The argument that children lose sight of reality and become part of a virtual world is similarly an old one and is also an issue for parental responsibility.

Using the TV and games console as a babysitter is a common practice and should be discouraged, of that there's little doubt. However, to then blame the computer for this seems simplistic, to say the least. There's a mounting body of evidence which shows that far from fighting to get kids off the games, parents are using them to keep their kids safe indoors, as the following newspaper article shows.

Game boys just want to play in the street
'Today's kids yearn to turn back the clock 30 years and stop being prisoners of their parents' fears. British children are blaming their parents for the fact that they spend so much time indoors watching TV and playing computer games, a major survey recently revealed. The survey, of more than 1,300 children aged six to 17, makes it clear that they resent being kept in and see themselves as battery kids, force-fed inside the home on a diet of TV, videos and computer games. Children would rather play outside in the street, as their parents did, go off on their own with friends or join in activities such as sport than be stuck in their lounge or, increasingly, their bedroom.'
(Source: Guardian Unlimited.)

I've managed to reach the grand old age of 30 with good exam results, an okay job, an intact brain and a clean criminal record. How I achieved that while playing videogames from the age of six is beyond me. Oddly enough, there are many more people who have, despite all the horrors and evils of videogames, done exactly the same. Even more sadly, the same people who so readily accost gamers as being the root of all evil are usually the ones whinging that they can't beat their kids up like they used to. Funny that...