Harvard Phd Vs. About.com over Gaming

MaryAlan writes "I don't know if anyone has noticed this, but About.com's Aaron Stanton is in the middle of a back and forth firefight with Dr. Thompson, a Harvard researcher who recently testified before the U.S. Congress about violent video games. She published a study that listed Pac-Man as being 62% violent. Stanton attacked in an article criticizing her research. Then, Joystiq.com contacted Dr. Thompson and got an interview and a response, published her rebuttal, in which she defends the Pac-Man rating and the study. So today, Stanton attempted to tear the study apart, detailing why it's flawed even though Thompson claims otherwise. On one hand we have an established Harvard Phd, who has testified before the U.S. congress, against a game journalist with a bachelors degree in Psychology. Hmmm..."

Perfect for Slashdot

[dave562]

[flamebait]This is great and something slashdotters can appreciate and relate to. The article has a online journalist with a bachelors degree going up against a Harvard PhD. It reminds me a lot of all of the home users and part time Dreamweaver users (I mean... web "programmers") commenting on the suitability of Linux and Apple products for enterprise wide use.[/flamebait]

PacMan doesn't seem violent

[CrazyJim1]

They must have done secret studies inside the PacMan household and how he treats Ms. PacMan.

The article is 34% interesting

[Rakshasa Taisab]

... or so my study indicates.

Pac-Man violent? We Military types prefer

[WillAffleckUW]

Ms. Pac-Man.

Seriously, during my seven years in uniform, I probably spent way too much money on Ms. Pac-Man. Pac-Man is for civvies, real Army types prefer Ms. Pac-Man.

PacMan 62% violent? I thought it was sexual...

[Marcion]

Some repressed Japanese game desinger I think, it was the 1970s, after all PacMan himself looks a bit like a femine part and the ghosts look like eja... Oh crud, there goes my karma.

Pub > Computer > Slashdot > Troll

Re:Judge the argument, not the person

[__aaclcg7560]

... and Centipede was 97% violent (!).

I confess... Centipede is where I learned to hate bugs and enjoy chasing real bugs with a can of RAID. Not only do I commit pesticide, I also maintain WMD under my kitchen sink. :P

Re:Chess is incredibly violent.

[fimbulvetr]

Just because some watery tart lobbed a scimitar at you doesn't mean you can go around advocating a ban on chess, especially in our autonomous collective.

Necrophobia?

[Travoltus]

Necrophobia - n., the irrational fear of dead things?

Fear leads to hate, folks. Let's stop the hate. Hug your friendly neighborhood ghost, they might be a relative.

Re:The whole argument is moot

[__aaclcg7560]

Three Stooges, Batman and Road Runner TV shows was considered a bad influence as kids would run around screaming and yelling. The solution to that was to introduce sugary cereals that made kids too fat to run around screaming and yelling. Don't worry, be happy that some egghead is finding a solution to video game violence.

I dispute your findings

[TubeSteak]

I dispute your findings.
Mostly because I couldn't read page three of TFA
Page Three [about.com] redirects --> http://nintendo.about.com/?once=true& [about.com]

Obviously, your methodology is critically flawed and I suspect the author of TFA is going to tell the world about your shoddy science too.

Re:The hell?

[dan828]

To pick a nit, she doesn't have a Ph.D., she has a D.Sc., and it's in Public Health. But she does have a point-- what would happen if THE CHILDREN began to eat power-ups and attack ghosts in real life?

Re:Say whaaa?

[Fulcrum of Evil]

The study he *did* in fact rip apart tries to quantize the number of seconds of violence out of the total time

That's such crap - by that measure, Silent Hill is something like 20% violent.

Makes sense now

[ben there...]

Oh, I see. So she understands how video games' chemistry affects the environment.

At first I thought she was totally unqualified to comment on violent video games.

Re:Perfect for Slashdot - Ms. Pac Man

[fahrbot-bot]

I don't really see how Pac Man could EVER be considered in the same violence league as Grand Theft Auto, etc.

Now, Ms. Pac Man is another story - that Bitch with her damn little bow.

Re:Necrophobia?

[dargon]

But it doesn't stop at hate

Fear leads to hate. Hate leads to anger. Anger leads to the Dark Side

Re:Perfect for Slashdot - Ms. Pac Man

[Traiklin]

that's wasn't Ms Pac Man, that WAS Pac Man.

Remember this was back int he 80's, times got hard for Pac Man and he needed to get money, Sequals of the exact samething weren't popular so he had to put on makeup and a bow in order to get people to touch him again.

Re:Chess is incredibly violent.

[808140]

Unless of course you get a simple majority in case of purely internal affairs, which I believe covers chess-banning.

Re:The hell?

[sg_oneill]

Well I dunno. Dexamphetamines can produce psychosis in abuse levels.

"Yes mommy, my grades are now all A++ ARGHHHHH GHOSTS MUST EAT!"

Re:Perfect for Slashdot

[Drooling Iguana]

The guys in GTA just kill people. Pac-Man devours their very souls!

Re:Judge the argument, not the person

[binarybum]

Pacman isn't violent, it's just drug obsessed. You're essentially boiled down to a simple mouth with the single goal of avoiding what can only be your own hallucinations (ghosts?!) while constantly munching down little pills fervently just to stay alive. You're so fucked up that most of these drugs just keep you going, nothing more. However, you're on a quest for the real good stuff, the uppers that let you conquer your darkest demons. Still, even these hi-powered feel good drugs really only serve to drop you even harder when you come down and suddenly you're closer to your fears and problems than ever before. Yeah, pacman is a really loser-junkie if you ask me. Sure he might turn to violent crime eventually to feed his habit, he might even slap Mrs. Pacman around a little bit, but I think that's reading into the game a bit much don't you Mrs. Thompson?

Re:Necrophobia?

[Meccanica]

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT! That is so NOT correct! Let me direct you to this handy flow-chart: Fear -> Anger -> Hate -> Dark Side -> Disfigurement -> ????? -> Profit

Re:Perfect for Slashdot

[Columcille]

Your application for doctoral study was rejected, wasn't it? Be honest now.

Re:The hell?

[TheoMurpse]

But she does have a point-- what would happen if THE CHILDREN began to eat power-ups and attack ghosts in real life?

Don't you mean: what would happen if THE CHILDREN began running around in DARKENED ROOMS eating PILLS while listening to REPETITIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC?!?

Re:The hell?

[Firehed]

Woah there, no need to go insulting the pretzels!

Look at the bright side...

[raehl]

is going to be only one data point

One data point isn't going to make a difference - it's infinitely small. IF this person does two more studies, though, they'll have a data TRIANGLE, and then we'll really be in trouble.

Re:Perfect for Slashdot

[Columcille]

You were rejected from the chess club, weren't you? Be honest now.

Re:Think of the children!

[Filip22012005]

I'm not so sure about that. Did you see the art on the side of that arcade machine in the link you provided? That's some scary shit. In fact, I thought it was pretty violent. I looked at the side of the machine for about a minute, and it was violent the entire minute! 100% violent!

Re:Perfect for Slashdot

[I hate college]

You're right, chasing nerds isn't a sport. Beating the shit out of jocks (now responsible for making sure my fries are piping hot), on the other hand, is.