You really need to delete or edit some of the previous posts as, unfortunately, many racists and bigots have invaded the comments for this article.

You make very good points concerning the important issue of violence in video games, particularly when combined with propaganda from the US military. In our day and age, unfortunately, many games contain violence, but this becomes especially problematic when coupled with an obvious agenda.

One of my friends bought a game called “Call of Duty 4″ because it is a top selling game and received good reviews from video game websites. When he started playing it, the fact that he was killing Arabs really bothered him (being Arab himself). I think Americans need to realize how sensitive these issues are for Muslims throughout the world.

I’m sure that this type of propaganda is somehow related to hate crimes and violence against American Muslims as well. Though, I would suggest Hollywood movies or Fox News are the major sources of racism and bigotry against Muslims.

Being a Muslim myself, I try to avoid games which have an obvious agenda. This is one of the reasons why I cannot play games such as “Call of Duty 4.” I prefer playing games such as Halo and I also like Metal of Honor.

Lets look at it from a psychological standpoint
If the fantasy of violence didnt already exist in peoples heads, then this “tool” would be ineffective. but lets face it, shooting things is fun. And lets be realistic, this violence is all of the medias; movies, television, radio, music etc.

lets look over one of your paragraphs:

If a youth was to spend fourteen hours a week playing such a game until they completed their mission, they may have more of a chance of wanting to experience a battle in real life, perhaps by joining the army. But this virtual reality strategy may backfire, as youth could turn the negative energy they gain through vandalism or other violent crimes.

In two sentences you used FOUR hypothetical arguments which could not be proven. This is a biased blog and you know it

Interestingly enough, the latter has valid references.

At least this blog allows us to criticise said article in the first place. I know some places that don’t even allow criticism whatsoever. (ie. Anyone who doesn’t agree with you whatsoever regardless of quality of the post is DELETED)

If America’s Army were brainwashing youth into joining the military, why does the US have to send existing troops on return trips, second and third deployments? Recruiting numbers should be through the roof if this game were doing what you say it’s intended to do.

Citizens of the United States enjoy freedom of choice. We choose to play what we play. 40% played America’s Army before joining you say? That’s because it’s virtual brochure, they don’t pretend that it’s not.

The most popular game on the planet is World of Warcraft. Over 10 million have subscribed, if you hadn’t heard. If anything, this game alone has been a drain on recruitment to America’s military. Haha.

The fact that this position is advocated, or even not outright refuted, by many “mainstream” Islamic politicians also serves to brainwash their people.

In contrast, America’s Army doesn’t have/advance a substantive political message. Further, the target audience, American teenagers, are on the whole more educated than most people in the world, and the more educated an audience is, the less effective any supposed brainwashing/propaganda tends to be.

So, if you’d like to address the purported epidemic of violence, go for the lower-hanging fruit of Islamofascism.

Much worse is the propaganda by Hamas and others that targets children (Nahool and Farfour for instance) and brainwashes them to believe that they are warriors who should be prepared to die as martyrs. Parents who teach their children this way ensure that there will never be peace.

In any case, whether it comes to teaching your children, or blogging about your beliefs on the Internet, the great (infidel) Ghandi said it best:
“Better than a thousand empty words, is the single word that brings peace.”

First of all, if you’re trying to win a discussion, one shouldn’t stoop to personal attacks, since it makes you look petty. I mean come on. Calling us “nerds with no life” just because we criticise this article for it’s fallacies pretty much tells us that we’re winning the argument and that you’re grasping for straws. After all, you wouldn’t take someone seriously if someone called you an infidel because you are more knowledgeble in the topic than the other guy.

Also, for a person who’s supposedly “better than those who play them video games”, you sure don’t know how to put capital letters in front of sentences, or basic paragraphing.