Try this experiment: go outside and find some wild animal babies, like wolves and/or toddlers. Got them? Great. Now, watch them play. Many animals, including humans, engage in play fighting where they only pretend to savage each other. In real fights even victors can get hurt, so any risk-free practice is valuable. Of course, no psychologist will tell you that dragon-punching Zangief is going to help you when some bully comes out swinging-but there's a parallel to play fighting in another part of our imagination that can have real benefits.
http://www.gamepro.com/article/features/217312/the-psychology-of-shooters/
