Think Fast!

The University of Rochester recently conducted a study that showed that FPS gamers make decisions 25% faster than gamers of other genres (as well as perhaps non-gamers; this was not mentioned). Fortunately, accuracy was not sacrificed - FPS gamers got just as many answers right as the opposing group.

This is a great step for FPS games, but it fails to provide an answer to one of the prominent arguments against it - that FPS games promote violence, and increases the chances of violent tendencies. This study only shows that FPS gamers can answer faster than others in a test where only questions with definitive answers are provided. Should the test have included morally ambiguous questions with answers that ranged subtly from pacifist to violent, the results of the study may well have been different.

Don't get me wrong, I'm an advocate of FPS's (even though I don't (have the time to) play them) - I support the results of this study. But someone should look into the real problems that plague shooters, and address them.