Videogames - Do they cause violence?

[Chinadoll]

I don't think videogames alone inspire violence. It can have some influence, but I think the major deciding factor for whether a person is violent is the environment in which they were raised....not that this always means that someone raised in a place where violence is predominate(sp?), it could have the exact opposite effect...BUT I believe environment is a greater influence than videogames.

My rant...It really irks me when parents blame violence on television or in videogames and go on a rampage for censorship. I don't believe the government should censor, I believe it is the job of the parent. It's really simple, if you don't want your child to see violence on television or in a videogame then restrict their veiwing. Don't lobby the government to do your parenting for you. With v chips in television for parents to restict viewing and ratings on videogames(at least in the US...not sure how other countries do it), I can't stand to see some parents rant and rave about violent content on tv or videogames and that the government should do something about it.

I'm not talking about current government restrictions...ratings on tv shows and video games are good ideas...I'm more speaking of stricter regulations that I hear some parents ranting they want. It reminds me of banning books from certain schools because it may have a bad word.

Anywhoo, I know it was originally about violence in videogames, but I see a paraelle(sp? damn I just cannot spell tonight!) in violence in television shows. I really haven't played videogames since the first Nintendo came out. My sister's playstation 2 makes me almost motion sick. The graphics sure have come a long way. I never did have a problem playing games like Doom on the computer, shoot 'em up military games or sci fi games were ok, but I saw scenes from the game Vice squad or is it vice cop? That sort of violence...street crime stuff creeped me out. I guess it was just a tad too realistic for me. I definitely think it deserves the M for mature rating it has...no way would I let my 12 year old sister play that!