Science says: FPS players enjoy getting shot

by Kyle Orland { Feb 25th 2008 at 2:30PM }

Intuitively, winning at a video game should be more fun than losing, right? Thankfully, science is around to show us exactly how our intuition is totally wrong. According to a study in the February issue of science journal Emotion, "the wounding and death of the player's own character may increase some aspect of positive emotion."

The Helsinki-based study, which looked at 36 young-adults playing James Bond 007: Nightfire, found that getting hurt and killed in the game "elicited an increase in SCL and zygomatic and orbicularis oculi EMG activity and a decrease in corrugator activity" -- in layman's terms, it made the players less anxious. Even more interestingly, the study found that "wounding and killing the opponent may elicit high-arousal negative affect (anxiety)."

The study also found that students that scored higher on a common test for "psychoticism" experienced less anxiety when shooting opponents. So the next time you enjoy fragging an opponent in Halo 3, remember ... there is a good chance you are psychotic!

[Via GameCritics. Photo Credit]

Tags: emotion, helsinki, James Bond, JamesBond, Nightfire, science, science-says, study, violence

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

nerrrrrrd @ Feb 25th 2008 2:37PM

The test subjects were enjoyed being shot because they were hoping it ment they didn't have to play that crap game any more. I think most of the damage was self inflicted.

JPN @ Feb 25th 2008 2:41PM

Damn, someone beat me to the obligatory "Nightfire sucks thats why" comment.

nerrrrrrd @ Feb 25th 2008 2:59PM

Yes, I typed it out as fast as I could hoping to be the first.

Arteen @ Feb 25th 2008 4:24PM

I enjoyed Nightfire. :(

Raikage (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 25th 2008 2:40PM

More often than not I enjoy blowing myself up and possibly taking someone with me rather than doing what the game wants me to.

Knifing a Warhawk FTW?

FidliousWong @ Feb 25th 2008 3:01PM

Damn you, now that I've told you about those glorious moments, you can't let it go, can you. Oh well, I'm off to place mines on my Warhawk.

Grey Acumen @ Feb 25th 2008 4:06PM

Don't forget that when you get shot in the game YOU DON'T F-ING GET HURT IRL!!! Maybe that sense of invulnerability is what elicits positive responses HMMM?

Seriously, scientific studies don't do a bit of good when the scientists don't have any brains.

Mills and Boom @ Feb 25th 2008 2:41PM

All the people I play against on TF2 must enjoy getting shot, why else would they keep doing it?

Zertoss @ Feb 25th 2008 3:46PM

TF2 DID do a good job of making it incredibly fun to get shot, be set on fire, and get stabbed in the back.

I particularly enjoy the servers that have party balloons and cheers that go along with the wanton destruction. It's like some kind of twisted masochist's birthday party.

Mills and Boom @ Feb 25th 2008 6:03PM

LOL yea my preferred server did that over New Years. Oh the barrels of fun. I think I stayed up till 7am after a new years party just playing TF2.

Shi-it I love that game.

Cameron @ Feb 25th 2008 2:42PM

Absolutely ridiculous. In a social event sure, but if you're playing in a tournament getting shot is not going to make you happy. This test should have been done at a Quake or Counter Strike tournament.

DangerMouse @ Feb 25th 2008 3:27PM

I think it's talking about anxiety, in the sense that it's a negative feeling. Like in counter-strike, every teammate is dead, and it's you against five others. That's when the tension starts to set in, because the chances of winning are pretty slim, unless you're one-three-three-seven. When that happens to me, i feel get tense, more aware of my surroundings (in the game), and it becomes more about survival (or winning). When i'm dead, yeah, i'm less anxious, because i'm just sitting there waiting for the next round to start.

I'm probably wrong, since i based my conclusion on counter-strike, rather than the bond game, since i've never played it. I don't like to lose, but i know it's a game, and usually don't stress out when i lose. If i do, i quit the game.

Bluebrake @ Feb 25th 2008 3:43PM

Why exactly would they do this at a tournament? 99.99% of people are playing these games outside of a tournament setting.

Brian Fantana @ Feb 25th 2008 3:46PM

I believe it. When I played in a league for Ghost Recon and R6: 3. It sucked being the last one alive on your team. My anxiety went through the roof when that happened.

Marty @ Feb 25th 2008 2:43PM

If there's anything in games that makes me cringe, it's when I'm playing an FPS and I get shot in the back from an enemy I didn't see. I don't enjoy it at all.

Bryan @ Feb 25th 2008 3:03PM

What I hate is shooting someone from behind and them not dying, and they turn around and kill me. I should get some kind of "they didn't see you so you do some kind of stun damage or something" damage bonus.

