When/How did guns became standart for video games?

[hYpnochronic]

This is a really good point to bring up. I've noticed this myself. I think it comes down to two things:

1) It's a sign of the culture/society. Just look at Japan... they don't have a big gun culture. They have almost no gun crime as compared to the US. They also tend to shun FPS games and the like. Yet in America, games on the HD consoles almost have to have guns to succeed it seems (overall).

2) It's the mark of lazy development. It's a crutch. It's much easier to make a game with pretty backgrounds and just say "shoot everything you come across" than to try to make a game focused on gameplay mechanics of other kinds.

For the most part I tend to prefer games that refrain from guns. (I prefer Okami or SMG to Gears Of War or COD) Not necessarily from some ideological standpoint, but just as a matter of personal taste. I also think there's a huge difference between a "gun" like in the MegaMan or Metroid games and a true-to-life machine guns you find in the Call Of Duty series.

Somebody should find a % of games with guns as a weapon. That'd be an interesting statistic.