John Carmack on Violence in games

"People just play games now and I never took seriously the violence in video games debate. It was basically talking points for people to get on CNN and espouse their stuff on there," says id Software Technical director John Carmack. "And I really think, if anything, there is more evidence to show that the violent games reduce aggression and violence. There have actually been some studies about that, that it’s cathartic. If you go to QuakeCon and you walk by and you see the people there [and compare that to] a random cross section of a college campus, you’re probably going to find a more peaceful crowd of people at the gaming convention. I think it’s at worst neutral and potentially positive."
Source

 It does depend on who you are playing against. I have a feeling I caused quite a bit of rage during the JK2 / JKA era.

But I fully agree. At the end of the day, its supposed to be a game and something fun just ever so often someone takes a a little too seriously and ruins it for everyone else when the media runs away with a headline.