Researchers at the University of Connecticut and Wake Forest University claim that when players fight against human-looking opponents, those players become more aggressive. They even go so far as to say that games with these types of opponents in them may be more likely to provoke violent thoughts and words than games where monsters are the enemy.

New Jersey Senators Raymond Lesniak and M. Teresa Ruiz - both Democrats - have managed to push a proposal (bill S-2715) through the Senate. The bill commissions the New Jersey Department of Education to create a pamphlet that would provide information for parents about violent media. The proposal was part of Senate Democrats' gun safety plan. According to PolitikerNJ, the proposal has passed the Senate by a vote of 36-0 and is heading to the Assembly.

Government Security News offers an interesting story on a recent speech given by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, who you may recall is the man associated with "Killology" and the man who often refers to first-person shooter video games as "murder simulators." No doubt emboldened by recent shootings in the United States, Grossman is probably finding it easier to spread his anti-video game message.

The murder trial of Chris Harris from Arminton, Illinois began earlier this month in Peoria, Illinois. Harris is accused of murdering Rick and Ruth Gee and three of their children with a tire iron in the family’s Beason home in late September 2009. One of the children, a three-year-old girl, survived the attack. Prosecutors laid out what happened after brothers Chris and Jason Harris, intoxicated from a night of drinking and doing cocaine visited the Gee home in search of marijuana.

In a blog post republished on Gamasutra, Barbara Jones (a shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s Corporate and Securities practice group, a member of the Global practice group and the Emerging Technologies Team, and co-coordinator of the firm’s Conflict Minerals Compliance Initiative) discusses the video game industry's compliance with the Securities and Exchange Commission's new conflict minerals rules.

According to Tech in Asia, on April 3rd, an 18-year-old walked into an internet cafe in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and stabbed an older gentleman to death with a watermelon knife in full view of the other patrons who, according to the news report, did little to nothing in response.

Former CNN host Campbell Brown was a guest on MSNBC's Morning Joe program yesterday, where she suggested that President Barack Obama would have a better shot at passing gun control laws in the United States if he would stop singling out the Nation Rifle Association and put some of the focus on the violent content created by Hollywood and the video game industry.

Brown has written several op-ed pieces about the issue in publications like the Daily Beast and - most recently - the Wall Street Journal.

You can watch her appearance to below.

Earlier in the week Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA.) penned an editorial over at Politico that takes aim at parenting and deflects the idea that video games are to blame for violent crimes in America. The editorial title sums up Hunter's thoughts on the top pretty succinctly: "Target parenting, not games for violence."

A new study from Brad Bushman of Ohio State University comes to the conclusion that some players of violent video games are led there out of a sense of frustration because they cannot engage in taboo behaviors in the real world such as stealing or cheating. Don't worry, the latest Bushman study will connect this to aggression, violent video games, and a negative effect of some kind... The temptation to steal or cheat is sometimes great — especially when the risk of being caught is low.

An interesting article on The Atlantic examines why sin taxes like the one proposed for video games by Connecticut State Rep. Debralee Hovey (R-112th District) never really do anything productive. You may recall that Hovey, who represents the district that includes Newtown, Connecticut, proposed a 10 percent sin tax on violent video games rated "Mature" by the ESRB.

Right Wing Watch (a web site that admittedly doesn't like the principals of conservatism or the people who push its agendas in print, online and on broadcast television) points out in this story that Glenn Beck blames the Sandy Hook School Shooting in Newton, Connecticut entirely on the shooter's consumption of violent video games. Beck made his comments on last night's show which airs on his web site.

If you want a real opinion on violent video game content, then William Volk is probably someone to ask. He has been in the video games industry since 1979 and he has seen his fair share of games that pushed the envelope and got the attention of people that normally don't pay attention to such cultural phenomenon - like politicians and parent's groups.

As part of a New York Times article (as reported by Polygon) on the study of violent video games, a new study emerged showing that a decline in violent crime, even as sales of violent video games more than doubled.

