Do you think video games (in general) cause violent or asocial behavior in children?
When you say "behavior," do you mean outright acts of violence or something as subtle as a feeling of competition? Assuming the question meant the latter, to a certain extent, yes, video games does illicit aggressive tendencies; however, the same could be said for all forms of art, media, or competitive activties.
Do you think there are sub-genre's of video games (IE. RPGs, first person shooters, MMORPGs) that cause violent or asocial behavior?
As I said, certainly games can illicit aggressive behavior. Naturally, games of a competitive nature are going to garner more aggression by their very nature. It depends on the game.
Do you think unrealistic people in video games are giving gamers unrealistic expectations? (IE. Do you think all the big-busted women in games are giving boys unrealistic expectatations about their girlfriends?)
Actually, I do think that there a small grain of truth within that speculation. This is where the perception of reality stuff comes into play. Just as video games have portrayals of violence, they can portrayals of anything that are not the same as reality.
Do you think parents (generally) look at the ratings of the games they buy their children? Do you think they understand the ESRB ratings system?
On the whole, I believe most parents do pay attention to the ratings. Not every parent is as dumb or manipulative as those court cases and charges would imply. When I go to EB, Best Buy, or other game distributors, I often hear parents discussing with their children about the game ratings. It's a good sign.
Do you favor restrictions on video games, or do you think it'd be more effective to have parents monitor games more thoroghly?
To rephrase the question: Do you want the government to raise children, or should the parents raise the children?
Restrictions are entirely unnecessary, if the parents do their job.
Anything else you can tell me that might help?
Video games are another form of art and should treated as such. Critics would like to claim that video games hold no cultural value, but they only say that because they think every video game is Doom. It's hightime people starting taking the medium seriously.
