Editorial: Why The Fascination With Gore?

This is my first editorial, and it will be rather short; I cannot properly respond to the question I have posed, simply because I do not have an answer.  With that in mind, read on.

There are many video games out on the market that can be fairly described as "ridiculously violent".  Manhunt immediately springs to mind, as does Grand Theft Auto, Postal, Gears of War, God of War, Mortal Kombat, MadWorld, and the like.  My question is, why are gamers attracted to this?

Let me start out by saying that I do not find pleasure in blood and gore, and I simply do not understand people who do.  In fact, I think there must be something wrong with these people.  I have a friend whose little brother (middle school age) is fascinated by blood and guts and heads exploding left and right.  He hasn't even hit puberty yet.  What the hell?  People laugh and get excited by these things in video games, but if they happened in real life, those same people would have an amazingly different response: one of disgust.  War and death is nothing to take lightly; killing a man and seeing his own blood come pouring out of his lifeless body is not a joke. Gamers need to understand that games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield, while fun, AREN'T REAL.  Having fun with a video game is one thing, however; reveling in blood spatter and visible intestines is completely another.  I don't care if it's virtual; it's SICK.  It definitely says something about the person in question.

Some of you may disagree with me; in fact, if there were more people reading this blog, A LOT of people would disagree with me.  Please do me a favor, and comment on this one.  I honestly want to know why gamers specifically love violence.  I have found absolutely no article about this topic, as if people are simply afraid to ask, and afraid to say that there is something wrong here.  Note that I too am a fan of Grand Theft Auto; I find it fun.  I do not, however, simply kill people to see their blood spray all over the place.  Thankfully, with the more realistic GTA IV, headshots no longer cause heads to pop off and spout fountains of blood.  Anyway, it's the same thing with Gears of War, God of War, and even Mortal Kombat.  I find them all fun, but I am not attracted to them because of the blood and gore they tout.

I await your explanations as to why gamers enjoy seeing virtual blood.