Student Inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV to Rob and Kill Taxi Driver

1. Peter
   August 4th, 2008 at 2:53 pm

   /sigh... always one retarded person ruins some game for the whole population

2. jesseg
   August 4th, 2008 at 2:55 pm

   If taxis had been outlawed, this never would have happened.

3. Orjan Morjan
   August 4th, 2008 at 3:00 pm

   Kids inspired by videogame the Sims to burgle. They said that they could not be held responsible as they were only trying to find out if it was as easy as it seemed in the game.

   Parents enraged that the game doesn't have a disclaimer. "We do not know what the kids are playing on this magic box and as such can not be held responsible".

4. shyboy
   August 4th, 2008 at 3:10 pm

   oh its terrible news!!

5. Tom
   August 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm

   I guess he found out. It's easy to do, not so easy to get away with.

   The boy was certain to be a thug in any case, as he is 19 and still living with his parents AND playing video games all day.

6. MustKillWorld
   August 4th, 2008 at 3:56 pm

   He should have first tried driving a flaming motorcycle of a skyscraper into the ocean before trying out his clever "stabbing innocents can't be that hard" hypothesis.

   I heard that Jack the Ripper had been playing Metal Gear Solid non-stop before the murders.

   And Attila the Hun was seen trying to break his Snake highscore on his Nokia only 10 minutes before laying waste to all those countries.

   I'm just saying...

7. Thomas
   August 4th, 2008 at 4:56 pm

   Also it turns out the 9/11 hijackers were only upset about someone hacking a game of counterstrike.

8. Thomas
   August 4th, 2008 at 4:57 pm

   Yea. I went there.

9. Tim Giachetti
   August 4th, 2008 at 5:00 pm

   Oh why couldn't he just rob and beat the hookers?!?!

10. Woogie
    August 4th, 2008 at 6:39 pm

    Translation: Braindead Fucktard commits crime then tries to attribute blame to video game in attempt to say "but it wasn't my fault".

    I'm waiting for the greyhound beheading to be blamed on GTA.

11. DOJ
    August 4th, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    has Jack Thompson had his field day yet?

12. MJ
    August 4th, 2008 at 6:50 pm

    You know, people are focusing rather a lot on the fact that the game 'made him do it'...

    But not on the fact that because he couldn't actually afford to buy GTA4 he went and bought two knives for $16.

    How about banning the sale of knives to young people maybe? Shouldn't we be in an uproar about the fact that he could buy knives? Makes about as much bloody sense.

13. just a guy
    August 4th, 2008 at 8:38 pm

    Man, what kind of crazy videogame did *I* play that made me do my daily routine (work, etc..) all the time? I've played lots. Was it Mortal Kombat? Mario? Metroid? Or perhaps it was all the DnD? Or maybe those books I read! They can fill someone's heads with all sorts of.... sorts of... IDEAS! They should be outlawed! Along with me! I should be outlawed!

    ...i've always wanted to be a crime!

14. Sergio
    August 4th, 2008 at 9:20 pm

    He was 19? C'mon...he's got hairy nuts already. He knows better.

15. Johnny Cat
    August 4th, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    Reminds me of the time I got all caught up in this game called Pitfall, and actually tried to swing from a tree over a pit. I get chills just thinking about the horror.

16. PaulVI
    August 4th, 2008 at 10:14 pm

    It's not enough to say, "Well, my friends and I spent hours and days playing this stuff, and I'm not killing anyone, nor are any of my friends."

    What is important is >>*population data*<>*population data*<<. What we are looking for is the change in *likelihood* to commit violence.

    But yes, I still want to see better studies.

17. Daz
    August 4th, 2008 at 10:19 pm

    What about all the gamers who DON'T go out and kill innocent people?

    I'm sure the ratio of people who've played the game versus psycho's who try to emulate it is the same ratio as regular people versus regular psycho's.

