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Video games and violence are forever intertwined. Why? Because it's fun to kill and murder in a way that doesn't actually end lives. It satisfies the primal urge to dominate in a safe way that won't wreck our conscience. Humans are sick disgusting creatures that enjoy violence. We like to think that we're all high-minded and concerned, but in the end we just like it, no matter how hard we try. Video games provide an outlet for that, more satisfying than other non-interactive formats.

It's the same way with sex, everybody tries to cover it up and pretend they're above such an explicit display of love and pleasure. we put on a mask of decency and fight the urge. But this is a natural thing that is to be enjoyed, not hidden and shunned. The pleasure is an incentive to have sex, for if we felt nothing, we might, no, would die out eventually without a sex drive and some kind of reward. It's mother nature's way of thanking you for helping to perpetuate the species.

I'm not saying we should all just go out, beat people up, and then have a public orgy. I'm saying that we should be less ashamed of who we are. Violence and sex in video games is one of the media's favorite things to talk about. Every time the invisible line is crossed by someone who dared make a mod for a game, revealing the characters a bit too much, or you put a little too much gore into a game, it apparently turn's into poison for the soul, according to innumerable concerned parents and politicians. apparently every kid who sees a virtual boob, or shoots a virtual person is cursed for life.

I'm 15 and all my friends have M rated games, but I don't. While my friends play Halo, Call of Duty, and Gears of War, I play The Conduit, Shattered Horizon, And GRAW. All of which are good games, but I feel a little left out. I play Halo to death when at friends' houses for i know that I will return soon to the T-rated dungeon.

Video Games do not affect my personality! People get too hung up on the "game" part of "video game" thinking of games as purely for enjoyment, and most are, but recently, games have gone much deeper. Mass Effect, Halo, Bioshock, Uncharted 2, Dragon Age Origins, and many more are creating worlds and stories on par with books, and have even had books made in these worlds. Halo, for instance, currently has 8 books (one of which is an anthology of short stories), and 2 Graphic novels by my count. That's a lot deeper than the simple narratives explaining why you're doing each mission.

Fact is, violence and sex are two things that both tells compelling stories and adds to the artistry of the world. Both of these tools are used in the graphic masterpiece Watchmen, and it's considered a modern classic, and yet, Mass Effect is penalized for it's sex scene, and Halo is faulted for its violence, and so on and forth.

About, the ratings system, I don't think it's bad and should be abolished, but it should change it's image. The ratings system is important because parents know exactly what their child is doing. Problem is that people take it too seriously. The ages given are recommended, not required, people! you don't absolutely have to be 17+ to be able to handle M-rated games! Everyone is different, you alone (or the parent) knows what you can handle.

Hopefully, in the future, games will be seen as the art it is, and held on the same podium as books, painting, movies, and TV shows. Until then, keep fighting.