In fact it's not just games, but movies, music, books and the arts. Games get the bad rap these days due to their popularity with the younger generation. You've probably read and watched on TV about the recent events in Oslo, Norway. A crazed gunman went into a camp for kids and killed many. He also set off a bomb. This incident re ignited the debate about violent games leading to violent behaviour. Mainly due to the perpetrator pointing out that Call of Duty Modern Warfare and World of Warcraft helped him plan out his attack(WoW was used as a communication tool to group together with other ultra fascist groups).
Game stores in Oslo have banned both these games from being sold in the city. I can understand their grief over the incident, but these games are certainly not to be blamed. If extremist groups are using certain online games to organise themselves, game companies have to do a better job at sniffing them out and banning them from their games(remember, there are terms and condition to any MMO you play, and often they have a clause saying your account can be terminated if you do anything racist or hateful).
It was also noted(although this could actually be twisted from the actual fact) that the killer went on to call Call of Duty a combat simulator. To train up people to use gun. This is also false, as anyone who has fired a real gun will tell you, it's night and day. In fact Penn & Teller did an episode on Bullshit which disproved this point. They got a young boy who was an avid Call of Duty player to fire a gun in a firing range. The kid cried, clearly psychologically not prepared to fire guns(which also disproves the popular theory of violent video games psychologically conditioning people to not fear using guns).
VG247 wrote up a quote from Carmack. John Carmack, Id Software programming genius stated that "I really think, if anything, there is more evidence to show that the violent games reduce aggression and violence. There have actually been some studies about that, that it’s cathartic. If you go to QuakeCon and you walk by and you see the people there [and compare that to] a random cross section of a college campus, you’re probably going to find a more peaceful crowd of people at the gaming convention. I think it’s at worst neutral and potentially positive.". Carmack's point raises another very important point that video gamers aren't killers. Nor are they being conditioned to become killers.
Video games are no different from any action flick such as HEAT, The Rock, Fast & Furious(a manual for illegal racing) or any other Hollywood blockbuster. Regardless of the immersion aspect of video games, it cannot be scientifically proven to cause incidence of violence. It is often a troubled and mentally unstable youth that often becomes deranged enough to consider shooting and killing other people. These people need help.
Banning violent video games denies the right of adults to enjoy games such as these. Things should never have to go to this level. If only people thought it through more calmly and used facts instead of flawed opinions. We need to engage law makers, adults on what video games are(it is surprising how much misconceptions and a lack of understanding the older generation have over video games) and aren't.
My sympathies to the people of Oslo, the friends and family of the victims.
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