Are computer games to blame for violent youths?

Video games that feature the occult could lead children to dabble in the dark side, religious leaders have warned. Zombie killing games like Resident Evil already appeal to the dark side of children’s nature, warned Bishop Bryant of Jarrow. 
"If people spend a lot of time in the company of games about the occult, those influences are bound to rub off," said the bishop.
Games makers don’t see Xmas in a spiritual light, but a crucial sales period more akin to retail festival, said one retail expert. 
Violent games will dominate the Christmas market and one Bishop said he was horrified that kids are subject to negative influence in a spiritual season.
"Engagement with the occult is extremely dangerous. If we dabble in this area we open ourselves to influences and put ourselves at risk. I regard any encouragement for children to be drawn into this behaviour with extreme horror," said the right reverend John Goddard, Bishop of Burnley.
"Children should not be exposed to [games illustrating evil],” said the archdeacon of Sodor and Man, Brian Smith. “There is the very real danger that they could also be encouraged to experiment."  
Games are designed to stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain, said Lewis David, director of research at Mindlab International. Mindlab advises games makers how to maximize the impact of a game. “War games can cash in on the fear and impotence of events in Afghanistan and Iraq,” he said. By measuring brain activity of games players, Mindlab can tell the games developers, like Capcom, how to tweak the games to evoke maximum impact. These days, a baddy to be killed is more likely to be a middle eastern terrorist, than a Russian, he said.
“Young people are disenfranchised. The games appeal because they give them an area of their lives in which they feel in control,” said David.
But de-humanising certain groups, a hallmark of ethnic cleansers, was not a tactic used by games players, he said.
One boffin claimed that games are actually good for children, and make them better adjusted. “Young men often have no control over their lives, but in a game they do, they’re given a level of certainty, whereas in the real world they’re in a world of uncertainty,” said Dr John Lynch, a lecturer in visual and cultural theory. Besides, he argued, in modern games players can switch roles and be a terrorist or evil baddie. This could help boys to grow up with a more healthy, inclusive attitude to life, he said. “You can put yourself in their shoes, and see events from their perspective.”