Reaction to "Is that Video Game Programming You"

I rather enjoyed this reading, it was nice to see a published argument rebutting all of the criticism in violent video games. Also, John Misak has opinions about video games, as a construct and as an industry, that are very similar to mine. I too believe that violent video games do not lead to violent videogamers. Considering how many people play violent video games, if the violence in video games did spill into real life, wouldn't we live in mass chaos right now? If it was common for people to play first-person shooter video games and then go out and shoot real people as well, wouldn't there have been a massive spike in irrational rampages and gun killings?

What really causes events like the Columbine, Virginia Tech, and other shootings is not video games or violent movies or any other media, what causes these events are deep-seeded societal, personal, and mental and emotional problems. It takes a completely different mindset to kill people's characters in a video game, which the player knows will "respawn" and come back to life, than it takes to go out and actually end a human being's life.

I believe that those who fight against violent video games should stop focusing on the video games themselves and focus on the deeper issues at hand that cause events like Columbine. If the same energy that is focused against video games was applied to providing counseling to youth, stricter gun laws, and other such tangible things, the number lives saved to could be astounding. Parenting also becomes an issue here, if a parent lets their child play Grand Theft Auto at age 10, should they really be surprised if their kid begins disrespecting women, pretending to shoot police, and thinking about stealing cars? Video games that are rated "Teen" should probably only be played by young teens and pre-teens, "Mature" rated games should only be played by older teenagers and young adults - that is why the rating system is in place, just like in film, TV, and music. Video games are not the problem, people are the problem. Maybe parents should stop blaming video games for their own failures in parenting. Maybe the "watchdogs" should look out more for societal factors that lead to youth violence, not the games that the youth plays for unrealistic fun. Maybe. Maybe.