p2pnet - rss feed: Bloody GTA IV ‘promo stunt’ for real
p2pnet news | Games:- A game store in a London, England, suburb, could have been the site of a scene straight out of the latest Grand Theft Auto.
Enthusiasts lining up to buy GTA IV, “thought they were witnessing a promotional stunt for the launch when the blood-soaked victim staggered among them,” says the Daily Mail.
But, the launch had, “descended into real-life horror when a man was stabbed repeatedly in a queue of fans waiting to buy it”.
They realised the attack was genuine only when police arrived.
The store where the incident happened was one of 40 which opened at midnight and, “Elsewhere, two muggers shattered the jaw and nose of an 18-year-old boy to steal his copy of the game just 30 minutes after he bought it in Leyland, Lancashire,” says the story, going on that despite his wounds, the 23-year-old London victim, “is believed to have gone home to arm himself with a kitchen knife to seek revenge, but police intercepted him.
“He was treated in hospital for several stab wounds.”
GTA IV has sold an estimated 70 million copies since its launch in 1997, “but has been shrouded in controversy,” says the Daily Mail, adding:
“Last year teenager Ezekiel Maxwell butchered a grandmother after hearing ‘gangster voices’ in his head from an earlier version of the game telling him to stab a woman.”
Observes Andy in a comment post to the story:
“People were stabbed and robbed in the streets when the PS3 was launched.
“This is common for all occasions involving a large number of youths out in the streets at once. The same goes for football matches, rock festivals, cinema opening nights, etc. The fact that this was the launch night for GTA 4 is pure co-incidence, linking every violent act to the game is plain wrong.”
.
.Stumble It!
Daily Mail - Man stabbed queueing for midnight launch of ultra-violent video game Grand Theft Auto IV, April 30, 2008
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May 1st, 2008 at 7:35 am
Pure co-incidence every time it happens I guess, and murdering an old lady after hearing the voices from an earlier game. Nothing whatever to do with the game of course. That would be bad publicity and just “wrong”.
The teenager may have been on drugs which opens the mind to even worse influences than from the game.
This game involves maximum slaughter and mayhem in order to play it properly and advance in the underground crime ranks. There’s no nicety about it. You can’t be a hero. Only a villain.
May 1st, 2008 at 9:52 am
No way, dude, art doesn’t influence life. If we admitted that, we’d have to change our art and look at what influenced that art in the first place (hint: it’s our own depravity).
May 1st, 2008 at 10:23 am
Well this just proves that violent video games have no effect on someone’s behaviour. If they did, the guy would have used a missle launcher, or done a drive-by shooting.
/sarcasm
May 1st, 2008 at 11:03 am
Oh, and of course if not for the game the two muggers would NEVER have harmed anyone and would have gone on to be fine upstanding citizens, it just couldn’t be they were ALREADY violent assholes. It’s ALWAYS the (movie, tv series, video game, drugs, alchohol’s) fault for violent behavior, the poor misguided souls were “turning their lives around” and it really wasn’t their fault at all. (LOT’s of hand wringing here…)
May 1st, 2008 at 4:16 pm
I agree with Monkey.
The game attracts a number of different players, some of whom happen to be real scumbags. They most likely would have committed this crime regardless of which “popular release” was being sold at the time.
However, the fact that this game happens to emulate their particular crime cannot be ruled completely out, as an influence, even if it was a slight influence.
No doubt they laughed afterward that it was just like in the game. The influence is like a vicious circle, going back and forth. This bit of news will probably spread like wildfire in the American gaming censorship community.
May 1st, 2008 at 8:40 pm
How games and things affect is dependent on your personality. If you idolize violence, well, this game will make it stronger. If you are bored, and want to do something that is going to take you from the real world, it’s a good game, if you think properly.
May 1st, 2008 at 11:27 pm
“Pure co-incidence every time it happens I guess, and murdering an old lady after hearing the voices from an earlier game. Nothing whatever to do with the game of course. That would be bad publicity and just “wrong”.”
“Well this just proves that violent video games have no effect on someone’s behaviour. If they did, the guy would have used a missle launcher, or done a drive-by shooting.”
Back when the Xbox360 and the PS3 were released and in short supply, there were reports that people were being mugged right after buying them. Does this mean that the Xbox360 and PS3 are evil influences? Or does it mean that some people are just greedy and have no conscience?
As for the kid who supposedly stabbed a woman because voices from the game told him to; That’s a load of crap. The kid killed someone and then realized that he was in deep s***. He needed some excuse to keep from being tried as an adult and ending up on death row. So his lawyer probably came up with the idea that he heard voices. After all, hearing voices is a sign of mental illness and you can’t punish people for being ill. Someone facing a murder charge will say or do just about anything to avoid being convicted because they really have nothing left to lose.
I’ll grant you that SOME kids might be inclined to try imitating what they see in the game. However, rather than being upset with the game, I’d be more upset with their parents who have failed miserably at teaching their kids the difference between fantasy and reality, or the difference between right and wrong.
If games like this turn people into killers, how is that millions of people have played these games, but yet only a handful of people have been turned into psychos because of it? Doesn’t it make more sense that there was something wrong with these people to start with and that drew them to the game, rather than the other way around?
I’d even go so far as to say that the rise in violent crime by young people is a direct result of America’s (and the world’s) move toward permissiveness. Parents are told it’s wrong to spank their children and that they should give them a time-out instead. They’re not even supposed to tell children that whatever they did is “wrong” because that might “damage” their self-image. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in favor of beating kids, or screaming at them, but it’s gotten to the point where any “discipline” that makes a child feel unahppy or ashamed is now considered cruel. Of course kids aren’t going to respect authority. Why should they when they know that the consequences will be a slap on the wrist. (a figurative slap of course, not a literal slap, because that would be sending the message that hitting is ok…)
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Uh, morons:
People were strabbed/shot/trampled in the lemming-like crush to get the original “Tickle Me Elmo”. So, therefore, “Elmo causes crime” (Good deal, there — maybe they’ll take the little Red shitbag off of T.V., and we won’t be hearing that goddamn song all the time!)