ECA on Violent Game Study: 'We Remain Wanting'

The Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) today responded to a recent study connecting violent video games to violent behavior, saying that the authors of the report are deliberately focusing on video games in order to sensationalize the issue.

The study, performed by Iowa State University and published in the journal Pediatrics, claims that children became more aggressive after playing violent video games.

ECA president Hal Halpin responded in this release to the media:

For the better part of the past decade we--game consumers, makers, sellers and creators--have been waiting for the results of an unbiased, longitudinal and comprehensive study to be done which will inform us about the potential harmful effects of entertainment products on our children. Unfortunately, with the report published in the latest issue of Pediatrics, we remain wanting.

One of the ways in which our stance is likely very different from others in the discussion on the subject is that the ECA would encourage more and better research on the matter. The problem has been, and apparently continues to be, that the agenda of the researchers supersedes our want and need for inclusiveness of all media--not just games--for the overtly sensationalistic spin that will inevitably be employed--to the exclusion of music and movies. We remain optimistic that longitudinal research that is truly comprehensive, objective and inclusive will be performed and shared, but sadly that day has not yet come.