>:(

In TF2 however, all I play is spy, if I miss that backstab, it's my own damn fault.

In relation to the article, what the hell kind of people did they round up for that test? I sure as hell don't enjoy getting shot at or dying in a game. I'd rather stay alive as long as I can.

Mr.ESC @ Feb 25th 2008 6:22PM

"If there's anything in games that makes me cringe, it's when I'm playing an FPS and I get shot in the back from an enemy I didn't see. I don't enjoy it at all".

If you were playing the Frontlines demo last night, that was me.By the other hand now I know the sniper rifle works.

Wonderflex @ Feb 25th 2008 2:48PM

I was just thinking about this subject last night and I totally agree with this article on some points. Here is what brought up the thinking last night: I'm playing Call of Duty 4 and I just got my 6th kill in a row, and I really want one more so I can call in a helicopter. I noticed that I suddenly tensed up and became axious for it. I was a whole lot more focused, and a little worried about getting shot from out of nowhere (I was playing Countdown). Then somebody spins around the knifes me in the back. Now I'm not anxious anymore. I'm glad that it's over with and I start to build back up the anticipation.

As for the psycho part - yeah, that's not true at all.

Worst Review Ever @ Feb 25th 2008 3:02PM

Dude, I was just about to type the same thing before I read your post. Word.

Jamison Hyatt @ Feb 25th 2008 4:06PM

I was going to write the EXACT same thing...as you kill someone and continue playing, you get more focused and more anxious, and then when you die you relax a little, grab a drink of water, spectate, etc.

This study completely makes sense, but it's being taken out of context to illustrate whatever point the authors would like to conclude...

Dictatorship @ Feb 25th 2008 3:21PM

Mmyess. Anxiety can make you lose in the end, not to mention the "nerd rage" that affects gamers and unfortunately me. In these kind of games it's better to just have fun and not think of what you want to do, or else you'll fail in the end.

But damn, those CoD4 challenges are as addictive as M$ achievements! I don't want to see them because they might break my concentration and make me get killed more than I kill.

Mr.ESC @ Feb 25th 2008 6:31PM

I agree 100% Dictatorship.

Anxiety can really make you lose. I was about to get stepping' razor when someone killed me, I failed to get that last kill, yeah the anxiety was over but then a huge feeling of disappointment invade me so I stop playing. I have tried and failed several times but I never got it.

The funny thing is that some hard achievements just happen if you play long enough. Seriously I have done a lot of hard multiplayer achievement without even trying, is really weird.

bcklenz @ Feb 25th 2008 2:50PM

As journalists, can you please not automatically draw ridiculous conclusions to scientific studies.

"So the next time you enjoy fragging an opponent in Halo 3, remember ... there is a good chance you are psychotic!"

I'm sure the research article never intended this to be the conclusion that people would draw from this study. In fact, if anything, the article suggests that humans feel somewhat bad about shooting others in games. To me, this shows that there is still a subconscious part of our minds reacting negatively to killing people. With media spouting anti-videogame rhetoric, research articles like this add to a growing body of scientific data that demonstrates that videogames don't increase the likelihood of people to commit crimes.

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 25th 2008 3:15PM

Hi, welcome to the blogosphere, the land of pseudojournalists. Here's your sign.

Kamizar @ Feb 25th 2008 6:30PM

Welcome to Joystiq, seems like you can't tell when some one is making an obvious joke, next time look at those italics a bit more...

Kyle Orland @ Feb 25th 2008 8:18PM

Guys... I meant that as obviously sarcastic. I thought the italics made it pretty obvious.

bcklenz @ Feb 25th 2008 11:43PM

Yeah. Actually I didn't even look at the italics. Sorry about that Kyle.

Liam @ Feb 25th 2008 2:53PM

Tell that to this kid;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43g2_-vqMo0

ssuk @ Feb 25th 2008 2:54PM

I think anyone who's actually been shot will say this experiment is a load of shit.

The Sound @ Feb 25th 2008 2:56PM

Tell that to my girlfriend as I shouted all the vulgar words I knew when I kept getting sniped in a game of warhawk.

Chris @ Feb 25th 2008 3:41PM

Let me translate your post for you:

"I have a girlfriend! Yea!"

ThornedVenom (Ludwig Defense Force) @ Feb 25th 2008 4:47PM

+1 penis points

Soulcrux42 @ Feb 26th 2008 1:48AM

Yeah...
There was no necessary reason to put "tell that to my girlfriend..." the rest would have been fine.

