Editor's Note: Now we have kids SAYING games made them do it to try to get off with a lighter sentance. Make no mistake folks, Games don't make you kill people. How you are raised, what you are brought up to believe -- these are the things that make kids kill people. Bad parenting, plain and simple, that's what makes (most) kids kill others. What happened in this case is a kid gets a hold of a gun, mimicks the game's actions. Boom. Dead friend. No good. But -- WHY WAS THE GUN LOADED, UNLOCKED, READILY AVAILABLE???? Who's fault is that? The game, or the parents?

DALLAS (Reuters) - Jury selection started on Monday in the trial of a 13-year-old Dallas-area youth charged with shooting his friend twice in a deadly attack the suspect's lawyer said was prompted by a day-long binge on violent video games.

The boy's attorney is arguing the shooting occurred when his client cut school with his friend to spend a day playing video games. The suspect mimicked the actions of violent games the pair had been playing, and used his mother's gun to shoot his friend to death as he acted out the video game action, he said.

Police say the suspect knew the difference between video games and reality and have joined law enforcement authorities in charging the boy with juvenile murder. If convicted, he could face up to 40 years in jail.

The victim, 13-year-old Jonathan Hogan, was shot in the head and chest on March 5. The gun was placed next to the victim's skin for one of the shots, police said.

Police seized 11 video games from the home of the suspect but did not list the titles in initial documents submitted to a Dallas juvenile court, court sources said.

The two teenagers from DeSoto, about 10 miles south of Dallas, were alone in the house at the time of the shooting. Opening arguments in the case are expected to start on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Hogan's family has filed a civil suit against the suspect's mother in a separate legal action, accusing her of negligence for allegedly leaving a loaded weapon in a place where it was accessible to children.

The name of the suspect has been withheld because of his age.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is in the process of preparing a report on both media violence and the ability of minors to access such content.

A report on the same subject last December praised the video game business for its self-imposed system of game ratings and its compliance efforts but said more could be done to strengthen controls at the retail level.