Along the lines of illness, I do believe games can become an addiction to certain people. But to openly state, that games do in fact cause illness. No, I don't believe that exists. But the sence of false accomplishment, detachment from personal worries... Addictions to these games can happen frequently. Epically to this new generation (Im 19, but im referring to children now...) that are being raised in our computer media based culture. I really think there is a select demographic of affected people, and the conditions that can exist. Its a tuff one to swallow... Everyones different

The person would have to be screwed up to start with.

I'm with you Rodney, kids should not be playing violent games as well as mentally unstable people. However, for the hard working average gamer it can be a form of stress relief and just pure enjoyment!

~NetAdmin08

blocked in sweden to

Romania Blocked

If I can learn morality from Fallout 3, I'm sure someone can learn to kill for pleasure.

I think it doesnt cause any mental issue... cus If you play is just to have some fun... and most of the people that have access to games are people that know whats good or what is not... so... if some one think that games make u sick ... i thing that person has a dirty mind...

Everything ok in Italy :)

By the way.. where's my nanosuit? i can't find it :\

lol

Anger issues ........... yes but mental health no.........

I play games since I was 12 years old and now I´ve 17 and never wanted to kill somebody... and I played a lot of Mortal Kombat

In games I; Speed pass other racers, Slay someone with a holy sword, flew a Spitfighter into a jeep, shot a tank with a rocket and threw a plasma grenade on an alien's face. I think I'm satisfied enough to play sports when off the console, although i could do that on it as well. . .

This video contains content from 3DGAMEMAN, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.

I think that the child's upbringing (Aka their parents) are always to blame in cases of violence involving children. Granted the violence that they display is a replication of that seen in a game, but the underlying root cause of the act was not the game itself.

I personally was allowed to play almost any game I wished (including Duke Nukem at the age of 8), I also owned and used three air rifles, two air pistols and two centre fire rifles (owned by my dad)from the age of 11.

I have yet to storm the local school and shoot up a load of kids.

Like you said a preexisting mental issue must be present for people to replicate what they see and do in video games. And also age appropriate as you also said kids are easily influenced.

Seeing how they just came out with Dead Space 2, I can see they are really trying to push the boundaries. Flashing lights, loud gun bullets, screams, seizure like gameplay and enough frustration to take out a controller or 2? Yeah, why not. People with strong mind are a minority and people who are addicted to distraction are common. Video games are mainstream so addiction to it isn't as security issue unless someone dies. Also you can't tell what the long term effects are until... a long time after you played the game. Personally I found no problem to the MW2 Airport scene BUT the war on America and fighting in the streets, Washington DC and helicopters dropping people sure as hell gave me shellshock.

if the person is not able to take the game as a different item than the real world then it seems they already have mental issues. so it doesn't make them. it reveals them

Yes they COULD! dead space has altered some of peoples minds i knew, trust me if it could do that it obviously means its 100% kick ass :D

No way, people are either mentally ill or they're not.

Rodney even agrees no way...
then later we agree children and some adults might
LEARN and IMITATE the behavior in the games, not
that they would cause mental illness.

Games are not the CAUSE for mental health issues. Atleast thats my opinion... But i think they can make things worse for some people who already have mental health issues. Its like doing everything else, like watching a movie or reading a book. Its all influencing you and how much it will do so depends on the person.

I can't watch the video (germany)

I know many of you have mentioned that this video has been blocked in many counties. I emailed YouTube about this and hopefully they will have an explanation.

This video has nothing in it violating YouTube rules, not violating copyright and nothing inappropriate. So I have no idea why it's blocked in these counties: Switzerland, Denmark, Belgium, Austria, Germany and possible more countries that I'm not aware of.

Aw snap. Also blocked in Switzerland :(

Blocked in Denmark

I think it is possible for some games to exacerbate existing mental conditions. I have read articles about psychologists using games to treat certain mental conditions especially severe phobias. For instance if someone has an extreme fear of heights, they might play a game such as Mirrors Edge to virtually deal with their fear.

When it comes to the issue of kids; I think that responsible gamers agree that most games are not geared towards young kids. The games do not contribute to mental problems, but reinforce certain behaviors that kids emulate. My online gaming consists of MMO and FPS games and I consistently see examples of hate in the forms of trolling, misogyny, sexism, and racism.

Also blocked in Belgium

I wouldn't say that gaming causes anything. People who have mental health issues have them regardless of what they do. A gambling addict (mental health issue) will still have an addictive personality, whether there is a casino around or not. So a casino didn't cause him to become an addict, he already was one.

So really, someone without any mental health issues will not develop one because of gaming.

There is a broad range of people out there, so there is always the potential for a person not handling this sort of thing well. It could be video games that sets him/her off, or something else.

I think this is a complicated issue, but it isn't the "gaming" per-se that causes the issues. Parents need to take an active role in their children's lives. They also need to provide guidence and be aware of the games their children are playing. This includes censorship. I have seen parents let their very young kids play GTA IV and games like that. It is close to allowing children to view porn and that is just VERY wrong.

Today, there are way too many "hands-off" parents that allow the gaming consoles to be a babysitter for thir kids when their kids should be outside with their friends socializing and playing.

If gaming causes a child (or adult) to behave in an inappropriet manner, there was a problem before the game got involved. It's like saying "Beautiful Women cause rape". That is a rediculous notion.

Been gaming since 1996 or so...my mental health is perfect!! I don't swear in the house, I don't get angry (EVER!, guess I got this gene from my dad), I can concentrate and read books just fine in the library for 5 - 6 hours...I game since its fun and nothing else :)

From Youtube: "This Video contains content from 3DGAMEMAN, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds". I hope this is just an error, otherwise I have to setup a VPN to my ded. server in Toronto.

P.S. I live in Austria

I'd say it would be depend on the person. I do believe that it can unearth or amplify mental health issues that were there to begin with.

I agree that it depends on a strong mind but disagree slightly on the age thing. I was watching horror movies as a kid and played GTA but have never felt to the urge to act out on things since I've always considered myself to be older in the mind even as a kid...knew that those things weren't good or acceptable...they were/are just games.

If the kids really small don't let him/her play like pretty violent video games they would get extremely attached and forget about everything else :s

This video was blocked in Denmark. Cant watch it.