The study also found, contrary to previous suggestions, violent gameplay did not cumulatively increase aggression over time.

Tasmanian gamer Stewart Wagner, 38, said he had been extensively playing the most brutal video games imaginable since he was 14 years old.

"Through the course of my lifetime, I've not hurt a fly no matter how violent the video games are," he said.

"I really believe if a person was going to become violent they would have violent tenancies beforehand.

"It helps we have pretty heavy gun restrictions - you can't go running around getting your hands on things here that could create more violence whether you've seen it in a video game or you haven't."

For Mr Wagner, playing video games is a form of escape.

"Video games have progressed so much - there's things you can do and see in them now you haven't been able to do and see before," he said.

When asked if further research should be done on the link between video games and violence, Mr Wagner said as virtual reality in gaming advanced its impact should be assessed.

"It's not just looking at a TV anymore - you are in the game, and that might need to be researched," he said.

Launceston-based independent game developer Josh 'Cheeseness' Bush, who has worked with international and Australian studios to produce video games, said game developers and designers had an obligation to seek a solid understanding of the potential impact depictions of violence in games may have.

"Then we can responsibly create the stories and experiences that we invite players to have," Mr Bush said.

"For better or worse, the majority of highly visible games feature violence prominently."

Mr Bush said he did not think a perceived link between violence in video games and real world aggression had caused meaningful harm to the video game industry itself, with so many high-grossing games featuring violence.

"That said, these kinds of perceptions and the stigmas they carry have hurt games as a medium for artistic expression and cultural contribution, in the same way that comic books or rock music suffered in their respective infancies," he said.

He said the study's suggestion contemporary discourse was still driven by the results of less-rigorous study and the researchers' demand for future research of higher standard felt like an important step toward improving the discussion and perceptions which surrounded games.

"The meta-analysis finds a potential relationship between more recent studies and smaller effects of violent games on aggression," he said.

"It would be interesting to explore this further and find whether that correlates with newer research tending to be more rigorous, or whether the increasingly broad social acceptance of games as a past time leads to social factors that make game experiences easier for young people to discuss and digest."