Here we go (yet) again

OMG! I can see the elephant!

This is outrageous. Can’t we leave the elephants in peace?

the daily mail? never heard of it…

It’s a British paper.

Looks like the game is Manhunt. Well, if it was going to be any title, it was going to be that one…

Before anyone wigs out about the age, apparently the shooter was 17. He’d legally be able to buy the game in the US.

–Dave

Of course it’s not actually illegal for an underage person to buy an M-rated game in the US.

Well, yeah, but you know what I mean…

Aren’t they carding at the EB these days? He probably would’ve had to get mom’s permission at least if he wasn’t 17.

–Dave

It’s not that big of a deal. Manhunt’s gameplay and controls kind of pissed me off too.

Do tabloids count for this sort of thing?

You lucky sod.

Maybe his friend spilled coke on the PS2, destroying it, and sending the elder friend into a fit of rage where he bashed his skull in with the now worthless piece of electronics.

It was worthless beforehand

Yeah, I kinda wanted to murder someone after playing through Manhunt. Of course, I wanted to murder one of the developers, but, you know, maybe he just couldn’t wait.

I don’t find it unusual to learn that a kid who eventually kills would find himself attracted to a game like Manhunt. That’s what needs to be remembered. The game didn’t flip a switch in his brain that made him capable of a horrific gruesome and repugnant act… but the fact that he was apparently capable of the act probably did lead to his obsession with the game.

I do think you can observe how kids play violent games to get some indication of their character, mental problems, etc., but I don’t believe in causality. The mental illness that leads to murder needs to already be present. Then just about anything can trigger it. Catcher in the Rye, Rainbow Bright, Jodie Foster, the Bible, GTA 3, etc.,

The Daily Mail is the tabloid that working class people who aspire to being middle class read. It devotes most of its word space to projecting the image of glorious middle england, where women get married and stay at home in the suburbs to look after the 2.5 children, are protestant, right-wing and vote Conservative as regular as clockwork. My friend is a sub-editor there, and being a rabid old-school socialist he absolutely hates it. He salves his conscience by doing an extra Saturday shift at the Observer, which is basically the Guardian’s Sunday edition.

On cause/effect: I always think of the much-cited study from the early 80s that showed that kids who watched MASH scored higher on tests than kids who watched The Dukes of Hazzard.

Obviously, the shows made the kids smart or dumb! It couldn’t be that smart kids like smart shows and dumb kids like dumb shows. Similarly with violent games, angry/despairing music, etc.

Major high street chainstore, Dixons, has removed the game from its shelves following the excessively hyberbolic tabloid journalism, according to the BBC. Dixons sucks ass for games anyway.

Hey, I loved the Dukes of Hazzard!