“As a gamer myself, I can say that blaming violent video games for the violence occurring in the country is a spurious relationship at best.”
Agreed.
However, when combined with years of Ritalin, no father, no religion, school bullies, and then you throw in Movie and video game violence, you reap what you sow.
I do not play video games much any more. Most of my gaming time was spent with WW2 flight sims or WW2 first person shooters. However, I always felt that Grand Theft Auto was a tasteless idea for a game. The sort of people you describe in your post probably should not be playing the game. Considering that many inner city hood rats basically live Grand Theft Auto, I don't think it can do any good to glamorize that lifestyle with a game (or hip-hop "music").