It's February 27th, 2004...

14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah is lured into Stoke Woods Park, Leicester and stabbed to death by Warren Leblanc, 17. The following July, his parents blame the 18-rated video game, Manhunt, in court.

Stefan's mother, Giselle, calls for violent video games to be banned, stating that Leblanc had become "obsessed" by the game, and used similar methods seen in it to murder Pakeerah. 

She said: "I can't believe that this sort of material is allowed in a society where anarchy is not that far removed.

"It should not be available and it should not be available to young people."

Manhunt's implications in the murder were soon rejected, but the moral panic of violence in video games has never gone away. 

As a gamer, it's easy to dismiss the seemingly constant reports seen in newspapers and news broadcasts about the worries of video game violence and addiction. It's less easy to ignore the reports found on sites like EverythingAddiction.com that show video game addiction to be similar to gambling addiction, or examples of people's health being gravely affected by playing too many games.

Is there really a reason to be concerned over game violence? Can game addiction be as dangerous as other common addictions? Through interviews with industry insiders, gamers themselves and concerned individuals, this blog aims to dive deep into this issues.

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