Garbage in...Garbage out, I won't allow it in my household either. The games I allow my sons to play is limited & rather benign. It really doesn't matter whether it is real or fantasy, I believe it effects them emotionally, I have seen it. Would you allow your kids to play "Grand Theft Auto" ? Gratuitous killing, stealing, virtual rape? I don't think that a case could be made that these things edify in any way, in fact they oppose the values I intend to instill in my sons that will some day be men.
OK.
Let's get down to the nitty-gritty of fantasy.
Fantasy is fiction, no matter what the level of vulgarity or violence involved.
But yeah, younger children are much more susceptible to believing fantasy.
But is it OK for children to play games where a cuddly creature shoots a flower at another creature to make it explode and win a bonus point?
I mean, a rose by any other name, is still a rose.
And killing is killing, whether done by a gangsta with a gun or a teddy bear with a flower.
I think just about any type game is mainly about problem solving, and not about actually fulfilling some need to shoot someone or blow someone up.
I have heard that if you stunt a child's imagination, you stunt the problem solving portion of their brain.
Don't know if studies have actually proven that or not.
Long story short, I think some folks just try to make mountains out of molehills.
And I think trying to turn fiction into reality is not the right thing to do.
I play Command & Conquer.
And I have never once played the game thinking that I was actually killing anyone.
All I do is try to figure out the best way to win the game (ie. problem solving).
And then it's back to reality!!!!