"Violent video games provide positive reinforcement to elicit violence in Life"

[Cyberman]

It's actually during prepubescence that children imitate behaviour they see around them. That's kind of why they're called the formative years. Adolescents have a much greater tendency towards stubbornly rejecting what they're taught, in favour of conformity with their peers.

[Tonus]

The murder rate in the USA has been trending downward the whole time that the hours spent playing video games has trended upwards. This has not been affected by the increased realism of first-person shooters or other violent games. As someone else already pointed out, virtually every form of media has been attacked in the past because it was having a dangerous effect on the minds of children. You know which video game had the biggest impact on crime rates in the USA? The one called "STOP PUTTING LEAD IN YOUR FUCKING GASOLINE, ASSHOLES."

Oh, right... that wasn't a video game.

[paulpablo]

You can argue back and forth and make vague statements about this topic all day long and come to no conclusions on the basis of these vague remarks.

There's probably been teenagers who have killed purely based on being easily led into doing things and playing a violent computer game that influenced them on the other hand that isn't usually what happens.

The bottom line, I would say, is that the government shouldn't be involved because the government shouldn't raise children that should be the parental figure's job.

Realistically that's what it comes down to anyway, the amount of 15 and 18 rated films I watched when I was about 9 are quite a lot.

The strange thing is that of all the horrible things I've seen in films and computer games, the scene that disturbs me the most probably and I was thinking about it today, is the scene in home alone 2 where the criminal gets bricks continually thrown at his head from a tall building.
As a kid I remember thinking why is everyone laughing at this guy who's getting his skull crushed by blow after blow of rocks being thrown at him.  I watched it again today to see if it was any less disturbing and I still find it disturbing.  
And I've sat through casino, nightmare on elm street, real life snuff films and all sorts.  I suppose when you sit down and watch those things you expect graphic violence whereas when I was very young and watching this kids film I wasn't mentally prepared to see a guy getting bricks thrown at his skull.

[Regina]

I wonder where people before the year 1980 got their inspiration to be violent from, violence isn't exactly a new phenomenon.

Violent games are now rightly given age ratings to indicate that they are violent. If you as a parent ignore that big fat unmissable red 18 on the video game cover you're buying for your 5 year old child, I'm openly going to question your parenting methods. If you haven't raised your children telling them that what they see in the media is mostly fiction and should not be copied just because "it's cool", I'm openly going to question your parenting methods.

It is not the job of the state to completely block adult content from being sold just in case a child gets their hands on it. That is your role as a parent to use discretion in - a) what you think your child is mature enough to see, and b) educating them about what is acceptable behaviour and what isn't, and what is fiction that doesn't reflect real life.

[Bob Kelso]

What's even more bizarre is that criminals could use this as an excuse.

"It wasn't me! It was all those video games that made me do it!".

If someone believed that they're as big of a moron as the fuckwits who believe your OP title. You can literally say the same thing about all other forms of entertainment and media. Fuck. Off. With. This. Already. 

Jesus Tittyfucking Christ.

[Whateverist]

It just seems an injustice to the youth of the world not to expose them to violent video games before the onset of the apocalypse.

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Yeah, really just foolin'.

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[Aegon]

I watched an awful lot of Bugs Bunny cartoons when I was a kid.  To this date, I've never dropped an anvil on anyone.

Boru

On the contrary, I was obsessed with Star Wars when I was a kid, and I have cut off a few people's limbs at the bars. 

[MJ the Skeptical]

There's a strong positive correlation that Video Games of all kinds actually provide a lot of Catharsis in different areas for people. This argument that Video Games cause violence has been retarded since the 90s when parents were against Mortal Kombat. If this was the case, the crime rates wouldn't be plummeting the way they are where Video Games are widely present.