Hmmm, well I have mixed opinions.
To be honest this kind of thing reminds me of how I, and a number of other kids used to collect seriel killer trading cards when I was young. Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jack The Ripper, etc...
People, especially kids, are fascinated by this kind of stuff. People need to get used to it and stop acting like it's some new and shocking thing. It's just that technology has expanded and so has people's way of expressing it. Going "OMG" about this is just as ridiculous as someone complaining because Time/Life has released books on the subject of killers, crime figures, and all kind of atrocities. Not to mention what you'll find in the "True Crime" section of a book store.
There is also the troll factor, and the simple fact that people who aren't all that interested are going to act to shock people just for the five minutes of fame.
I also confess to having some definate questions about this case, and several other similar ones through the years. In Norway's case they seem to be remaining very, very quiet about the exact nature of the incident. The guy was some kind of political extremist, but at the same time blowing up a goverment building and attacking a youth camp are very differant types of crimes and don't "sync" with the motives. I remember an initial report claiming that youth camp was some kind of military training facility a "military youth camp" or something of the sort, but that disappeared shortly after things started to pick up steam, and it seems that the details of his motivations for attacking that camp and what went on there are being glossed over signifigantly.
Even crazy people generally have some consistincy to their delusions, and in this paticular case I think too much focus is being put on the killer, and not enough on what set him off. "He was just crazy" doesn't really suffice, and I think the Norweigan goverment should be being made to answer some questions here. I'm guessing that there was probably some connection between that goverment building and the youth camp, or at least a chain of logic that this guy was able to form, and I think there is a bit of smoke and mirrors to prevent people from looking too heavily in that direction.
Don't get me wrong, there really isn't any way to justify this, I just believe there are two sides to every story. Sort of like what happened with Heemeyer... sure the guy took a modified Bulldozer to town hall and a few other people's property... but at the same time everyone involved was responsible for screwing him in a real estate deal and stealing his land (which benefitted the town). People tried to cover that up somewhat (and it failed) because really the "crazy guy" actually had a pretty reasonable motive and the people whose property he demolished kind of deserved it. Of course then again I don't believe Heemeyer actually killed anyone, he just leveled buildings and shot himself.
At any rate, I'm rambling, but the point is that complaining about video games that simulate real crimes is much Ado about nothing. It's the Seriel Killer trading cards of this generation, it's disturbing, but that is pretty much the point. When tech moves on and kids get bored with this, something new and even more disturbing will come along to replace it. Heck, at some point we'll probably see some kind of neural interface technology where after crimes like this are committed kids are going to jack in to experience the thrill of being the killer or the victims or whatever.
To be honest this kind of thing reminds me of how I, and a number of other kids used to collect seriel killer trading cards when I was young. Ted Bundy, Ed Gein, Jack The Ripper, etc...
People, especially kids, are fascinated by this kind of stuff. People need to get used to it and stop acting like it's some new and shocking thing. It's just that technology has expanded and so has people's way of expressing it. Going "OMG" about this is just as ridiculous as someone complaining because Time/Life has released books on the subject of killers, crime figures, and all kind of atrocities. Not to mention what you'll find in the "True Crime" section of a book store.
There is also the troll factor, and the simple fact that people who aren't all that interested are going to act to shock people just for the five minutes of fame.
I also confess to having some definate questions about this case, and several other similar ones through the years. In Norway's case they seem to be remaining very, very quiet about the exact nature of the incident. The guy was some kind of political extremist, but at the same time blowing up a goverment building and attacking a youth camp are very differant types of crimes and don't "sync" with the motives. I remember an initial report claiming that youth camp was some kind of military training facility a "military youth camp" or something of the sort, but that disappeared shortly after things started to pick up steam, and it seems that the details of his motivations for attacking that camp and what went on there are being glossed over signifigantly.
Even crazy people generally have some consistincy to their delusions, and in this paticular case I think too much focus is being put on the killer, and not enough on what set him off. "He was just crazy" doesn't really suffice, and I think the Norweigan goverment should be being made to answer some questions here. I'm guessing that there was probably some connection between that goverment building and the youth camp, or at least a chain of logic that this guy was able to form, and I think there is a bit of smoke and mirrors to prevent people from looking too heavily in that direction.
Don't get me wrong, there really isn't any way to justify this, I just believe there are two sides to every story. Sort of like what happened with Heemeyer... sure the guy took a modified Bulldozer to town hall and a few other people's property... but at the same time everyone involved was responsible for screwing him in a real estate deal and stealing his land (which benefitted the town). People tried to cover that up somewhat (and it failed) because really the "crazy guy" actually had a pretty reasonable motive and the people whose property he demolished kind of deserved it. Of course then again I don't believe Heemeyer actually killed anyone, he just leveled buildings and shot himself.
At any rate, I'm rambling, but the point is that complaining about video games that simulate real crimes is much Ado about nothing. It's the Seriel Killer trading cards of this generation, it's disturbing, but that is pretty much the point. When tech moves on and kids get bored with this, something new and even more disturbing will come along to replace it. Heck, at some point we'll probably see some kind of neural interface technology where after crimes like this are committed kids are going to jack in to experience the thrill of being the killer or the victims or whatever.