Driving Pisses People Off. Shocker!
March 31, 2009 by Amy Tucker
Filed under Gaming
It’s not the first person shooters that piss people off, it’s the driving games.
That’s what Dr Simon Goodson and Sarah Pearson from Huddersfield University will be saying in their presentation tomorrow [tomorrow for me anyway] at the British Psychological Society’s Annual Conference.
There’s been other research that kinda sorta maybe showed that shooters caused aggression but those studies are a bit old and the variety of games wasn’t exactly extensive. This study used the Xbox 360, a FPS, Project Gotham Racing, and a 3D table tennis game.
30 people [18 to 45] played the games and “changes in their physical responses (EEG, breathing and heart rate) and mental responses (aggression) [were measured] before and after playing.”
And, guess what?
The FPS showed the smallest change.
According to Dr Goodson and Sarah Pearson:
Previous researchers have made sweeping generalizations about the nature of video games. This study is one of the first to use one of the latest games consoles that have a much higher level of realism. Surprisingly the results showed that the driving game made participants more agitated and aggressive than the game with graphic violence. Given the high levels of realism in modern games a re-evaluation of the relationship between video games and violence is needed.
Now…put down the driving game…put in a FPS…and shoot somethin’!
Image|PhotoDu.de
