First they came for the VHS tapes. Then they came for Dungeons and Dragons. Now the moral panic merchants are coming for video games, and they sure as hell won't let their lack of knowledge get in the way of a good rant... Fortunately, there are a wealth of arguments to be made in support of gaming and its decades of evolution. Most of us could talk for days about the weird and downright backward assertions we've heard about this much-loved pastime, but even the most understanding of aunts can only offer limited support when a friend turns down a game because the graphics are outdated. To minimise the risk of grimace-induced facial implosions we're limiting ourselves to the ten worst offenders.
10. 'Games Make People Violent'
'Boy Murders Entire Zoo With Toothpicks After Playing VILE Video Game' and other similar headlines are enough to raise anyone's palm faceward after finding it on a national news site. Leaving aside the patently obvious fact that there are a lot of non-violent games out there, these articles also commit a number of cardinal sins against scientific research: they almost always play shamelessly on anecdotes and emotional angles while perhaps knowingly confusing correlation with causation and failing to dismiss any poorly designed studies. Unfortunately the headline 'Millions of Gamers Managed Not To Murder Anyone Today' won't shift newspapers and neither will any in-depth explanations of scientific methodology, so don't hold your breath on editors dropping these unwarranted smear campaigns any time soon.