Guns Don't Kill People - Games Do?

All of those things are obvious, straightforward conclusions - but videogames isn't the only, or even the most important, common factor. It's parenting, and the biggest hurdle society faces is that nobody knows how to fix parenting when it's broken.

Should the government offer advice and be accused of nannying? To an extent, it's tried with varying degrees of accuracy and success. Can it legislate to force parents to do a better job of bringing up children? Social care ticks that box at an extreme end, but realistically there's nothing practical the government can really do except encourage parents to educate themselves more fully about the risks and potential dangers - it can't create better parents overnight.

And because that's a tough issue, which needs a lot of thought, input and investment from any number of sources, it's too difficult to process into a nice, attention-grabbing headline, and therefore the easy answer is to look for a different solution.

Does that mean we should give up trying to improve the situation? Of course not, and action is being taken. The industry's already combating the obesity issue in some ways by producing huge-selling active titles such as Wii Fit. Obviously, that's not a solution, but it might become part of one, while a greater focus on age ratings and the restriction of adult content with the forthcoming PEGI system is an attempt to curb inappropriate access for children.

But even as and when that is written into UK law that too can only be part of the solution, because if parents aren't doing their part, nothing the industry does will make any difference.

That's the point at which the industry has to apply a little bit of perspective to the flak it seems to be getting. Yes, the stories are ill-researched and unfairly misleading. No, it's unlikely that in the short term anything much will change.

However, stepping back, what's really likely to happen as a result of this latest attack on games? Frankly, very little. People won't stop buying videogames because of the danger of contracting Rickets - let's face it, the economy's been a far greater danger to sales in the past year - but some parents might actually think a little more seriously about balancing their kids' lifestyles as a result.

And, being honest, if the research in question was broadcast in it original form without any claims subsequently attached, would anybody have paid any attention? If there was no fuss made, no inflammatory headlines, would anybody have even blinked? Very doubtful, and that would certainly do nothing to prevent this particular situation from getting worse.

Ultimately, the industry needs to lose its persecution complex and change its mentality to understand that sometimes it just needs to take it on the chin. The business of games has grown beyond recognition in the past 20 years, and with the good times will come the bad.

It doesn't mean that we like it, or that it's fair, but we have to accept that it will happen. As long as the industry continues to improve its messaging on issues that are genuinely important (such as age ratings) it will continue to strengthen its argument that videogames are a cultural and creative expression - and eventually we will sit on par, in society's mind, with other more established media.

In the meantime, don't be surprised if such ill-informed, ill-judged headlines continue. Thankfully, the industry is big enough to take it.