Well Nathan, TV, music and pretty much everything else in America is blamed for violence. If it's not violent videogames, then it'll be gangster rap, or violent television and movies. Viedogames are unfairly blamed a lot of the time simply because they're an interactive medium and most teens have them or access to them. It's a lot easier for those groups to just say "oh well little Timmy clearly learned how to shoot from playing (name the latest violent game)" or "(game) clearly glorifies violence, and that's why little Timmy punched Johnny in the face."

It has been proven in several studies though that violent games will desensitize you to such violence. Now, this doesn't mean that you will become a killer or that you'll think it's fun or cool to just up and kill your neighbor. But look at it like this: You play Gears 2 and Fallout 3. In those games you can pretty much brutalize people however you feel, and they will wind up a bloody mess, exploded all over the place etc. This also happens in fairly good detail. After playing through each game at least once, you wind up killing a lot of things in a number of brutal ways. The kills become less exciting to you because you see them a lot. Now, imagine your grandma walks in and sees you chainsawing a Locust in half. She would be shocked just because of the violence. She knows you're not a killer, but at the same time, she's shocked at how bloody and brutal the game is. Hence, desensitization.

At the same time, it is true that there are people on both ends of the spectrum. Some people can tell fantasy from reality, others can't. Some people still think Santa is real, some people are Jewish. There are always two sides to a coin, and there will always be extremes. It's not really the fault of the game companies if one of the extremes gets their hands on a game, and cannot discern that fantasy from reality. I'm also sure that there are some people who secretly believe that shit like Harry Potter is also real. The only thing is that you can't ban an entire medium simply because a few people are developmentally disabled and can't tell the difference between fantasy an reality.

It is however, up to others to make that decision for them, and to keep things out of their hands when no good can come from it. You wouldn't leave your gun out on the coffee table when you baby sit.