Videogames Made Halo 3 Killer Do It After All

[Sylocat]

Fuck that, he was mentally unstable, probably has autism or somthing like that and is obsesing or the fucking game...

Er... psychopathy ≠ Autism.

I didn't mean that see my brother autistic and he obsesis over games that why I have 11,000 gamerscore in 3 months.

This goes way beyond "obsessing over games."

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

"This Court's opinion is that we don't know enough about these video games. In this particular case, not so much the violence of the game because I believe in the Halo 3, what it amounts to is a contest to see who can shoot the most aliens who attack."

"It's my firm belief that after a while the same physiological responses occur that occur in the ingestion of some drugs. And I believe that an addiction to these games can do the same thing. The dopamine surge, the stimulation of the nucleus accumbens - the same as an addiction. Such that when you stop, your brain won't stand for it," he continued. "The other dangerous thing about these games, in my opinion, is that when these changes occur, they occur in an environment that is delusional. Because you can shoot these aliens, and they're there again the next day. You have to shoot them again. And I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea, at the time he hatched this plot, that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever."

...okay, I'm sorry, what?

I think we do know enough about "these video games" by an overwhelming amount of real-world evidence- i.e. TENS OF MILLIONS OF GAMERS WHO HAVE NOT SHOT THEIR PARENTS- to know that this was a case of an abberant mentality seizing upon one particular adverse circumstance as justification for violence. If it hadn't been a game, it might have been a girl, or a television show, or scheduling a Bible studies class.

Let's quit feeding the technophobia. "These video games" do not turn sweet, loving children into cold-blooded killing machines. There were deep-seated issues here, and Halo 3 was simply the random spark that lit the fuse.

 

[Svenparty]

God Only Knows what would have happened if He had picked up Rayman Raving Rabbids or Katamari...maybe even one of those weird Japanese backrubbing games.

I also would like to add that now, we should arrest Namco for inspiring kids to listen to repetitive electronic music in darkened rooms whilst popping pills

 

[omglaserspewpew]

Funny thing is, few of the commenters here actually realized that this man was able to put his personal beliefs aside in order to remain prefessional. Moreover, his reflections aren't all that absurd, when you, you know, manage to read them without all that teen angst that most of the commenters here apparently can't seem to avoid. He makes some propositions that are actually the point of research in some cases - I'm talking about possible addiction mechanisms. And no he didn't say that every man on the earth can become a mindless zombie just by playing Halo 3.

But the most funny thing I see here is - people apparently know way more about Petric that the judge that was dealing with him whole last year.

 

[Sprogus]

Each day I might have to start killing people named Kenny, and when I'm caught I'll just say that South park made me believe that people named Kenny would simple reappear in the next episode.

Hell while I'm at it I'll find a chick that likes to be strangled during sex and when she does and I'm caught I'll say the sex made me do it.

It's ridiculous, you can blame pretty much anything as a reason for killing, yet the focus is on the video games.

 

[Canebrake]

Separation of games and Real life are a given,millions of people can do this fluently on a daily basis.
You get one wacko and all of a sudden games are the cause?
How did he get the game anyways? don't you have to be 18?
And how would he be addicted to said game if he couldn't play it in his home?

If your addicted to weed(say,WoW) Your not just going to say OMG I need CRACK! and shoot people over it.

This sounds like it happened in the 60's,minus halo 3 of course..
Judges make a point of not understanding anything modern or controversial it seems.

The kid's a Johnny boy,he just didn't give a damn. Is that so hard to understand?
Perhaps he was rather harassed by his parents,and their decision was the proverbial Straw that broke the camel's back.
I'd be much quicker to blame overly harsh parents who can't compromise than a game.

 

[meatloaf231]

Well, look on the bright side: almost everyone who thinks video games are terrible things are older than the average gamer. This means that they'll probably all be dead long before we are. This, alongside the fact that video games are becoming far more widespread rather quickly, means that the current generation of gamers is probably going to be one of the last that has to put up with this sort of thing.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

We don't know enough about these videogames! Or these children with their ROCK AND ROLL and their dancing! I blame the communist chinese. Thats where these videogames are made right? In China? Oh well somewhere in Asia, they're all communists anyway. Someone bring me my ham and mayonaise sandwhich!

This kid wasn't addicted to shit. He was laid up at home with no social contact and no scenery changes for months. Any pyschologist can tell you thats not HEALTHY. "All work and no play make Jack a dull boy...".

 

[MercenaryCanary]

Damn it.
JUST when we were starting to seem credible and JUST when Jack Thompson had stopped being a lawyer.
Damn it.

 

[sheic99]

*sigh* This is going to have some bad reprecussions, despite this judge coming across like the "The Internet is a Series of Tubes" guy. The whole "We don't know enough about these "Video Games"" statement makes me worried.

Yes despite the number of studies done in Universities over the past 10 years (about 30 in case you're wondering), which run similar to the TV version that has been practiced for the last 50 years or so.

 

[ThePoodonkis]

I hate people.
For some reason, "sociopathy has to come from some trigger that brings a response".
What happened to being just a crazy sociopath?
Next thing you know:
Dahmer: questionable TV
Jack the Ripper: Questionable Books
Unabomber: PONG

So much hate on Games, but look at movies, books, TV, music. It all has the same message!
Example:
Mass Effect: "lesbian sex scene" Oh No!
"I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry: All over the radio!

 

[Slayer_2]

Ok, I've come up with a great idea. If I ever get accused of murder, I'll pull out the "Games made me do it!" card.

 

[the farkinator]

Jesus Christ, not more of this nonsense.
I hope somebody finally does some serious trails and proves one thing or the other, because I'm sick of people truly not understanding videogames.

I totally agree. However, as long as nothing like Germany happens here, I'm fine. Not that I am insensitive or anything, but I think that this kid obviously had something wrong with him. If there are enough gamers, something like this is bound to happen, and it's not the game's fault.

 

[captain awesome 12]

I think video games are up there with George Bush as scapegoats to blame the world's problems on.

Really though, if games were having so much of an effect on people murdering other people wouldn't cases like this be happening more often? There are at least 50 million gamers out there, or at least people who play games or have played games. Going by this logic, there should be mass sociopathic murderers all over the place, running around with chainsaws cutting up other people, plants, and animals.

 

[Yegargeburble]

That's...kind of depressing. Crazy kid kills parents, and games get blamed on it. I thought people would have grown out of the "video games make killers" argument by now.

 

[a7r0p05]

You know what has the same effect on the chemicals in the brain as Heroin as well:
-Your favorite food
-Chocolate (not because it's your favorite food, it's because of the chemicals IN the chocolate)
and...
-Sex.

So lets ban eating, candy, sex, and video games...THIS PLAN IS FLAWLESS!!!!

 

[Andy Chalk]

Here's the part I'm having trouble getting my head around.

And bear in mind that I live in Canada, so that may have something to do with my lack of comprehension in this particular matter.

But in all the arguments and debates and commentary about whether or not Halo 3 had anything to do with this, I haven't seen one person - not a single one - point out that nobody would've been shot at all if there hadn't been a fucking loaded gun in the house.

Kinda weird, eh?