I can safely say that I've been playing (very) violent videogames ever since I was 13, and I still play them now that I am 18. So what's the problem?.. Really, I blame bad parenting. I don't want to get into specifics but, hell, I even seen a line graph on how violence went DOWN, SHARPLY throughout the years as videogames became more prominent.
Jack Thompson's full of shit, you make an accusation that World War II was caused by videogames and you're considered a madman.
I'm telling you now, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament 2004, Grand Theft Auto, Doom 3, Quake 2, Quake 3, Quake 4, Gears of War, hell these are some of my favorites. Why? Because they're GOOD games, not 'cause they're gory, they have violence, a good number of these are shooters, and of course, guns are very dangerous so they make'em violent to be a bit fun.
Someone countered me and said "All you like are violent videogames, you're psychotic!" More bullshit, there are games I enjoy that AREN'T violent. F-Zero GX, Kingdom Hearts, Super Smash Brothers, Forza Motorsport 2, Super Mario World, Armored Core 4, etcetera. These ones are NOT violent, they are purely recreational and FUN, like the shooters I listed a paragraph above.
So what gives? There's a reason why developers try to create "immersion", that's so it feels like you can do something in a game when, otherwise, you can't do it in real life. Lets say I wanted to beat up and old woman and get away with it? Gotta follow the obvious, find a way to make sure nobody's around, isolated or shady spot, do the work, run away. Even THEN you might get caught and be in some DEEP SHIT, whereas, you do it in Grand Theft Auto, you just jog up, beat'er down with a baseball bat, jog away.
I guess that was a bad example, but my point remains clear, Jack Thompson's just a confused old man, his words are nothing but bullshit. If you believe him you can go ahead and get shanked by his old, wrinkly attention-penis.
Sorry if this is offends anyone, but I've said what I wanted to say. This is a very touchy issue for me, especially since I'm going into the gaming industry later on.