- Joined
- Aug 20, 2006
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- 13,000
Apparently, there was a study some years back that claimed FPS games made you a better shooter in real life. I am not sure why it took four years to be discredited, as that idea seems like a stretch once you go past the basic correlation of one simulating certain aspects of the other—the last time I checked, using a mouse and keyboard or controller is, you know, pretty different than shooting a live weapon. I guess there is an argument to make when you introduce the concept of hand-eye coordination, but plenty of things beyond video games affect that.
Essentially, the study argues that players who played a violent video game focusing on headshots with a digital handgun were able to accurately score headshots on mannequins with real handguns afterward. As Retraction Watch notes, though, the study's been under fire since 2015 from Villanova University's Patrick Markey and Malte Elson at Germany's Ruhr University Bochum. Their own findings regarding video game violence run contrary to Bushman's, to the point that Markey has a book coming out in March titled Moral Combat: Why the War on Video Games is Wrong.
Essentially, the study argues that players who played a violent video game focusing on headshots with a digital handgun were able to accurately score headshots on mannequins with real handguns afterward. As Retraction Watch notes, though, the study's been under fire since 2015 from Villanova University's Patrick Markey and Malte Elson at Germany's Ruhr University Bochum. Their own findings regarding video game violence run contrary to Bushman's, to the point that Markey has a book coming out in March titled Moral Combat: Why the War on Video Games is Wrong.