Paper presented at the annual conference of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre, Singapore, 2010 1 Video Game Effects: Good or Evil? Meghdad Mehrabi and Vivian Hsueh-Hua Chen Nanyang Technological University Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718 {megh0004, chenhh}@ntu.edu.sg Abstract In response to public concerns over the effects of video games, a huge body of research has been formed. However, their results are not in correspondence, or even they are sometimes contradictory. The flourishing literature on video game effects seems to be divided into two camps. The camp called social scientists focuses on the negative effects of gaming such as aggression. The opposing camp, usually comprised of humanists, is interested in understanding the context and meaning of game play. They reject the idea of associating game play to effects such as aggression. To understand this contradiction, this paper discusses the various theoretical assumptions and methodological considerations of current literature on game effects. It is concluded by theoretical and methodological suggestions to possibly narrow down the gap between the two camps and future directions. Keywords video game effects; social science; humanism; approach; theory; methodology; uses and gratifications approach INTRODUCTION Video games are among the most popular entertainment in many parts of the world. In U.S.A. the game industry grossed 17.9 billion dollar in 2007, which was 43% increase in comparison with 2006 annual revenue (Berardini, 2008). Globally, it is estimated that game industry was