Emotional Effect

I've been a gamer since grade school, and each year, as my income cooperates, I have been able to enjoy this hobby even more. I can't say how enjoyable it was to be able to purchase an XBOX 360 without worrying if I could make rent that month.
Obviously my tastes have matured and I've found which games I like, which I don't, and I can predict before ever putting a controller in my hand whether I will want to spend time in this entertainment mode.
After all, that is what games are: entertainment. If I was to put forth this premise: "Entertainment can have an emotional and physical effect, be it positive or negative, on the person being entertained." Can we agree that is correct?
After all, have you ever cried at the end of a movie? Cheered for your favorite sports team?
I will argue that video games have the same effect. Anyone who wasn't crushed when Aeris died in Final Fantasy VII is a soulless bastard. Anyone who doesn't feel their adrenaline race when playing veteran mode in Call of Duty 2 is not human.
That is why I can feel bad playing the "bad" guys. I don't want to be on the side of evil, I want to help the good guys!
Sure, I know that this is all fantasy, but games are becoming so realistic, so well scripted, that they are pulling the emotions right out of us. This is why I can feel bad about certain things, but great about beating others! When I beat a level in CoD 2 I've killed dozens of Nazis, but it is still a triumph and I feel that accomplishment. This is because I'm beating evil! (even if it is simulated...)
So, when I make a warning to parents to, for god's sake, PAY ATTENTION! It is because I recognize there is an emotional effect created by video games. The difference is that, as an adult, I can recognize these emotions and deal with them appropriately. I know that it is fantasy, and I have the emotional maturity to avoid any long term effects from them.
That isn't to say adults can't be effected. I challenge you to watch the news for an hour a day, everyday, for a month. Then, stop.
I guarantee that within a week you will be happier and enjoy your life more. Do you still want to know what is going on? Read a newspaper. Television news thrives on making people feel in constant crisis, therefore making them feel like they need to watch more.
Children are even more emotionally effected than adults. I remember my mother banning my brothers and sister from watching Power Rangers because everytime we watched the show we'd become much more aggressive and get in fights. I wouldn't let my children watch NEXT on MTV because I don't want them to think all teenagers are whores!
As for video games, I would never let my child play Grand Theft Auto Vice City, even though it is one of my favorite games of all time. No child is capable of dealing with the sexuality, violence, and language that are regularly a part of that game, but as an adult I can appreciate it the same way I appreciate a Tarantino movie.
Here is my summary: Video games are great entertainment, but we are fooling ourselves if we don't think they effect us emotionally. Adults need to be responsible for watching the entertainment their children consume, and we need to recognize that while video games themselves may not be "bad" they can certainly have a negative impact on children who already have deeper emotional problems.