My 2 cents is that I believe that it DOES affect those who have a problem establishing reality/fantasy. I used to babysit for a girl (she was around 5 at the time) and she had a REAL problem with this. She thought that animations were real. I don't think if I was a parent that I would allow my children free access to TV or video games. There's too much life to be wasted in front of the tube.