And again, the big "Satan ruins youth through " argument comes to the table.
At some point it was Nicola Paganini, a violinist who could play really fast, was told to have sold his soul to the devil. Then certain theatre pieces were thrown into the damnhole by the church(even before paganini, I just like the dude). Every new style of music has been the bullseye of satanism-claims. First, Elvis' hip-thrusting dancing was considered bad, then the Beatles had long hair(Ha!). Judas Priest got sued because some kids killed themselves, and they happened to like Judas Priest. Now Games are up. Well, let's just see how that turns out.
Let me end with some thinking and quoting.
As Paganini responsed to the accusations:
"I don't mind how people talk about me, as long as they talk about me at all."
The response of a friend of mine when his parrents asked him if playing DeltaForce: BHD didn't alter his image of reality:
"Sure, in real life I always have a gun and 5 handgrenades with me."
And my personal opinion on the relation suicide-mediums:
If one turns to suicide, one is usually out of options. They have sought help or a solution in other ways before ending the game. Every type of music finds a type of person:
-HipHop/Rap: young people growing up poor, wishing to end up rich, whilst living the tough life on the streets.
-Scattered over the genre-board, but sharing a subject: Heartbreaks. Failing love is always sad, and listning to a song about it makes you feel a little better.
-Metal: Usually some form of self-hatred or feeling left out. My personal choice. My life never really made sence until is started listening Iron Maiden at first. I switched to metallica pretty fast, because their songs fit my feelings better. Then my life made sense when I listened to Children of Bodom's "Are you dead yet" on a friends MP3-player, and I felt exactly that way, not sure where I'm at, but pretty sure it's the wrong way.
Just some examples of music dealing with troubles, where the troubles on their own are enough to cause pain/grief/aggression, or in the worst case suicide/murder. Music can delay that, or even cancel the plans, for you learn that you're not the only one with those feelings, and there's someone out there who feels what you feel.
Games are exactly the same. Let's do a quick rundown of some big game-genres:
-RPG's and RPG-likes: Heroism. Taking on the big, bad world on your own(or a group for that matter), and taking down evil. You're not telling me that you'dd do that IRL, will you? It gives a sence of fullfillment and use to the world. MMORPGs do the same, but with an added social element. You're together with people who generally feel the same as you do, and want to escape life for a brief moment.
-FPS's: Pretty much the same thing, but the general difference in games earns them a special mention. The general idea is the same though.
-Sims: Well, isn't that appropriate on the Sims' 10th anniversary? Sims are an escape from your own, imperfect life, in an attempt to make a better one where everything goes your way. Or just torture the little people for lulz, also to make you feel better.
-RTS's: same hero thing, except now as a high commander, overseeing all that exists and you create, to stomp all over an enemy(evil) to conquer the world. The same hero-thing.
-Guitar Hero and clones(FoF, RockBand): The dream of being a loved musician is something that makes even the greatest mind boggle. Another escape from reallife.
Again, the feelings displayed are no must or don't have to be severe, but when even the surrogate doesn't make you feel good, suicide or murder can be an option(though not a good one IMHO).
If the surrogate is then found, it's like a smoking gun. Though the victim may be bludgeoned to death, a smoking gun suggests shooting, not having a gun for selfdefence and getting killed by what you fear...
