Yesterday (June 16th), I made the joke to one of my friends about people killing themselves because the Xbox Live service would be down for an entire day for scheduled maintenance. Some gamers absolutely live on that thing and probably couldn't take 24 hours of actually doing something else other than fragging or Tiger Uppercutting the worldwide competition. True, I love playing online, but some dorks take it beyond too seriously.
Funny, I later found this news story about a loser named Daniel Petric who killed his mother and seriously injured his pops after they banned him from playing Halo 3. Seriously? SMH.
Petric, 17, has been rightfully sentenced to life in prison with the chance of parole in 23 years. From reading multiple news stories on the subject, his parents (both of whom were heavily involved with church) didn't want him playing the game due to the ESRB rating (which is "Mature"). I can understand that, since at the time he was under 17 -- which is the age suggestion for the rating, but I played Mortal Kombat when I was 8 and I turned out fine. Oh, this red stain on my shirt? It's BBQ sauce...
Atleast the parents knew of game ratings in this case instead of being completely oblivious to them, like in most cases similar to this. Working in retail for almost 2 years, I can't tell you how many times parents almost bought a Grand Theft Auto game for their 10 or 11 year old kids just because it was on sale. Of course, I stepped in and explained the "M" rating and showed them why the certain game got rated that way. The kids were pissed off at me, but look, the youth today is screwed up enough as it is, I don't need them trying to take me out my vehicle at a stop light and shooting me or knocking me out with a large purple dildo.
Petric tried to make the incident look like a murder-suicide as he shot his parents with his father's gun. To make things even worse, before he did so, he asked his mom and dad to come into the living room and shut their eyes because he had a "surprise" for them -- and that's when he shot them. The story gets even more twisted with the judge (James Burge), who is probably an old fogey, saying Daniel "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents that they would be dead forever" due to his "addiction" to the game. This is the stupidest logic I've ever heard!
How daft do you have to be to think just because you can "re-spawn" in a first person shooter (FPS) game, once you shoot your mom and dad in real life, they'll reappear 45 seconds later in the laundry room good as new? Give me a break! If the judge seriously believes that then he needs to locked up right along with this fucked up kid.
While video games have become a lot more mainstream in the last decade, they still have a ways to go in terms of changing really old people's views on them. The Wii has certainly brought some positive light back to it, but in terms of games that are geared towards the hardcore gamer, some damage control is in need. Halo 3 isn't even that bad -- it's in frickin' space for crying out loud! There would be much more of an argument if this was Call of Duty, but even then I'd argue that it's a military game and you don't exactly roast marshmallows and trade pokémon trading cards on the battlefield... In January, Judge Burge was quoted saying the following:
"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.
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." -- SOURCE: Game Politics
It's not fair. I don't even like Halo 3, but I don't want it to be viewed as a game that can make kids kill their parents either. This is bull shit, but what do you guys think about this?