    He killed the driver with a knife he bought at tesco's and they stop selling the GAME? Stop selling the KNIFE!

18. PaulVI
    August 4th, 2008 at 10:27 pm

    My whole comment:

    It’s not enough to say, “Well, my friends and I spent hours and days playing this stuff, and I’m not killing anyone, nor are any of my friends.”

    What is important is *population data*, not individual anecdotes. "My grandmother smoke cigs and lived to age 94." Therefore, cig-smoking does not cause heart disease/cancer/premature death?

    Not everyone who plays games with violent themes commits violent acts, for sure. We need *population data* and what we are looking for is the change in *likelihood* to commit violence. 3 in 100,000 IS three times more than 1 in 100,000, even if there are far more negatives than positives.

    But, yes, I still want to see better studies.

19. JC
    August 4th, 2008 at 10:40 pm

    Stupidity kills, not videogames.

20. Korolev
    August 5th, 2008 at 2:47 am

    Someone will always be influenced by something - whether it be games, movies, books, or even stories. I don't think games cause crime (thousands of virtual kills in COD4, yet I don't even own a gun, nor do I need one in the area I live). But even if they did - so what? Outlaw any book, film or game that depicts any violence whatsoever? There's a ton of bloodshed in the Bible - and some people have actually said the bible inspired them to kill (these people are usually insane to begin with). Do we ban the Bible? No, of course not. And that's why we shouldn't ban games either, even if they did cause crime (and there is no indication that they do).

    There have been serial killers, murderers, robbers, thugs, throughout human history. In ANY population, throughout time, there has always been a minority of human beings who commit violent crimes. Always has been, always will be. In actual fact, crime in the US and many other nations has gone DOWN over the past decade, yet because the media reports crime all the time, people's perception of violence has increased.

    Why do people do evil things? I don't know. But what I do know is that criminals/murderers have existed ever since the human species has existed. There will always be a small minority of people who kill, and they will always be inspired by something, games, books, films, or whatnot.

21. Lasse
    August 5th, 2008 at 5:42 am

    It's like outlawing football because someone wants to see if you can tackle regular people on the street just as easy.

22. twodollars
    August 5th, 2008 at 7:15 am

    He's probably using the game as a cover for the real reason of why he did it.

    He's messed up, gets pleasure out of fucked up things and he just doesnt want anybody to know, so he uses the game as a cop out.

23. Jimbo
    August 5th, 2008 at 7:58 am

    Don't blame the game!! Back when I was a kid there were always the ones that liked to play robber and I played cop. Some are just born bad.

24. MT Eats
    August 5th, 2008 at 9:15 am

    I don't think you can rob a taxi driver in GTA IV. You can steal their car, but you can't rob them.

25. Thomas
    August 5th, 2008 at 10:18 am

    You can kick them out, take their car, get out, kill them and take their money. That's as close to robbing them as it gets.

    Also, I've seen studies that show that violence goes down on nights that violent movies do well in theaters. Many of the people who are likely to commit violent acts would rather watch someone else do it. Ergo, people are lazy and anything that puts them on their asses for a few minutes will probably reduce violence in some small way.

26. Neatoramawontsendmeapassword
    August 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pm

    Someone who's wondering those kinds of things at age 19 isn't right in the head. He should have learned the difference between right and wrong WAY before that.

27. Celeste
    August 6th, 2008 at 3:27 am

    It scares me far less that people commit "copycat crimes" based on video games than it does how reactionary the response is to the crimes. OMG! HE PLAYED VIDEO GAMES! LET'S BAN THEM ALL! Or, you know, you could think about it for five seconds and realize how many millions of video games are sold each year and how few violent crimes are committed in relation to them (not to say caused by them — but that the perpetrator even claims to have been influenced by the game).

    I grew up playing Mario, I don't run around busting my head into bricks and jumping on turtles. If I did, I'd clearly have far bigger problems than enjoying a medium that brings in $10 BILLION in sales a year.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT