John Carmack Believes in Gaming Catharsis

Gaming has been held up in the last few years, by a number of influential people from academics to politicians, as one of the main causes for a number of violent incidents, implicated in anything from the Columbine shootings to the recent assault in Norway.

But at least one leading video game developer believes that video games are actually serving as an outlet for repressed violence and, if anything, they might be reducing the need to express it socially.

John Carmack, who is one of the executives working at id Software and one of the founders of the company, has told IndustryGamers that, “I really think, if anything, there is more evidence to show that the violent games reduce aggression and violence. There have actually been some studies about that, that it’s cathartic.”

He added, “If you go to QuakeCon and you walk by and you see the people there a random cross section of a college campus, you’re probably going to find a more peaceful crowd of people at the gaming convention. I think it’s at worst neutral and potentially positive.”

The debate over violent video games and their impact on gamers and especially on children is far from being over.

Those who blame video games for violent tendencies are saying that being constantly exposed to virtual gore and being allowed to express otherwise repressed tendencies makes young people more ready to become violent in real life.

Those who defend gaming are saying that they are being transformed into a scapegoat for the evils of society, as comics and television have been before, and that there are no conclusive studies showing any link between violent gaming and real life actions.

At the moment id Software is preparing the launch of RAGE, their latest first-person shooter, which is being created using a whole new game engine, with the launch date set for October 4 in North America.