We've all seen it before, but it certainly doesn't get any easier when the press blindly lash out at video games, scapegoating them for abhorrent and disgusting crimes. The last week has been no different.
Today in the Daily Record, a tabloid UK newspaper, a
report on the man jailed for brutally killing an innocent woman and cutting up her body before throwing it into the sea. Clearly, a very, very, sick man. Who happens to like playing GTA in his cell.
Without any evidence, the article asserts that Aleksandras Skirda "gets his kicks in jail by murdering prostitutes in a blood-soaked computer game". Their source, a jail insider, says he enjoys playing GTA, Need for Speed:Underground, and Mortal Kombat. We do not know beyond any sort of reasonable doubt that he actually goes around murdering hookers in the game "for kicks", and so such a spurious implied link between his actions and GTA is reprehensible.
Unfortunately in the UK we're all too familiar with such outbursts from the tabloids, but the broadsheets aren't doing a better job. A few days ago,
the Daily Telegraph ran the story of a GTA player who sexually assaulted women. The headline mentions the game, again implying a serious connection, but reading further shows he assaulted the women whilst high on drugs and alcohol, and had an "unhealthy interest" in porn. (Note: that is another debate for another day.) His obsession with the game? Playing it for "hours on end" before bed. Since when is that abnormal behaviour? Most of us gamers do similar things reguarly.
These examples of so-called
journalism may not directly accuse the games of influencing these men, but they certainly do try to implicate them by giving them the all important headline attention. There is no attempt in either article to try and address the underlying issues at hand, the background of the men or what really could have driven them to assault/kill others. Unfortunately, I fear that newspapers will always use video games an easy way to grab headlines and sell papers rather than address the issues at hand, as they are an easy scapegoat that an ignorant general public will happily accept as being at fault.
Personally, I would like to see developers take a harder line against papers who print such dross instead of their own consumers, however this is unlikely given the costs and bad publicity that may come with this. So as always, we, the (fairly) sensible and non-hooker-killing gamers are left to suffer the negative stigma that comes with our favourite pastime.
(Note: In the preview the header image has been enlarged, and I have no idea why. Sorry, but don't shout at me for it!)
UK tabloids are just sad they can't pick on black people any more.
What the good sir wardrox said, the whole race situation was disgusting a couple of years ago, the tabloids are just pissed that we are becoming, somewhat, a racially tolerant society.
This situation about vidyagames is no better, mind you, tabloids do have a very,very useful feature........they make great toilet paper, and the perfect thing to use to clear up a spillage. :P
Good read, but sad also.
According to the papers GTA is also the cause of bad AIDS and that was apparently scientifically proven to!
GTA made me kill a child. After all, there weren't any children in the game, so I naturally just thought that there shouldn't be any in real life either.
Or something.
you chop someone up and dump their pieces. and they STILL give you the luxury of playing video games in prison!?
wtf!?
@Rider Kick:
Yup! That's the UK prison system for you. Get your sentence, which is always halved if you're not a total dick whilst in prison, and you get your PS3/Sky TV etc. to help you overcome boredom.
And they can still vote and all that jazz too. In short, they get treated better than some typical citizens do, like the elderly who fought in the war(s) but cannot afford to pay for the heating.
It's basically down to the Human Rights Act and various namby pamby bits of legislation introduced/redefined under the Labour government, who still don't accept that the softly softly approach doesn't work, and that criminals need sorting out, not hugs and a warm cup of tea.
Rant over.