Here’s a refreshing change of pace: violent video games being credited with doing something good for once.

One thing that has had police in the US baffled for years is the steady and in fact surprisingly rapid drop in crime over the last twenty years. Just as an example, it was recently shown that car theft had dropped to 1967 levels.
There aren’t that many explanations that make sense, but one possible contributing factor: violent video games.

How? While the researchers don’t dispute the findings that say video games make players more aggressive in a laboratory environment, they point out two pretty important facts: first, that the world isn’t a laboratory environment, and second, if you’re inside playing video games, you’re not outside burning cars and beating up people.

It may be a minor contribution, but it’s just nice to see it acknowledged that 99% of gamers aren’t homicidal maniacs for once.

[ via the serene gentlemen at Kotaku ]