[discostu]

So if things with killing, maiming, dismembering and sexually assaulting of human beings can’t be sold to kids does that mean no To Kill a Mocking Bird?

That’s always the problem with these kind of laws. What makes video games so magical?

[Little Ray]

Video games require the player's participation. There is an argument that they “desensitize” players to killing. The player puts the cursor on the image's head and clicks the mouse and is “rewarded” with gibbets flying.

[OldDeckHand]

"So if things with killing, maiming, dismembering and sexually assaulting of human beings can’t be sold to kids does that mean no To Kill a Mocking Bird?"

Well, if To Kill a Mocking Bird was turned into a video game, I suppose so. But, since it's a book, it should be perfectly safe and readily available in school libraries all over California.

[muawiyah]

Definitely could make "To Kill A Mockingbird" into a whale of a videogame ~ going way beyond normal violence and mayhem right into sexual deviancy.

More appropriate for the age group would be a game based on "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" though!

[conservativeharleyguy]

"...What makes video games so magical?..."

Simple... Nothing "magical" about it. More like "scientific".

Stress, Stimulus, Response, Reward - repeat as necessary.

Repetitive, autonomic, gratuitous, and extremely graphic violence depicted in a casual, "entertaining" manner affects the "Limbic Brain".

It's called "Operant Conditioning". It's very much related to the techniques we use to train (actually, to "condition") our military, police, and high-end security forces to kill.

See the work of LtCol. Dave Grossman. He's one of the world's leading experts in the field.
http://www.killology.com/
http://www.killology.com/book_stop_summary.htm
http://www.killology.com/new_media_vio.htm
http://www.killology.com/killrev.htm

I've spent a significant portion of my professional life using far less sophisticated simulations to train armed professionals in the application of deadly force. That was under tightly controlled conditions, and it works very well. If we can use them to "train" mentally thoughened and prepared warriors, what's the effect on a 13-year old kid who might have a host of other problems, and no boundaries.

We all like to pretend that we are individually "too smart/tough/mentally alert for it to affect us, but if you can accept the premise that media imagery affects people's consumer behaviors (one kind of has to - Madison Avenue spends over 100 billion dollars a year on that bet, and they win every time), and other behaviors (how do you feel about the psychologocal effects of pornography?) you have to accept the premise that almost any other behavior can be affected and/or manipulated with similar techniques.

Again - it's simple... The real question is: If someone spends a significant portion of their lives playing violent, angry games on screen, why would anyone be surprised when they turn out to be violent, angry people.