The latest studies indicate tomorrow’s psycho killers are being trained not in some dank Saudi bunker, but in our very own living rooms.

YU

A statistical analysis of 130 studies from the U.S., Europe and Japan suggests playing violent video games increases aggression and decreases empathy. Video games have long been a boogeyman to many interest groups worried about the mental stability of children.

I won’t argue that this concern is entirely unreasonable.

It’s justifiable to be worried that kids are learning from such games as “Grand Theft Auto” or “Gears of War” that violence is the only way to resolve conflict. What shouldn’t be overlooked, though, is the potential for video games to teach the capacity to love as well. Love — for spouse, nation, friends and family — often acts as a motivating force for many characters to battle harsh elements, treacherous terrain and sinister enemies.

The recently released “Final Fantasy XIII” is a perfect example of such a tale.

Character Serah Farron is a wide-eyed teenage girl whose mind is fixed solely on her impending first term at college.
While on summer vacation, she falls for the rugged, headstrong Snow Villiers. He’s also the valiant leader of the guerilla resistance group Team NORA (what girl doesn’t like a bad boy, right?).

When the god-like entity Anima forces Serah into servitude, Snow resorts to extraordinary measures. He fights waves of the totalitarian government’s elite forces, slays hordes of fearsome beasts and even journeys to see Anima and offer to take Serah’s place.

It’s not surprising this tale emanated from Square Enix, the studio that produced such romances as that of Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly. He’s a gruff, stoic orphan/loner. She’s a spunky, affectionate rebel daughter of a general.

When Ultimecia, a sorceress from the future, possesses Rinoa, Squall resolves to fight for her, even as the rest of the world reviles her as a harbinger of doom. Squall travels through time to vanquish Ultimecia and save his beloved.

Or what about the tragedy of Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough? He’s a plucky, machismo-infused soldier for Shinra, industrial conglomerate and de facto governing body of the planet. She’s a demure, cherubic girl who grows flowers in the slums.

After Zack witnesses a scandal involving the organization’s top operative, Shinra imprisons him to keep the debacle under wraps. Zack escapes after four years and flees to Aerith while Shinra’s army mercilessly pursues him. At the game’s climax, Zack is gunned down by his former comrades just miles away from Aerith, who still tends flowers in anticipation of his return.
Couples such as Link and Zelda from “The Legend of Zelda” series, Wander and Mono from “Shadow of the Colossus” and Raiden and Rose from the “Metal Gear Solid” series also overcome titanic obstacles to be together.

These stories emphasize the indomitable will to combat all the forces  — an evil sorceress or a dispute about whose turn it is to load the dishwasher — that stand between you and the one you love.

Not all games feature this kind of depth and complexity in plot, but the point remains that games can impart positive lessons. They can inspire us to be like Snow. He dauntlessly battles insurmountable odds and makes Serah his forever.

That’s an example I’d like my kid to follow.

— Michael Yu is a senior from Houston, Texas, majoring in newspapers