A:     I left you in the same position, sitting in front of the TV, four hours ago. I went to work, then to the bank and did some grocery shopping in those four hours; please tell me you haven’t been playing that game all this time.
S:     I did way more than you in four hours; I broke into a military compound, robbed a bank, destroyed tons of cars with a rocket launcher and stole a commercial airliner. I win.
A:     In a video game. I don’t understand why you like this game anyway, it doesn’t require skill or strategy, it just allows you to live out the fantasy of being a deranged psychopath. It isn’t healthy, maybe you’re mature enough to know it is a game but it is definitely not healthy for all the kids out there playing this.
S:     How exactly is this not healthy? I grew up playing games a hundred times more gory than this; I turned out fine didn’t I?
A:     That’s debatable, but my point here is that though these video games may be entertaining, they cant be beneficial to a child’s development. Look... people don’t just obey the law because they will be punished if they didn’t. The majority follows it because they feel it is right, that it espouses the same morality as the one we value. Everyone has to cross a mental threshold before they commit a crime. These games chip away at that. Killing, maiming, stealing, cheating is not only rewarded in games, it is made enjoyable. There are games that let you play as a serial killer or an assassin. You don’t need me to explain how classical conditioning works.
S:     Look Ameen, I agree with you as far as the fact that crimes are enjoyable in video games, but the real world is completely different. I act with impunity in a video game knowing that if I die, I can restart from the last checkpoint. The real world has real consequences.
A:     It is much more complex than that. You get desensitized to violence; human suffering becomes just an in-game statistic. You relish death and being an expert killer becomes your objective. These are 10 year olds we are talking about, the kids who watch wrestling with the iron conviction that it is real.
S:     Ameen, you are over-thinking this. Call of Duty or GTA won’t turn me into a murderer, just as Simcity will not turn me into a city planner and Forza won’t turn me into a professional race-car driver.