violence means nothing unless it takes place in real life...
violent movies and games are just there to satisfy our hunger..
very much like adult movies are there to satisfy a need... there's no message, they don't influence me to go out and have dirty sex with many women...
i know for a fact that i would never be able to point a gun at another human being unless it were to protect myself or a loved one...
however i always have my matrix/terminator fantasies where i would love to take out a group of bad people with almost every weapon known to man. many would think me crazy to say that, but i know many of my fellow male friends would also agree with me and say they've had those same kinda daydreams.
Maybe we all have that part of us that wants to be an action hero or a superman of some sort.
its all a fantasy.
but is it a fad?
perhaps. I feel the real reason it has gain so much popularity in games lately is simple. technology!
don't get me wrong, i loved playing shootem up games when i was younger, however lately they've raised that bar far and beyond. if you get your hands on the right game with the right hardware you get the most realistic fantasy out there, and there's no real gun involved.
It's about bringing it as close to reality as possible and then stepping back a little.
but thats how i feel.