Video games and violence! (updated)

How often do we hear after some massacre that the person responsible had been playing the latest war video game or the like of GTA ? It seems like each time it happens this line is brought out of the cold. But why? Is there any validate to this statement?

Do Video games cause violence ?
(I have exam-end this topic before on our website www.Clark-trading.co.uk)   And have decided  do so again in more detail.

Firstly yes this is a commonly held view among many people out there. And lets remember every time a new GTA comes out a lot of the negative press is in fact paid for by Rock star to draw attention to the product and control a lot of the negativity.
Using GTA as a starting point with the exception of war games GTA is one if not the most violent video games on the market were you can murder people in a wide range of ways that is with out a doubt a fact no matter were you stand on this debate. but lets remember these games are a 18 for this reason. The same arguments used to say video games cause violence can be used on movies and books.

I do accept violent video games can change the way a young child act and thinks to a certain degree and that is why there is a age certificate system in place.  If a child is playing Gta or the like there parent have got it for them and believe they can handle it rightly or wrongly as the case may be. Yes to a certain point children struggle to tell the difference between fact and fiction and they should not be playing these games in fact they where not made for them anyway.

A simple fact as I see it is a person playing violent video games will not go out on a rampage simple due to playing these games.So to say this game or that is the single a person did the violent act is simply wrong and giving them an excuse for there actions a crutch. And this is not helpful to them or their victims it deems the victims. If a person can not tell the difference between the game and real life they have a problem and it is bigger than the game they need help and giving them an excuses for there actions is not the help they need is it? NO!
For a person to go out and commit act of violence there has to be a underlying reason and the video game by them selves is not that reason it may in some extreme case help but that all.

Update
Video games have been blamed for violence on numerous occasion since their invention. But let face it did massacres and the like not occur prior to the early 1990's?
You can make many of the same arguments on video games causing violence with movies and books. The only difference is how imersive a video game is

Thanks for reading