So is it a coincidence that vast majority of popular titles contain violent themes? Of course not. So while I believe a good games doesn't need to be violent in nature what so ever, most gamers are looking for an escape from the humdrum of normal life. They want to do something they can't, which usually translates to shooting something in the face.

Take a look at EA forums for Fight Night Champion and the number of people complaining its too difficult to cut/injure your opponent and tell me graphic violence isn't important. :)

Good article- games don't need to be violent to be good is obvious, but why are there so many violent games and why are they so popular?

There's no point denying human beings are violent creatures though- it permeates so much of every culture we can't escape it. We're entertained by it, we're shocked by it, we want to constantly hear about it in the news, we celebrate it, we abhor it- we can't escape it. Violence is everywhere- or at least simulated violence. Not many people can abide real life violence, but we love violent stories, fictions, games, movies, novels, paintings, drawings etc.

Why? I dunno...

That's the thing that a few people have commented on already, it's obviously not needed but it has an appeal. An appeal that obviously is shared amongst some of the most popular games in recent history. It's really an issue of psychology and why we are attracted to such things. Having done a Psychology of Play class (though it didn't go very deep), I can only bring up the old selling point that video games enable us to do things that we would ordinarily never do. Does that mean we secretly want to commit violence in our daily lives? Not necessarily. But it's a new experience, an outlet for our frustrations, etc. It's all psychological.

Interesting article.