Update: Many of our readers pointed out that the question in the poll about video games was directed at Republican respondents, which explains why to was skewed negatively towards video games. Thanks to everyone who pointed that out to us.

Yesterday Congressman Mike Thompson (D-CA) released "A Comprehensive Plan That Reduces Gun Violence and Respects the 2nd Amendment Rights of Law-Abiding Americans," which details the recommendations of the " Congressional Gun Violence Prevention Task Force." While there are plenty of recommendations on guns and curbing gun violence, mental health issues and school safety, there is a portion of the report dedicated to violent media.

Despite the continued push to vilify video games (despite a lack of research, evidence, or common sense in commentary on the subject), the creators of the upcoming video game The Last of Us will not tone down the high levels of violence in this "world gone to hell-in-a-hand-basket" video game.

Destructoid has an excellent recap of a CNN Town Hall lead by Anderson Cooper that actually discusses the issue of gun violence in a sensible way (thanks to PHX Corp. for the link in the shout box) and even includes a lengthy discussion on mental health issues.

Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello recently spoke out on the idea that video games can be a catalyst that leads to real world violence during a conference call with analysts to discuss the company's latest earnings. Acknowledging that the industry faces a "perception issue" when it comes to videogames Riccitiello also said that games can also be "a voice for good," and that there is no research to back up claims that video games directly cause real world violence.

A torture mechanic in Splinter Cell: Blacklist has been removed following a negative reaction (according to GameSpot based on a Eurogamer report). The gameplay mechanic let Sam Fisher drive a knife into an enemy's clavicle in an attempt to extract information. During the scene players can press a button to twist the knife as a means to get the information that want from the target.

On this week's show hosts Andrew Eisen and E. Zachary Knight talk about SimCity's EULA fiasco, all the stupid things said about video game violence by various politicians, and the latest GamePolitics poll. Download it now: SuperPAC Episode 38 (1 hour, 4 minutes) 58.4 MB.

In direct response to last month’s shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the following has happened:

Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger said that his company is closely monitoring violence in his company's catalog of video games in the wake of the recent school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Iger said during a Q&A with Brian Grazer at an HRTS Newsmakers Luncheon that he has directed employees "to take stock in everything we’ve got that can be considered near the line or over the line," according to Deadline.

As part of a White House / Google Hangout event to discuss gun violence, Vice President Joe Biden said that when it comes to research on video game violence "we shouldn't be afraid of the facts." His remarks were in response to a question about the possible connection between gun violence and video games.

Former long-shot U.S. presidential candidate and consumer protection advocate is making waves today after comparing the video game industry and the products they create to "electronic child molesters." The comment was made as part of a wider criticism of President Barack Obama's new plan to reduce gun violence and his inauguration yesterday. Speaking to Politico, Nader said that the president's proposals do not go far enough in regulating the video game industry.

Children's rights advocate and attorney Paul Mones (@MonesPaul on Twitter) delivers a "Perry Mason moment" in a new editorial over at the Huffington Post titled "Video Games Hold No Answers." In it Mones notes that making a connection between violent crimes committed by teens based on the video games, movies, or even mu

The Ohio father who survived his son attempting to murder him after he took away his video games is applauding President Barack Obama's call for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to conduct research on the effects of violent video games on America's youth (as it relates to gun violence).

IGN has a pretty interesting feature on the video game industry taking part in Vice-President Joe Biden's Gun Violence Commission called "The Politics of Violence." What is interesting about this feature is that it solicits the opinions of "20 of the top game writers" in the United States including Adam Sessler from Rev3 Games, Ben Kuchera from Penny Arcade Report, Ben Silverman from Yahoo!

President Barack Obama unveiled measures today to curb gun violence in America that he wants Congress to pass as soon as possible, and issued executive orders calling for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to conduct a study on whether there is a correlation between gun violence and "violent video games" and other forms of media.