Here’s an article from Stuff about a loser who beat up a police officer. From the article are as follows:
“Like a character from Grand Theft Auto, the game he played compulsively, Tim Reid went on a rampage, stole a police car, and left a policeman unconscious and bleeding on the roadside.”
“[Wellington District Court judge Denys Barry said] he committed violent offences and compulsively played Grand Theft Auto.”
“He said Reid was hardwired for violence and anti-social behaviour and programmed by his recreational pursuits.”
“Judge Barry’s concerns were backed by Family First national director Bob McCoskrie, who said violent video games were of far greater concern than violent television programmes or films. “Rather than observing the law- breaker you take on the role of the law-breaker . . .we think it desensitises certain people.””
The headline of this article is “Rampage blamed on GTA obsession”.
Fuck me, we’d better ban those games ASAP! Think of the children! Oh, and then there’s also this:
“[His lawyer] said Reid began smoking cannabis at five, was sexually and physically abused, and now abused drugs and alcohol. He had met his co-offender in the cells at Lower Hutt District Court, and when they were both bailed they began a road trip to New Plymouth.”
Uh … yeah … but you know, that’s not really very moral-outrage-inducing. Let’s instead focus on video games, shall we?
I suspect this sort of thing will go on until enough oldies die to make the number of people who play or played video games the majority.
On a related note, this, courtesy of the US Department of Justice statistics:
