Games Had Nothing To Do With V. Tech Shooting 99
GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that an inquiry into the Virginia Tech shooting in April of this year has revealed no connection whatsoever to videogames. The shooter's lack of interest in violent gaming was widely reported among game news sites at that time in the year, despite the exploration of the idea on cable television news. The official report, filed with the governor of the state, lays that 'motive' to rest. From the article: "The report, which includes a mental health history of the shooter, Seung Hui Cho, notes that during his childhood he had 'played videogames like Sonic the Hedgehog,' yet 'none of the videogames were war games or had violent themes.' This flies in the face of statements made on Fox TV news by Jack Thompson in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, which laid the blame for the incident firmly at the door of videogames."
*surprise* (Score:4, Insightful)
Can we afford such blindness?!? (Score:4, Insightful)
Jesus, he was abnormal. Why didn't anyone notice this obvious deviation from normality in time to stop his brutal rampage?
Seriously. I play violent games so I don't kill people. As games have gotten more violent, violent crime has gone down in the big gamer demographics...Correlation may not equal causation, but it is nicely suggestive.
Re:*surprise* (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Can we afford such blindness?!? (Score:2, Insightful)
wtf people. (Score:5, Insightful)
Look. This is past. Cho is dead, the unfortunate people who were in the right place at the wrong time are dead, let their families and friends mourn in peace.
Re:Can we afford such blindness?!? (Score:2, Insightful)
pointing the finger in the wrong direction (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:the same is true for porn. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:wtf people. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not justifying what he did, and of course I empathize much more with the victims and their families, but Cho's story is sad, not infuriating. No human being is "just" anything. If everyone shared that willful ignorance mankind would have no will to learn about its own nature.
Re:I blame selective journalism (Score:3, Insightful)
It has nothing to do with agendas. The exception is news, the rule is not ("man bites dog is news, dog bites man isn't"). No, what you should be suspect of is self-appointed experts like our friend Jack Thompson here, who use speculation as if it were well established fact in order to further their own personal crusade.
Society has survived Rock and Roll, television, comic books, Heavy Metal, and Rap, which were each charged with corrupting the youth of the world by Luddites. I'm confident that society will survive cellular phones, the Internet and video games just as easily, and that the Luddite's predictions of doom will be just as false in this matter.
What surprises me most is that the people who grew up with comic books and rock music as the boogiemen-du-jour are failing to see the parallels to these new social trends.
Re:Can we afford such blindness?!? (Score:3, Insightful)
Multiple people noticed. They intervened, he was investigated by the police and committed for mental examination. The people at his school, faculty, staff, and students, knew he was likely to do something violent. They took every legal step they could.
I know it terrifies people, but in the end there weren't any reasonable steps left to stop this guy. This kind of thing has happened before, and will happen again.