The true power of video games: Does it matter?

In chapter 10, Nielsen discusses video game related risks by framing them from two contrasting research perspectives, each being grounded in different scientific understandings of how to study the human psyche. While the Active Media perspective gives weight to the media as a force being exerted upon the passive consumer, the Active User perspective focuses its attention on the consumers as being able to interpret and understand the media through their own constructs. In other words, as it pertains to video games, "[the] Active Media perspective looks at what a video game does to a player whereas the Active User perspective is interested in what the players do with the video game" (Nielsen, p. 225).

While some of the more recent studies conducted through the Active Media perspective have found video game violence to be related to problematic behaviors, due to the narrow and limited focus of studies done through this perspective, such results are not entirely sufficient to support the broader claims they attempt to make (Nielsen, pp. 229-231). Furthermore, the results of such studies as conducted through the Active Media perspective have been charged with basing research on unrealistic conditions stemming from a disconnect of the researchers from the actual fields they are attempting to study. More specifically, those who take the Active Media perspective in conducting such video game studies fail to acknowledge the complexity of the players, the video games, and even the concept of measureable aggression (Nielsen, pp. 232-235). The Active User perspective, however, places huge emphasis on the understanding that "players are competent and selective, not just passive recipients of information... agency belongs to the player" (Nielsen, p. 235).

Due to the challenge of understanding human behavior within a given context, such as while playing a video game, the Active User perspective has been less popular in the past than the Active Media perspective. Even in beginning to analyze the potential effects of video game violence on the players, researchers understand that to generalize the results of the few and to apply these conclusions to the masses as one-size-fits-all would be meaningless and wrong. Instead, such researchers attempt to understand the relationship between video games and the players by framing the video game as just another form of media or as a form of play. As such, they have found that players are very much in control of the media they consume in terms of what they choose to play as well how they choose to interpret it. However, it is this very fact that also contributes to the weakness of the Active User perspective as it is understood that video games are interpreted differently by every individual player and thusly, the results of studies conducted from this perspective cannot be generalized.

Ultimately, while it is impossible to draw any concrete conclusions from either approach to understanding video games and their effects on players, we do understand that video games do have some sort of effect on players. After all, it is the job of video game developers to emotionally and psychologically engage its players so as to ensure an immersive gaming experience. I personally believe that playing violent video games can offer aggressive individuals an alternative to releasing their aggressions in real life. Moreover, I believe that video game players who exhibit aggression during video game play are no different than those who act "aggressively" while playing sports or board games. Either way, I agree with the Active User perspective of conducting research in that people will all interpret certain situations differently based on personal context- no two people will understand and interpret a single video game in the same exact manner. How much power does the video game actually exert over its players when placed in the context of media as a whole? Isn't it a bit rash to pursue a better understanding of video games and their effects on players when considering we barely understand the implications of entertainment media in general? What would the results of such studies even imply when considering these circumstances?