder.

Furthermore, most of these murderers tend to be loners. For most gamers, it's a very social activity, either with real-life friends or with online friends.

In short, I think video games solve more problems than they create.

[earthside]

1. Part of the patina of violence in our country.

There are folks who are as blind to the contribution of blood and carnage video games, gratuitously violent movies and misogynistic music -- just like there are gun nuts who are oblivious to the effect of assault weapons to our violent culture.

The violence in our society is not just the statistical rare mass slaughters like we saw yesterday ... it also manifests itself in the increasing coarseness of our culture and the increasing disrespect towards our fellow human beings. We all see it and most participate: foul, obscene language is common place; aggressive driving behaviors; lack of common courtesy; disregard for basic rules and law; hatred towards elected officials; glorification of the military; acceptance of torture; the list goes on and on.

We need to dial it back if we want a more civil, respectful and less violent society in this country.

[Bicoastal]

3. That's ridiculous. Those things you just mentioned are universal nowadays.

People in Canada play the same video games, watch the same movies, and listen to the same music. And yet Canadian gun massacres don't happen like they happen here.

[earthside]

4. Okay. Then how come here?

Canadians have lots of guns, too.

So, what does contribute to the culture of excessive violence in the United States?

[OhioChick]

2. Most med school students/surgeons game

Surgeons With Video Game Skill Appear To Perform Better In Simulated Surgery Skills Course

In a study involving 12 surgeons and 21 surgical residents, video game skill was correlated with laparoscopic surgery skill as assessed during a simulated surgery skills course, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

James C. Rosser Jr., M.D., of Beth Israel Medical Center, New York, and colleagues asked 33 surgeons (21 residents and 12 attending physicians) about their video game--playing habits, then assessed their performance at the Rosser Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills and Suturing Program, a one-and-a-half day course that scores surgeons on time and errors during simulated surgery drills. During the study, conducted from May through August, 2002, the surgeons also played three video games for 25 minutes while the researchers assessed their gaming skills.

Of the surgeons who participated in the study, 15 reported never playing video games, nine reported playing zero to three hours per week, and nine reported playing more than three hours per week at the height of their video game playing. "Surgeons who had played video games in the past for more than three hours per week made 37 percent fewer errors [in the Top Gun course], were 27 percent faster and scored 42 percent better overall than surgeons who never played video games. Current video game players made 32 percent fewer errors, were 24 percent faster and scored 26 percent better overall than their non-player colleagues," the authors write. Those in the top one-third of video gaming skill made 47 percent fewer errors, performed 39 percent faster and scored 41 percent better on the overall Top Gun score than those in the bottom one-third.

"Training curricula that include video games may help thin the technical interface between surgeons and screen-mediated applications, such as laparoscopic surgery," the authors conclude. "Video games may be a practical teaching tool to help train surgeons."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070220012341.htm