Kid + game + murder, the usual

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090113/ap_on_re_us/pastor_s_wife_slain

A 17 year old kid murdered his mother and attempted to murder his father after they took his Halo 3 away. Both victims were shot in the head. The father survived. The kid might be looking at life in prison though the defense is probably aiming for insanity.

I say WTF. Did this kid seriously consider his Halo 3 as more important then his parents?


Not quite as stupid as this:
http://www.bbspot.com/News/2005/06/real_life_death_match.html
But that's old news.. and fake too.
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
This story's about a month old, dude. It's just that he was convicted of the murder yesterday.

The way they wrote this and the media attention it got is pretty disconcerting. Yeah, I'm sure this kid's life was just PEACHY KEEN until Halo 3 got taken away. I'm sure he and his parents had a great relationship and everything was perfect, and it's just Bungie's fault for making a violent video game.  :schierke:

There's clearly other psychological and sociological factors to consider here, and the kid is obviously a broken individual. When someone is ready to go that far, and do something this heinous, it can be anything that finally pushes them over the edge. But nope, it's all the video game's fault.

I read the local paper's edition of this story (link), and the judge who convicted the kid said: "“It’s my firm belief as a human being, and not as a jurist, that Daniel does suffer from a serious defect of the mind,” Burge said. Any mention of that in the national edition? Nope. The video game murder angle is just too tempting!

I think I'll write a column for my paper on this.

Oh yeah, the judge also said: "Burge also noted that he believes further study of the effects of video games on the brain will eventually go far enough that it will be a valid defense to crimes and that those who suffer from it will receive mental health treatment."

Do you guys know anyone like this? Maybe like, 1:1,000,000 people who play games? How about -- they're actually just crazy, and could get addicted to any kind of visual/entertainment stimulus?
 
1

1cyberninja1

Guest
I've actually heard these types of stories before during my days playing Everquest. They actually claimed Everquest (and WoW because they're basically the same lol) were literally as addictive as drugs and it wasn't long before users and others alike started calling the game "Evercrack". And i have heard stories of people killing loved ones and themselves over both games. It's a sad and tragic thing and it just goes to show some people take things just a little too far. Although i will admit to being addicted to Everquest i wasn't THAT deeply addicted.

evercrack.jpg
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Those kinds of people were setup for addiction/failure long before the game came along and provided them with endless hours of entertainment. This is a societal problem.
 
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1cyberninja1

Guest
Walter said:
Those kinds of people were setup for addiction/failure long before the game came along and provided them with endless hours of entertainment. This is a societal problem.

Agree 100%
 

Scorpio

Courtesy of Grail's doodling.
Walter said:
Oh yeah, the judge also said: "Burge also noted that he believes further study of the effects of video games on the brain will eventually go far enough that it will be a valid defense to crimes and that those who suffer from it will receive mental health treatment."

Oh thank goodness! If I ever happen to go off my rocker and kill someone, I can just get some "mental health treatment" and walk. I own plenty of violent video games, so I can prove that nothing is ever really my fault!

On the bright side, at least I haven't heard Jack Thompson's name in a long time. Nice to see him fade into obscurity.
 

Russian Rainbow

The Prettiest Girl A Boy Can Be
Scorpio said:
Oh thank goodness! If I ever happen to go off my rocker and kill someone, I can just get some "mental health treatment" and walk. I own plenty of violent video games, so I can prove that nothing is ever really my fault!

On the bright side, at least I haven't heard Jack Thompson's name in a long time. Nice to see him fade into obscurity.

If I remember right he made a comment that pissed someone big off and they barred him from practicing anymore. :ganishka:
 
Носферату said:
If I remember right he made a comment that pissed someone big off and they barred him from practicing anymore. :ganishka:

I'm pretty sure his latest stunt was showing gay porno as "evidence" that he found from a gay porn link that was on his ??rivals?? website or something along those lines. The court was outraged and now hes become a bigger laughing stock.

I have no intention of looking into the matter to verify though. :azan:
 

Lithrael

Remember, always hold your apple tight
Yeah, specifically he uploaded gay porn (which he found by starting on an opponent's site and websurfing outgoing links from there to, of course, totally unrelated sites) to a publically browsable government site as evidence, where any kid in a library could see it.
 
Lithrael said:
Yeah, specifically he uploaded gay porn (which he found by starting on an opponent's site and websurfing outgoing links from there to, of course, totally unrelated sites) to a publically browsable government site as evidence, where any kid in a library could see it.

Oh man... I didn't realize it was available to the public like that. Wow... He sounds like an exceptionally intelligent adult. :schierke:
Well done Jack "the Jackass" Thompson.
 
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