It seems that the parade of pundits angrily shaking their fists as they list the myriad ways in which videogames would be the downfall of civilization may have been on to something. According to the fine folks at Ars not even 24 hours before GTA IV hits the streets crime is already on the rise in the form of a few UPS employees helping themselves to your pre-ordered murder simulator of choice.

Now, I was once an employee of these brownshirted ne'erdowells and -- at least in the center that I worked -- theft was an uncommon experience; an assertion confirmed by Ars' clandestine contact at UPS.  But really that only serves to prove the point that GTA IV is the culmination of all the arguments we've ever heard that video games would turn us into godless savages. The game isn't even out yet and already the crime wave has begun.

Take heed my friends, the cycle of easily-influenced-violence stops with you.

[Thanks, Justin!]