Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, has once again dusted off the old “video games cause gun violence” theory, a claim that’s been making the rounds since the late ’90s, when politicians first discovered that teenagers liked both computers and loud noises. This time, Kennedy lumped video games in with social media and psychiatric drugs as possible culprits for America’s mass shooting problem. "There are many, many things that could explain this. One is the dependence on psychiatric drugs, which is, in our country, is unlike any other country in the world. It could be, there could be connections with videogames, with social media, or a number of things, and we are looking at that".
If video games truly turned players into violent maniacs, then Nintendo’s headquarters would be surrounded by banana peels, turtle shells, and a suspicious number of plumbers in red hats. Instead, the most dangerous thing a Mario Kart player has ever done is scream “BLUE SHELL!” at a family gathering. Nintendo’s flagship titles are about as far from real world violence as you can get, unless you count the emotional trauma of being hit by a green shell right before the finish line.
In fact, research has shown that video games can improve cognitive skills, problem solving abilities, and even emotional regulation. Puzzle games like Tetris can enhance spatial reasoning, Animal Crossing can reduce stress in different ways, and The Legend of Zelda can teach perseverance (and the importance of smashing every single pot in sight). If anything, Nintendo has been running a decades-long public health campaign to make people happier, more creative, and slightly obsessed with collecting virtual fruit. And what about videogames from other companies? The result is similar, Nintendo simply proves that this has nothing to do with all the senseless violence in real life.
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The irony is that while some officials are busy pointing fingers at video games, millions of players are using them to connect with friends, manage anxiety, and keep their brains sharp. The average Splatoon match is less about violence and more about competitive interior decorating, just with ink instead of paint. If that’s dangerous, then so is a trip to IKEA.
So perhaps instead of blaming video games for society’s ills, we should be thanking them for giving us a safe, colorful, and occasionally absurd outlet for our frustrations. After all, it’s hard to be angry at the world when you’re too busy trying to stop Tom Nook from charging you interest on your virtual mortgage.
