Calling for responsible behavior based on personal freedom to act is all well and good but it often fails when it becomes time to create laws and place blame.

Dennis Leary used to have a skit about how we should decrease the population by removing all railings around high places. If you're stupid enough to fall off then you deserve to die anyway, and good riddance. If you think about it, there's some truth to that: I think that I would be fine if they removed all the railings, I'd just be a little more careful...but I'm still glad they're there. Maybe you can think of a better example, there are tons of them.

Here's how it works: If a large enough group of people cannot handle a substance or danger, then it's a good idea to make it illegal. If it's not illegal, but the producers know that it is significantly endangering the lives of enough people in a way that the people who are buying the product are not aware of, then the producers should be held accountable. Think cigarettes. No one has to smoke one. You can quit if you have enough will power.

Now, I am not saying that gaming necessarily fits those requirements, or that suing the gaming companies is a good idea. But I am saying that it is useless to say that because a person was being dumb when something happened, or irresponsible, then you can remove all blame from the manufacturer that was encouraging them to be dumb and irresponsible. Would that we could just make being dumb and irresponsible illegal, and avoid the whole issue with videogames, television, and cigarettes at once.

P.S. I'm sure someone's going to mention that cigarettes are physically addicting...but at some point the issue just becomes one of will power. If you don't have enough will power to quit playing a game, does it matter whether its your brain's fault chemically or your brain's fault due to some other environmental or physical factor?