SIMULATORS AND VIDEO GAMES
> A new movie-like simulator is now being used to assist in training
> military personnel in the US. This is controversial because it seems
> to prove that children who watch violent media may also become
> conditioned to accept and perpetrate violence.
> http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/10/02/fp2s2-csm.shtml
>
> This article features a more detailed description of the same
> simulator mentioned above, as well as the military-produced video game
> Real War, which was completed before Sept. 11 but centers around a
> terrorist cell attacking the US. New recruits train by participating
> in the virtual "war on terrorism" that guides the plot of the game.
> http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/ptech/11/22/war.games/?related
>
> The popular internet game Doom was modified by the US Marines to help
> train their troops, although military superiors insist that games can
> never replace field training.
> http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/5.04/ff_doom_pr.html
>
> In Britain the popular game Half-Life was similarly modified. When
> tested on real soldiers, Major Bruce Pennell of the Royal Logistic
> Corps noted: "The soldiers became psychologically immersed in what
> they were doing; there was no laughing and they behaved as if on a
> real operation."
> http://www.9-11peace.org/r2.php3?r=103
>
> A new video game, based on the existing Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six:
> Rogue Spear, will be used by the US military to train troops to fight
> terrorists in urban terrain.
> http://www.9-11peace.org/r2.php3?r=104

PART TWO:

Col. Dave Grossman believes that returning veterans are lesslikely to engage in violent acts than civilians, despite the psychological effects of war, because of the discipline learned while in service. However, he also cautions that "with the advent ofinteractive 'point-and-shoot' arcade and video games there is significant concern that society is aping military conditioning, but without the vital safeguard of discipline. There is strong evidence to indicate that the indiscriminate civilian application of combat conditioning techniques as entertainment may be a key factor in worldwide, skyrocketing violent crime rates, including a sevenfold increase in per capita aggravated assaults in America since 1956."
 

LoPiccolo, Phil. Editor-in-Chief, Computer Graphics World, Vol 23, Issue7, July 2000

From the FTC youth violence report http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/09/pitoftestst.htm

Trigger Happy : Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution by Steven Poole

Videogames first came on the market thirty years ago as a marginal technological curiosity. Now they are virtually everywhere. Videogame sales have equaled movie sales. They are played by more adults than children, and game design can even be studied in college. Yet videogames are still often viewed as a minor form of entertainment, at best shallow, or at worst harmful. Now, Steven Poole argues that videogames are a nascent art for on track to supersede movies as the most popular and innovative form of entertainment in the new century.

From the gaming industry:

http://pocket.ign.com/news/31324.html
http://gamecenter.com/News/Item/0,3,0-5225,00.html