Couple of points:
-That article is probably the flimsiest piece I've seen defending video games. It's not so much a valid defense as it is a statement of opinion.
-Video games are not the same as movies or books. I won't say they're worse, because all mediums have their own unique ways of reaching out to people, but there is a level of interactivity and control in video games that simply isn't there with other mediums.
-If there's one thing I can't stand it's this extreme populist backlash against studies that involve video games in ANY way. A study can come out and make valid points based on empirical evidence and suddenly it's like every single person who plays video games comes out spouting the same, "video games don't cause violence, you're stupid for saying so," argument. I have yet to see any decent study that says video games directly cause violence. Usually it's the news article that makes claims like those, but if you actually read the study, look at the results, and understand what the people were trying to say you'll see that they're not trying to make any claims along the lines of just playing a video game will make you a violent killer.
-What most good studies show is a correlation between video games and violence. Yes, correlation does not prove causation, but the fact that no one is arguing causation is the one most gamers seem to always miss. Will drinking and driving result in a car crash or pedestrian killing every single time? No, but the effects that alcohol has on you increase the chance of something like that happeneing. Subjecting young children to violence at an early age, video games or not, has been shown to strongly predispose them to violent behavior. That usually isn't enough to push them over the edge, but it can help to instill a violent and contentious attitude in them. Furthermore, when combined with other facctors it can serve to exacerbate things. In the case of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, did playing Doom alone CAUSE them to go over the edge? No, but it was a small part of a perfect storm of teenage angst, bullying, psychological conditions, and their choice of outlet for all of those problems. Most reasonable people aren't going to make the claim that playing violent games is solely to blame, but most reasonable people also can't dispute their role in playing into a violent mentality that was already instilled in the two, and in desensitizing them to their own acts of violence.
-Most of the time whenever legal action is taken against the video game industry it is stricken down, and for good reason. Did violent games play a role in Klebold and Harris' mentality? Almost certainly, but whose fault is it really, the people who made the game? No, it's probably more the parents' faults for not being more involved in their sons' lives and for getting them the help they needed. I agree that the solution is not to ban violent games, but instead to keep them out of the hands of children and to have an open discussion about them. We can't have an open discussion about them if every time someone mentions video games' role in teen violence every single video gamer vehemently denies any correlation whatsoever. We, as a gaming community, also need to realize how much video games are used as a political ploy. In the U.S., legislation never passes because it's either redundant or it infringes on civil liberties. The system that's in place to regulate video games is fine, most of the problem lies with parents who don't care to pay attention to it. Judges, senates, lawmaking bodies, all see this. Even the people that propose new legislation probably see this. That doesn't change the fact that it's a hot topic for a demographic of voters who can often times be counted on as a swing vote demographic. Until that changes we're probably never going to see an end to video game legislation, but we're probably also never going to see any of it pass. There's no need for every time one of these stories gets posted to go on these huge sensationalistic rants that go on and on about civil liberties and politicians being idiots, and on and on. All it does is make us look like a bunch of overly-defensive jerks who never want to even listen to the other side.
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