Had a client once that was allowed to play Left for Dead. He could perfectly mimic the sounds the zombies made and bit the everloving shit out of people. Behavior started when he was given the game, ended completely when I told mom he couldn't have the game any more. Came back when dad gave him the game again because what would 'some chick who doesn't even have kids know.'

You can't boil things down to 'games cause violence' or anything like that. It depends on the individual, the game in question, the amount of time spent in the game, etc. Part of it is we seek games that let us act how we want to in real life. Part of it is games do give us models and reinforcement for behavior we can imitate in the real world. Games are deliciously complex things.

You have to be really invested in a game to change your behavior. One-off activism games will make you think and then you'll forget about it like most change.org or gofundme causes.

An MMO might have the same effect that adults who grew up reading Harry Potter have regarding racism.

If I thought games could create changed behavior outcomes IRL, I'd have to never play GTA or its ilk.
GTA is primarily understood as escapism rather than taking it all in the same way you do with books. RPGs and MMOs are closer to books in engaging the reader's minds and being a part of that world.

Why do I keep driving on the sidewalk?

Hidden achievements/trophies.

Its bizarre that people have no issue believing books, movies, and music can serve as propaganda, influence opinion, change behavior, impact culture, etc.

But as soon as games come up that all comes out the window. As if an interactive film you spend more time with and have more input in can't do that.

I'm not sure if this is a general comment or directed at me, cause I'm in the camp that games can change your behavior.

I was looking at as if the games change your behavior subconsciously and immersion through playing long hours and staying up will do just that.

Kids are generally impressionable so you'll most likely see these changes with that demographic. Not so much with adults. Desensitization to different stimulus levels also a factor.

More of a general comment, not specifically towards you.

Are adults somehow less sensitized to stimuli? I don't know if I buy that, considering the estimated levels of gaming addiction. I mean, we have adults playing until they die.

Not all adults. How their mind works is also a factor.

There's a study of 14,000 college volunteers over the past 30 years and they found that people are 40% less empathetic than people in the 80s. The biggest drop off was after 2000.

Likely reasons? Just more exposure to everything with TV, the Internet, social media... games.
http://knowledgenuts.com/2013/08/25/humans-are-far-less-empathetic-than-they-used-to-be/

Another one I keep reading about are that kids who grew up reading Harry Potter are just better human beings in general. Many of those kids are now adults.

Gaming addiction will be there, but a significant change in behavior that is intended from a game probably won't change older people as much as younger minds.

Basically, violence in media does not produce violent kids. Early exposure (real or not) makes them more tolerant of it.

It's true, Mario made me pursue my career as a fungicidal plumber.

GTA pretty much inspired me to take my Road Trip from San Francisco to Las Vegas. I might well visit Washington State because of Alan Wake. And Nethack inspired me to eat the corpses of things I killed.

Minecraft made me punch a tree.