Grand Theft Auto IV Blamed In Murder Case

[Headsprouter]

I think the problem here is not just the game, but a lack of parenting, and the game.

1. The child is 8 and playing GTA: IV
2. The child has access to a gun.

But whatever, if you don't want to control your kids and your guns have fun getting shot by psychotic preschoolers.
And does anyone feel the sneaky shot to the back of the head, with clear intent a little...worrying? I know he was brought up in a loving environment but it's still really weird.

 

[Quantum Glass]

"...Breaking News: New information has been unearthed regarding the recent Grand Theft Auto Grandmother killing. The late 87 year old Marie Smothers is believed to have played an internet browser game in which she took on the role of Saint, "Klaus," Nikolaus, the feared anti-semitic terrorist, distributor of harmful propaganda, and home invader. FBI CCRSB Assistant Director Raynor Schein has disclosed to the public that this game (Which has since been removed from the website hosting it) rewarded players for giving presents to children, including video games. The game's developer has been taken into FBI custody, and if the court finds him guilty for publishing it, will likely face execution by firing squad. Ladies and gentlemen of America, I believe I speak for all of us when I ask: When will this madness end?"

 

[kortin]

alright, let's ignore the fact that they left a gun out to where their child could get it. Let's also ignore that there were video games involved and let's ask one simple question:

Who the fuck is ruling this as a murder case? Do people really believe that a child, an 8 year old child, understands death enough to know that aiming a gun at the caretaker and pulling the trigger would severely wound or kill the person? I highly doubt it. What kind of fucking moron would look at this situation and say "oh yes, this was most definitely intentional and premeditated"?

 

[Riobux]

Well, I think it's topical, what with GTAV coming out next month.
I don't find that the quality here is declining, we've just been seeing a lot of stupid shit recently (Sim-City, X-Bone, etc)

No, it's not topical. It means roughly as much as hearing of a rape case while the rapist blasts out a Jay-Z song, with a Jay-Z album just around the corner. Absolute zilch. If it even gets the attention of any other news station, or even a Fox News talk-show part, will be a miracle due to how insignificant it is. This is a plastic bag blowing in the wind. This means nothing, is not topical in any way and will be forgotten within a month. All I can really say is The Escapist seems to be taking advise from Fox News. This is in terms of how to maximise attention (and therefore ad-revenue) by pushing news stories that mean a lot less than they suggest and provoking their fan-base.

Seriously, look through this topic and try to straight-face tell me everyone isn't rustled in one way or another in a meaningless manner. This death has been made more trival than video games.

 

[DataSnake]

Serious point: GUNS ARE NOT TOYS. What kind of idiot lets a child play with a loaded gun? Would you let Junior drive your car? No? Then DON'T LET HIM PLAY WITH YOUR GUN, YOU IDIOT.

Joking point: thank god he wasn't playing Saints Row IV, he might have taken out half the block with a well-placed freeze blast/dive bomb combo.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Shit, that article might as well have read
"Why twasn't the gun that kill'd er. T'was dah vidyagame! O'viously!
Gawd as muh witness, I swears we need t' ban them b'fore enneh-more 8 yurlds shoots mor people!"

If FOX News is going to stoop to mindless caricature in reporting, why the hell can't I?

Read the article: The fact that the kid was playing video game is being emphasized and demonized far more than the fact he had access to a loaded firearm.

Stupid sensationalist muckrakers.

 

[Psychobabble]

If the boy was watching Friendship is Magic, right before he shot the old woman would they still try to blame the medium? Or would they actually blame the fact that he was handling a loaded weapon unsupervised?

Well no of course they wouldn't because the activities in that show don't mirror the real life tragedy he committed. Unlike GTA.

Now I agree the biggest red flags about this incident is an 8 year old with access to a loaded firearm, and an 8 year old playing an M-rated game. However considering the other controversies lately that the game genre may be contributing to hostility towards women, or just general hostility, up to and including some game players making death threats against other people and their children, I think we as gamers once again just blowing this incident off as a non-game related event is a bad idea.

I've always taken the position that fiction and reality are not the same thing and that most people can easily tell the difference. But I am starting to wonder what about the people in our society who can't. My reasoning is that if this child was aping the actions he participated in while playing GTA and this led to the death of an innocent person, then GTA is indeed a contributing factor. Now the child being under 10 years of age means he will not be prosecuted for any crime as legally it's believed he is under the age of understanding right from wrong, that he doesn't have the mental capacity to understand the consequences of his actions. And the scary thing about that is remember all the adult mass murdering shooters we've had lately? They've all had psychotic breaks with reality and can also not tell fiction from reality. And that's the key word, adult. These people are able to play these games unmonitored and also legally purchase firearms. So if there is any possibility that a violent game such as GTA had any impact in this sad situation I think its time we as gamers stopped automatically gainsaying the possibility there is any link between games and violence and instead try to be a little more open minded.

