Table Of ContentThe Video Game debaTe
Do video games cause violent, aggressive behavior? Can online games help us
learn? When it comes to video games, these are often the types of questions
raised by popular media, policy makers, scholars, and the general public. In this
collection, international experts review the latest research findings in the field
of digital game studies and weigh in on the actual physical, social, and psycho-
logical effects of video games. Taking a broad view of the industry from the
moral panic of its early days up to recent controversies surrounding games
like Grand Theft Auto, contributors explore the effects of games through a range
of topics including health hazards/benefits, education, violence and aggression,
addiction, cognitive performance, and gaming communities. Interdisciplinary
and accessibly written, The Video Game Debate reveals that the arguments
surrounding the game industry are far from black and white, and opens the
door to richer conversation and debate amongst students, policy makers, and
scholars alike.
Rachel Kowert received her PhD in Psychology from the University of
York (UK), where her research focused on the relationships between social
competence and online video game involvement.
Thorsten Quandt holds the chair of Online Communication at the University
of Münster (Germany) and is a distinguished scientist with extensive experience
in digital games research.
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The Video
Game debaTe
Unravelling the Physical,
Social, and Psychological
Effects of Digital Games
Edited by Rachel Kowert
and Thorsten Quandt
First published 2016
by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2016 Taylor & Francis
The right of the editors to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and
of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known
or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
The video game debate : unravelling the physical, social, and psychological effects
of digital games / edited by Rachel Kowert and Thorsten Quandt.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Video games—History. 2. Video games—Social aspects. 3. Video
games—Psychological aspects. I. Kowert, Rachel. II. Quandt, Thorsten.
GV1469.3.V5225 2015
794.809—dc23 2015013347
ISBN: 978-1-138-83160-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-83163-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-73649-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Bembo
by Keystroke, Station Road, Codsall, Wolverhampton
CoNTeNTS
Acknowledgments vii
1 A Brief History of Video Games 1
James D. Ivory
2 The Rise (and Refinement) of Moral Panic 22
Nicholas D. Bowman
3 Are Electronic Games Health Hazards or Health Promoters? 39
Cheryl K. Olson
4 The Influence of Digital Games on Aggression
and Violent Crime 54
Mark Coulson and Christopher J. Ferguson
5 Gaming Addiction and Internet Gaming Disorder 74
Mark D. Griffiths
6 Social Outcomes: Online Game Play, Social Currency,
and Social Ability 94
Rachel Kowert
7 Debating How to Learn From Video Games 116
John L. Sherry
vi Contents
8 Video Games and Cognitive Performance 131
Gillian Dale and C. Shawn Green
9 Exploring Gaming Communities 153
Frans Mäyrä
10 No Black and White in Video Game Land! Why We
Need to Move Beyond Simple Explanations in
the Video Game Debate 176
Thorsten Quandt and Rachel Kowert
Contributors 190
Index 193
aCKNoWLedGmeNTS
The editors would like to give special thanks to all of the authors who
contributed to this volume. For almost a decade, we have wanted to create a
volume that collates the latest research in game studies. Our primary aim
was to produce a book that could be used to inform parents, policy makers,
clinicians, and other scholars about the state of research within the field. The
Video Game Debate has achieved that goal. We thank you for your hard work in
helping bring this dream to reality.
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1
a bRieF hiSToRY oF
Video GameS
James D. Ivory
Evolutionary biologists use a term called “convergent evolution” to explain the
existence of similar traits in living organisms that are otherwise markedly
different and only distantly related.1 For example, similarities between the body
types of fish, marine mammals such as dolphins and whales, and the extinct
ichthyosaur may give the impression that these animals share a similar biological
class even though other less superficial characteristics of these animals clearly
identify them as members of separate animal classes. Similarly, bats may seem
more closely related to birds than to other mammals because of their shared
wings and ability to fly even though bats have little else in common with birds,
including the anatomical location of their wings (bats’ wings are essentially long
webbed fingers, while the feathers of birds’ wings are attached to the equivalent
of the forearm and wrist). In these and other examples, it is all too easy to
misperceive beasts that have little in common as part of one family.
So it is with video games. The social, cultural, and economic presence of
video games is so overwhelming in the electronic media milieu, and the term
“video game” is so often used as a talismanic catch-all for nearly any form of
interactive digital entertainment, that it is easy to assume that the technological
and social developments leading to what we now call “video games” are not
composed of a single evolutionary pathway. Instead, the video games of today
represent a convergence of substantially different trajectories of technological
developments providing discrepant forms of entertainment to audiences with
different needs. The result is a medium that is very diverse in its functions,
content, and audiences – so diverse, in fact, that like birds and bats or dolphins
and fish, many shared characteristics among some video games may be only
superficial. Just as organisms described as examples of convergent evolution are
very different creatures who seem more similar than they are because of a shared
