In my profession I work with children. I have been a gamer since 8 years old. I've played many gamers "underage", including Halo, Manhunt, Tekken, MortalKombat, and many other games famed for violence. These two facts lead me to one conclusion. You are incorrect. Videogames do not make children violent. Raise your children properly and teach them that games are an escape into a fantasy world. Show them that games do not reflect reality. I hate when this argument comes up. "Mickey has got so violent recently, I swear it's those videogames..." WELL WHO BOUGHT THEM FOR HIM. In buying them, your child is seeing that you condone a child having access to that. They will look to you to see what is acceptable. By all means, purchase them. But be sure to sit with them and guide them, explaining how they are a fantasy, an unrealistic representation of the world. And should your child show signs of them adversely affecting them, then take the games away. Be a responsible parent. Do your job. Every day I see kids joking about stuff way above their age range - and that's ok. That's what kids do. If it's too far or notably offensive, I will deal with it. But the point is made clear when they say "oh, it's off GTA. I got it for Christmas." Lots of kids get GTA, yet only a select few have problems as a result. Why? Poor parenting. By no means is it the be all and end all, but I have myself as an example. I was raised excellently, taught right from wrong, yet still allowed to play these, and was rightly punished when I allowed it to carry through to reality. That is how you prevent issues. Don't blame the game. Blame the people giving them access. And by that I do not mean the shops, rating boards or companies. I mean you. I also disagree with the anti-social bit. I have a wider reach of friends now than I could hope for, from the Americas to Australia. I AM socializing, that's the point. Just because I am doing it in a way you feel is inappropriate does not make it wrong. My father used to get told he was being anti-social when they used to go to the movies, because they weren't talking to each other... Logic much?