it bombed?!

Sorry to inject myself into this argument, but I just felt that it may help you a bit, Bruce7, to see another example of someone who doesn't fall into the incredibly generalized theory that you present here. I definitely have a problem with this tired, ancient argument that video games are any more a bad influence than other forms of entertainment.

I am a grown person, who has been playing video games throughout my life. Some of my favorite games have violent aspects to them (as well as engrossing stories, by the way), like the Grand Theft Auto series - but don't jump too soon to think that I'm a violence junkie, as I would say that I've spent a good deal of time immersed in games like Tetris, or Lumines, or Guitar Hero, just to name a few games I play which have absolutely no violent aspects to them whatsoever. I can tell you that in the past six months, I've read 8 books, and started a 9th - so, while I won't claim to read 24/7, I also won't let anyone say that video games are taking away from my opportunity to read a book. I also typically work 5 days a week for around 10 hours a day, and am in the gym approximately 10 hours a week simply for my own fitness. And I still manage to spend time with my games every day. And yes, often, I will play for hours every day when I'm really into a game (which I do with every edition of the GTA series).

But, I know we're talking about violent video games here, so let's go with that idea. I can tell you that my first and only physical fight of my life was when I was in 7th grade. An interesting fact? I didn't get my first video game system until I was in 8th Grade. I played everything from Mario, to Street Fighter, to games with a controller that was literally supposed to resemble a gun. In real life, to this day, I've never touched a real gun, nor do I have any interest in ever doing so (by the way - one of the first games I ever played? Duck Hunt. Real life? I seriously doubt I could shoot an animal unless it was attacking me - and even then, I probably wouldn't have a gun with me, considering my level of interest in guns). Oh, and the reason I decided that fighting wasn't really my style, was because it was stupid, and earned me nothing but the foolish respect of a bunch of 7th graders. Oh, and because I find real-life violence disgusting.

As Oscarstegland has been trying to point out (and as many other people have actually been saying for years now in the real world), video games are a form of art - just like a book, or a movie, or a tv show. Unless you're strictly a consumer of children's media, or relatively unchallenging movies, television, and books (and I don't know - maybe you are, as you've made no mention of your own personal tastes, so I won't make any generalizations on you), I find it hard to believe that your choice in entertainment involves no violence or other mature subject matters from time to time. But the bottom line is, it's just that - entertainment. I personally like to think that people are not complete idiots, and can discern the difference between a violent scene in video games, on television, in movies, or in a book, and real life.

Take "The Godfather" and "The Godfather Part II". Both bestselling novels. Both "best picture" Oscar winning films. Both relatively successful video games based on the films (as a matter of fact, my current video game obsession is "Part II"). Would you go on a crusade against those books, films, and their ilk? If not, why would you attack a game that has many of the same elements of violence? Just because a person controls the character in the game? It's a strange argument. While I may control a violent mafioso crime lord in the game, it doesn't mean I approve of his actions any more than I approved of Michael Corleone's and his henchmen in the books and films. In real life, I'm Bill, the guy who has an actual living, breathing life, not "Dom", the psychopath that I control during the "Godfather II" video game. Just as when I close the book, or shut off the DVD player and the Corleones disappear, I can also shut off the XBox, and my psychopath on-screen character of "Dom" disappears. They're characters. The fact that I was watching the action vs. playing the action, doesn't make a difference in the real world.

I don't feel that any of these things have drastic effects on people's real-life actions, but to argue the video games vs. other forms of entertainment point a little further, doesn't it actually make more sense that reading about or watching real people act out violent actions in books or on film, actually might be a lot more relatable to a real person than the actions of a video game character who can be shot 30 times before dying?

Also, on a personal note, there is a part of one of your responses where you say, "If you have a heart of love, compassion, concern for your fellow man, you probably will not engage in anything that is simulating violence or destruction." That's a pretty offensive statement in itself. If you couldn't tell from my above statement about fighting and violence in the real world, I don't consider myself to be a particularly big supporter of that kind of thing. I'm not tooting my own horn here, just making a point - but I donate to charities, try to help others in need, and consider myself to be caring toward both humans and animals alike. Yet I DO play these games, because I like a good and challenging game, whether it contains violence or not. You may not have meant it this way, but it's a very closed-minded, insulting, and sweepingly generalized statement.

Finally, I'm honestly curious... have you ever played any of these games you speak about? Do you know what I mean when I say I play these games because they're good and challenging? If you haven't, do yourself a favor and try some of these games out so that you can at least speak from experience and not have to use "in a study done by..." kind of info. You may start to understand what I mean when you see that something like a "Grand Theft Auto" is not simply a violent gaming experience, but a very advanced type of game that is constantly pushing the technological and creative aspects of gaming. I'd play it even if it didn't ask me to spill a drop of computer simulated blood (which is a lot less realistic looking than in a movie, or in my imagination when I read a book, by the way).

This is very long, I know - it's just upsetting to me that this silly issue is even being debated today, especially when we're being asked to be open-minded.