The conditioning effects are real - I know how they work and I know that they work, I just was unable to keep it from negatively affecting my son.
The personal irony for me is that I worked for several years in using tactical simulators to "train" (condition) high-end security and military "operators", so when I see so many kids "playing" at games that are 100 times more realistic and effectively conditioning than our simulators, I shudder at what they are in for.
Some will be just fine, some will be affected in ways they won't even realize are related to what they are doing, and some will get so screwed up that they are a danger to themselves and society.
Is it the games themselves? Maybe - maybe not. But why introduce a potentially harmful (and uncontrollable) variable into the equation if you can avoid it? Why risk it?
I don’t think there’s a one size fits all answer where consequences are concerned. I’m old enough to have come late in life to computers, and that’s fine by me.