Eh I played when the OG Mortal Kombat came out all the time at the local pizza place when I was like 9, and I turned out fine. I’ve only murdered a handful of people so far. It’s not like I became a cop or anything like that.
Yeah, I’m not worried my kids will become serial killers or something, but I am a little worried about them “playing” Mortal Kombat in real life w/ their friends. I had friends who practiced “professional wrestling” moves, and I’m worried someone could get hurt reenacting what they saw in the games. My kids reeenact DND/FF-style things w/ friends, and fortunately that’s pretty harmless.
By the time I was about 12 or so, I stopped doing that kind of reenactment, so I think that’s a decent time to let kids start playing those games. I’ve played a ton of violent video games (lots of Halo, GTA, etc), and I’m pretty chill and would never hurt a fly. Video games don’t cause misbehavior, but they certainly attract deviants who would likely hurt others anyway.