Better to blame the digital devil that penetrates a child's thoughts than the metal one that penetrates his brain. Where such phobic attitudes are concerned, videogames follow a pattern set by other, much older cultural phenomena, such as pornography. Compare the modern campaign against videogames to the age-old one against smut and you will find many broad similarities. But the similarity between videogames and pornography goes deeper than just the approach taken by would-be censors. Of course, these abilities are not consistent with what we know about the limitations of the human body, but we accept them for the sake of gaming excitement.
Unrealistic premises animate both media.
But in each case, consumers make a self-conscious decision to cast aside reality so that they may enjoy a quick thrill. Of course, this principle does not apply to just any mode of fiction or interactive storytelling. The distinguishing feature of pornography and videogames is that they do not even pretend to make this attempt. In this regard, I am particularly interested in those who would have us ban pornography precisely because of the unrealistic quality I have described above. Pornography and violent videogames should be freely tolerated precisely because there is a firewall between the worlds they depict and the reality we inhabit.