 

[Erttheking]

I think Extra Credits pointed out that the gun was in a case. An UNLOCKED case. For fuck's sake, you need to take an exam before you should be allowed to have a tool designed for killing.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Naturally a videogame that the child should have no way been playing is to blame, not the loaded gun he had access to. Maybe GTA is to blame for the gun part too, after all GTA rewards players point for leaving loaded firearms in the vicinity of children. It also gives you points for making shit up about videogames to protect gun ownership, because guns can do no evil. It's a widely known truefact that there wasn't a single murder in the world until videogames were invented. Which is GTAs fault somehow.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

No, it's not topical. It means roughly as much as hearing of a rape case while the rapist blasts out a Jay-Z song, with a Jay-Z album just around the corner.

...That's kinda because it's the same thing in a sense: A horrible event happens that people claim is related to the latest in a series of Media.
I'm certain that if that actually happened in real life, there would be a similar story from Fox News, albeit with more racist undertones.

All I can really say is The Escapist seems to be taking advice from Fox News. This is in terms of how to maximise attention (and therefore ad-revenue) by pushing news stories that mean a lot less than they suggest and provoking their fan-base.

Now that's going a little extreme.
I've actually tipped off the Escapist regarding a news story involving a congressman wanting to pass a bill that would place stickers on X-Bone's on Retail stating that the Kinect had a camera on it as part the fallout over the NSA spying.

My guess is a bunch of people tipped them off to this and they ran with it.

Seriously, look through this topic and try to straight-face tell me everyone isn't rustled in one way or another in a meaningless manner. This death has been made more trivial than video games.

Welcome to the Internet, This happens with everything.
That story about the COD Dev getting death threats over Balance updates less then a few weeks ago is an example.

 

[Snotnarok]

Guys stop trying to blame anything else besides a game, it has nothing to do with the fact his parents weren't paying any attention to him, making sure he understood the game was not reality, or having some gun safety and making sure the fire arm was locked away.

It's JUST the fault of ONE thing, not any group of things just one.

 

[Subscriptism]

8 year old had access to a gun and an 18 rated video game.

How about we just don't let children have these things?

 

[Arkaijn]

I woulda shot her too if she'd gotten me a PS3 instead of a 360

 

[00slash00]

I know that. I would've said nothing about it if it was a parent/sibling, but I wouldn't consider a caregiver family. Again, I asked because I really don't know if that kind of thing is the norm over there. If it is, then don't mind me.

I don't know if it's that normal, but I don't think it's so unusual that it would cause anyone to raise an eyebrow. When I was really young I remember having nightmares on an almost nightly basis and would often wake up in the middle of the night from a bad dream, and go sleep on the floor in my parents room. If my parents weren't around and I instead lived with a caregiver I trusted, I imagine I would have slept in their room instead

 

[Hero in a half shell]

Yea, just keep dancing around the real issue, which is America's gun culture. As long as no one is willing to acknowledge and do anything about that problem you should be prepared to pay the price of ignorance in the blood of your own people.

Here in the Netherlands we are required by law to get a permit and background-check before you are even allowed to handle a gun. You are also forced to store your personal guns and ammunition in separate safes in your house. This to prevent accidents such as this from even occurring. It's not watertight, but it is still preferable to lawlessness concerning deadly firearms.

Great Scott you've cracked it!

In order for this to never happen again all Americans should be required by law to get a permit and background-check before you are even allowed to handle a videogame. They should also be forced to store their personal consoles and games in separate safes in their house.

 

[Lunar Templar]

*headdesk* there are SO MANY THING WRONG with this.

why was an 8 year old playing GTA4?
why did the 8 access tot he gun?
why did the share the same bed? >.> that's just creepy to me...

though, you can answer most those with 'it's the south', guns are never the problem down there.

 

[Nokturos]

Hundreds of thousands of kids that age play violent video games, and 99.99% of them don't go imitating the games in real life. Kid's a sociopath, simple as that. It wasn't mentioned why he lives with an 87-year-old woman, but I assume his parents are dead, which may have been the actual root cause of his violent outburst.

 

[Yokta]

I woulda shot her too if she'd gotten me a PS3 instead of a 360

You just used the tragic, controversial death of an innocent grandmother to preach your side of an increasingly pointless console war. Not cool, Arkaijn. Not cool.