For a more up-to-date paper on the poor nature of much of the media-violence research on video games, here’s a meta-analysis that’s worth checking out: http://www.sfu.ca/media-lab/archive/2010/320/320%20readings/Ferguson%20violence.pdf

The document you link does certainly not debunk the link between media violence and real violence, and what debunking it does is to show that conclusive findings in this area based on research are very difficult due to the pervasive nature of violent behavioral modeling in entertainment. You cannot isolate and you cannot use any control groups. You’d have to compare current violent attitudes to those of a century ago, and then account for other factors.

I’m a World of Warcraft player. It is a fact that 99% of problems in WoW that the player faces are solved through violence. It is also a fact that there is much verbal aggression and overall assholeness in the game. Although I link the latter more to the nature of a competition-based, achievement-oriented game in which there are winners and losers and game enjoyment is considered less important than being the best or having the most. Such attitudes produce feelings of superiority which result in “noob bashing” and the like. And a lot of intolerance and impatience.

I don’t really see how a game like WoW can put an end to war. Sure there is a lot of socializing going on and you can meet people from all over Europe (in my case). But the WoW player base is a sorry reflection of real world attitudes. If WoW can put an end to war, it better start showing that it can put an end to meanness, intolerance and assholeness within its own realm of influence. Thus far, it has produced the opposite.

Whether that has to do with modeling violence as a potent problem solver… I believe those effects are more pervasive throughout society. It is not only the media that teaches this, but also our governments and our businesses. Governments use military violence and businesses use legal violence when they are at war with each other. Still, these are controlled forms of violence. Only the entertainment industry can teach you that regular uncontrolled violence is a good way to solve problems, as well as bombard you with those messages day in and day out.

” Games could help end war”

Wtf? Really? Only an utter wide eyed, out of touch optimist or a man being paid by video game publishers would have the audacity (and stupidty) to claim that.