*sigh*

We just can't win.  Anytime anything happens, it gets blamed on the violent videogames even if no connection whatsoever has been shown!

Take, for example, Virginia Tech.  I feel absolutely terrible for those kids.  But instead of looking for the source of the problem (like, oh say, mental illness and/or extreme bullying, and better handgun laws for the mentally ill), people are already pointing fingers at 'violent videogames'.

I'm still looking for the link, but the day after the shootings an article popped up, listing some of the contents of his room - no videogames or consoles were listed there at least, let alone any violent ones.

I did however, stumble across this article:

http://tech.monstersandcritics.com/ (I cant post the link in full because of some gamespot glitch, but this is the main site, and the rest of the link is features/article_1293778.php/Survey_rebuts_videogame_influence_in_real_violence so put the 2 together and you'll have the addy for the whole story).  you should also be able to do a search for the article on the main site.

Its a bit long, so I won't reproduce it all here, but there are some interesting bits to be found in there and I highly recommend it.

"In light of the recent horrific Virginia Tech massacre and the resulting knee-jerk condemnation of videogames as bearing responsibility for 23-year-old Cho Seung Hui's hatred-fuelled rampage, the British Board of Film ****fication (BBFC) has revealed that videogame fans believe that violent games are little more than "exhilarating" escapism.

While some of the survey's respondents admitted there was a likelihood of people "unhinged in some way" being pushed to breaking point by obsessive videogame play, in the main they maintained that videogame violence did not cause desensitisation when viewed in relationship to violent real-world events.

The BBFC survey of one of the entertainment industry's quickest growing - and massively profitable - sectors included interviews of gamers, parents, and industry figures concerning the possible effects of videogaming.

In terms of dangerously emergent gameplay consequences, one survey respondent commented: "I no more feel that I have scored a goal than I do that I have actually killed someone," regarding the possibility that gamers brought back violent tendencies from fantastical game worlds. "I know it's not real," the gamer added...................

Today's news on the Virginia Tech shootings reveals that Cho Seung Hui mailed a package to NBC News before embarking on the second deadly phase of his killing spree, which led to the killing of 30 people. According to NBC, the package contained disturbing photographs, video clips, and written statements by the crazed gunman, with the video footage seemingly carrying his apparent hatred toward the more monetarily comfortable of his Virginia Tech peers:

"You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn't enough, you brats. Your golden necklaces weren't enough, you snobs. Your trust funds wasn't enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn't enough. All your debaucheries weren't enough. Those weren't enough to fulfil your hedonistic needs. You had everything."
 
Cho went on to say: "You have vandalized my heart, raped my soul and torched my conscience. You thought it was one pathetic boy's life you were extinguishing. Thanks to you, I die like Jesus Christ, to inspire generations of the weak and the defenceless people."

Cho made absolutely no mention of videogames inspiring his actions."