The Washington Post looks at the results of a new study on violent games in the March issue of Psychological Bulletin, a journal of the American Psychological Association. The new study, conducted by psychologist Craig Anderson of Iowa State University and his team, is actually a study of previous research, and the article says: "the new research found that exposure to violent video games was associated with aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition and aggressive 'affect.' It desensitizes users and is associated with lack of empathy and a lack of 'prosocial' behavior." Interestingly, the new study claims to correct some of the "selection bias" in the previous studies, while: "In an accompanying commentary, Christopher Ferguson and John Kilburn of the department of behavioral applied science and criminal justice at Texas A&M International University note flaws in Anderson's analysis, including what they say is his own selection bias." Here's how that commentary concludes:

Although it is certainly true that few researchers suggest that VVGs [violent video games] are the sole cause of violence, this does not mean they cannot be wrong about VVGs having any meaningful effect at all. Psychology, too often, has lost its ability to put the weak (if any) effects found for VVGs on aggression into a proper perspective. In doing so, it does more to misinform than inform public debates on this issue.