yes - a lot of negative and positive factors are involved !! But be sure that the child doesn't get addicted to play games like age of empires for 8-12 hours a day
i agree with Nueromancer. i don't think it's big deal, as long as you make them understand that it's just fantasy, and the play doesn't get violent in any way. i mean, my little brother was convinced he was a freaking Ninja Turtle when he was little, a while i did get clocked in the head with some foam rubber nunchucks a few times, he never actually got violent or too agressive about it. and my daughter loves the Powerpuff Girls, which has a fair amount of fighting in it. she'll run around the house yelling "i'm Buttercup! Pow! take that!", but she's never tried to actually fight with anyone--she knows it's just make-believe.
Dita, I totally see where you're coming from. And because I worked in a day care for 3 years, it became second nature to me to tell the kids "we don't play guns" throughout the day. I think I would prefer my 2 year old making farting noises and saying "I pooted!!" and laughing hysterically than playing guns. My nephew does this and it's hilarious. As for my boyfriend, I am almost positive he will disagree with me on this and probably play guns with the kid. But we'll see.
My girls don't play guns and I don't allow it in my house. I tell "Why would you play a game with a toy that in real life hurts people?" My daughters don't like to hurt anyone and so they don't play games like that. I don't let them watch violence. I am very selective about what they watch. I just find that it's not neccessary for them....and they aren't unhappy or anything they have creative minds and play other games!
You don't let your kids watch violence, and yet they're not sheltered? That's a prima facie contradiction. What happens if when your kids are out playing they see some kid hit another, or if they see a group of kids playing with THEIR toy guns? Do you cover their eyes?