Zelda might know.

So President Obama has 10 million research dollars on hand to find out if there is a link between video games and violence. I'm not completely convinced that this is a good idea. This is 10 million dollars of easy money. "Is there a link between video games and violence?" is a really ... really extremely broad and easy question to ask. It can be answered so many ways.  Are you ready for anecdotal evidence? I'm just going to write and I do not cite my sources, you dig. Here we go.

The Playstation 2 is the most successful console to date. There are 100-150 million of them out there in the world and estimates that one out of every 3 houses in America have a Playstation 3.  Alright. STOP! First link. 1 in 3 chance anybody committing a crime in America has a PS2. What about the PS3, Xbox or 360? What about Nintendo? Are they off the hook too? Do I need to remind you that people kill each other or themselves over video games? Links galore to video games and death.  Books have been written on the topic. Should I just memorize whatever argument the author made argument? Where my ten million dollars?

100% Bullshit.  There's no more a link between video games and violence than there is between eating shrimp and being gay. The best argument I've heard is that video games are tutorials on murder. First of all anybody old enough to be playing a video game will violence in it is probably old enough to be aware of the concept of murder. If they haven't figured out that blunt objects, knives and guns double as murder weapons then they are crazy and the type of person who shouldn't be doing anything that feeds their insanity. The same kid that plays Grand Theft Auto before shooting up a school... probably would have found other more creative ways to daydream before shooting up a school if the game did not exist. Grand Theft Auto does not predate school shootings. School shootings pre-date video game violence. 1989 some dude in Quebec shot up the place. You gonna pin that one on Super Mario? Or maybe that was some opening scene from Double Dragon type shiznit.

Parents who buy games for their children are part of the problem. Retails want to sell games.  If a parent is buying a game, I'd bet they just don't ask questions.  It's none of their concern to question the sensibilities of a consenting adult. They have no business questioning a parent buying Dead Space 2 for their 8 year old son. That is their right and freedom. They chose to misinform themselves that video games are toys.

Studies have been done. Researchers take kids who never play video games and kids who do, monitor them over the span of a few days or weeks while they play video games then take the games away... and then irritate them. The ones who never played video games seemed more aggressive afterwards as the studies will show.  Other studies have shown that when you become addicted to something, you may become more violent when you don't have it. The second study doesn't matter if you just want to prove that there is a link between video games and violence.

The only link between video games and violence is still trying to save Zelda. But for real. Stop trying to blame anything other than the people. Sometimes they are crazy, sometimes they are assholes.  Whatever the reason, the blame is solely on the individual.  Games are just the excuse.

Jaded Gamer