Jamesology @ Feb 25th 2008 2:56PM

Who did these scientist test Noobs, idiots, the Mentally retarded? Why would anyone want to get shot? Then you have to wait to respawn in some games or get nothing at all (ie: Exp or XP). I believe that human like to kill each other and not be killed by each other. Hence all the homicides occurring in our society.

First they say that video games started all these shooting at schools now they say that video make kids want to get shot at. WOW SMRT! Just like the egg study; first eggs are good, then eggs are bad, then again eggs are good, again bad, now eggs are good but only the whites; what's next? Only the yolk? Maybe the shell? Maybe if we just imagine we eating the eggs we might evolve into these super humans and have a system creating Omega 3-6-9 fatty acids.

CJJB @ Feb 25th 2008 2:59PM

Yes turns out now all gamers are pain loving gimps now eh?

Wheres my whips and chains...

Crono (NDF - Knight of the Old School) @ Feb 25th 2008 3:03PM

I think the calming effect on dying is related to the fact that usually you're experiencing lots of stress trying to keep your character alive, especially in tough battle, and dying is actually a relief of that stress.

Tiptup300 @ Feb 25th 2008 3:47PM

To distort the results the participants had to eat food while playing. Which means that dieing is one of those "YES" moments.

bcklenz @ Feb 25th 2008 4:42PM

Exactly. Nicely put.

Kujel @ Feb 25th 2008 3:05PM

This research is full of shit, shooting someone in a game doesn't make you a psychopath, getting shot isn't fun either. Reading shit like this is what makes people go and shoot dumb ass scientists who don't know what the shit they are talking about.

cxm @ Feb 25th 2008 3:06PM

Well, it does sort of make a type of sense, though I don't think what they're saying equates to "getting shot = feeling good, shooting other = feeling bad".

If you're actively playing an FPS, you will, of course, have a certain level of anxiety since you're in a competitive mode. Getting killed takes you out of that mode, temporarily, since you aren't afraid of getting killed...you're already dead. Getting killed is a sort of break from the tension.

Shooting others increases the tension because with every kill, you feel like you're doing better. Along with this feeling is the need to keep it up, which simply increases your fear of getting killed.

Microswirl @ Feb 25th 2008 3:07PM

I play Gears of War
for the blood and the gore
I couldn't care less about winning

A chainsaw is the best
for that sweet embrace of death
even if it leaves me open to sniping

Bryant @ Feb 25th 2008 3:09PM

"it made the players less anxious"

Well no sh*t sherlock.

Alex @ Feb 25th 2008 3:12PM

I think the fact that they were playing James Bond NightFire might of effected the results, I mean you would be happy when you lose in that game cause the game sucks so much you just hope it's over.

Intentless @ Feb 25th 2008 3:12PM

When you die you are no longer "anxious" about dieing and get to restart... Stress is lowered... When you take someone out your stress increases because for everytime you kill someone you statistically raise the likeliness of getting killed yourself. Not to mention you draw attention to yourself from other players and the team mates of the individual you killed...

Joe P @ Feb 25th 2008 3:17PM

Exactly, I was just about to say that. When you die there is a release of stress because you know for a few seconds you're out of the game and you don't have to worry, and you'll be reset in a (usually) safe location. When you kill people, the more you kill the more chance you have of being noticed and killed yourself, and that raises your tension.

I don't think it's so much that people like getting shot, it's the fact that by getting shot you release a certain amount of anxiety, and that's what the scientists found.

Intentless @ Feb 25th 2008 3:21PM

But in no way do I enjoy being killed... There is a difference which I want to argue that they state we enjoy or own injuries and death more than getting a kill.. Granted as an aside I am a maschicist and enjoy the aspect of pain being inflicted upon me... Physical pain... It does not in anyway reflect to my gaming...

They are confusing lack of stress with enjoyment... Most studies I've heard of speak the other way... You get more enjoyment normally from high stress situations than low stress or releasing stress...

Korova @ Feb 25th 2008 3:14PM

Oh, noes, its Science Says! I hate that game. And the host, Captain Obvious, is lame.

sam_nub @ Feb 25th 2008 3:15PM

It's not that the player wants to get killed, its that after they DO get killed, the don't need to worry about being killed again at the moment, which probably accounts for the lack of anxiety. The jump in anxiety experienced when you kill someone else is probably connected to some kind of desire that involves not breaking your kill count for that life, preventing you from the oh-so-lovely killing spree.

Mr. Cantu @ Feb 25th 2008 3:16PM

It's funny. I remember a similar finding with gambling. I can't remember what they had the test subjects playing, I think it was slot machines, and the results showed that they felt better about losing than winning. Why? They said that the gamblers felt better about losing because losing meant they lost money/were still not rich and thus had an excuse to play again.