So Law & Order: Special Victims Unit just aired an episode about video games that made the same tired arguments I've been hearing about the medium since I was a kid. Stuff like "they'll make you into a violent jerkbag" and "you won't be able to tell real-life from games" and even "you'll start using acronyms in real life conversations." And though I thought "Intimidation Game" (seriously?) was stupid and exploitative, I didn't find the depiction of gamers particularly offensive. Because the cartoonishly evil characters dreamed up as punching bags for Ice-T were just acting out the real threats I've been seeing all over the Internet for the past six months:

Washington Post

"Eureka! The episode writes itself!" -- an asshole.

Now let's get one thing straight: I play a ton of video games, and I'm not afraid to say it. I've been gaming ever since my cousin first showed me Rise of the Triad when I was, gosh, way too young for something like that. The happiest moment of the past month for me was discovering that I could download Baldur's Gate on to my cellphone, because it meant I could keep up my nostalgic trip down D&D lane even while pooping. Games are my favorite way to waste time, and I still think that we have, hands down, the shittiest community online that isn't an outright hate group.

But why? My theory is that it's because video games, more so than any other art form, are designed to get you addicted and that this addiction has turned a bunch of dorky but harmless people into raving lunatics. But I'm just a doofy Internet comedy writer, so I talked to Ciaran O'Connor, a psychotherapist from Brighton, U.K. who specializes in gaming addiction (he even wrote a book about it), and he told me ...