Violence in Video Games

I was considering violence in relation to video games as I write my final paper for "Theory & Aesthetics of Video Games" and although my paper is not on that particular topic I had some thoughts on it that I would like to express, so I will do so here.

I think that there are an awful lot of violent video games out there, but I don't think they are intrinsically bad. Just because a game is violent doesn't mean there is no point to it, in fact often the point of the game is far from violence, the violence is just a means to the end. War games are by definition violent (generally speaking) but the point is to win the war. Similarly gangster games are violent (like Grand Theft Auto, or Fifty Cent's game) although the story behind these is the portrayal of a lifestyle that is violent so the game has to have violence to be a true representation of the lifestyle. Similarly sports games are often violent in a physical sense as that is the nature of sports, but very few people will argue that sports games violence is bad, but as soon as the violence has a gun or a weapon it becomes violent and bad. Wrestling games are often seen as "bad" for this reason, because there is physical violence that nowadays involves weapons and blood. I'm not saying that all video game violence is acceptable, what I am saying is that it usually has a point that people who criticize it don't take the time to look at.
Another point I'd like to make is that perhaps the violence in games is, on some level, a good thing, again I don't want anyone to think that I am condoning all violence or saying that I don't find some of it excessive and gruesome. In fact some games seem gorey for no reason other than to be gorey, but perhaps that is a better form of violence. I am not by nature a violent person, but I, like everyone else, get angry from time to time and when I am in an angry mood I appreciate the violent games. I can go slay Barney in Doom, create a a wrestler who looks like my friend and kick their butt in WWE or simply go around San Andres shooting up the place and beating the crap out of people completely outside the context of the story of the game. I mean these are just examples of taking out my violence in violent games, I could just as easily create a Sim and drown it in a non-violent game or beat up some elves in Harry Potter or some building in the incredible Hulk. All games have violent aspects, some are just more predominant than in others. I mean really isn't it better that when people are angry they take it out on virtual worlds with fictional characters than going and "busting a cap in someone's knee" in real life? I think perhaps if there are others outlets for violence and anger other than real life it has the potential to make the world a less violent place, in a real world space. I'm not saying if Charles Manson had played video games that perhaps he wouldn't have killed people, but really who knows? He may not have killed so many people if he had San Andres.
I'm also not negating that some violent games give children ideas they never would have had otherwise (like Manhunt that represents a snuff film or Def Jam that represents gang fights) but I don't see how just because we see something on the TV or the computer we feel compelled to go out and do it in real life. Sure some people would, but some people will always be violent, regardless of whether they play video games or not, it's just the nature of man.