Small town rocked by video game related violence

[The Wooster]

The lengths people will go to to pin violent behavior on video games absolutely astounds me. Get a load of this ditty I found in my local paper.

Extract from The Province.

"Residents of the sleepy community of Tulare, California, were shocked to discover the corpse of Allison Edburry (86) lying broken and bruised at the foot of a local hill and were even more to shocked to discover that an innocent E-Rated video game available for the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox and even the Apple I-Phone may have been the cause. According to police statements Mrs. Edburry became the latest victim of a nationwide endemic of video game related homicides when her grandson and his best friend, neither of which can be named for legal reasons, attempted to act out a scene from the popular children's game Katamari Damarcy. The two boys attempted to imitate the game, in which a small space alien is tasked with collecting every item in a given area and rolling them into a giant ball, by over powering Mrs. Edburry and her wheelchair bound friend Edith Perley (70) who was visiting at the time.  They then taped the two elderly women together, forcing them into a rough approximation of a sphere, fracturing Mrs Edburry's leg in the process.. After adding a number of objects which are said to include a china dog, a DVD case, a mug of some sort and a selection of silverware, the two boys dragged the women nearly fifty meters to a nearby hill and then attempted to 'roll' them down the hill. Mrs. Perley suffered serious injuries during the ordeal including fractured ribs and a broken tibia but she did however manage to contact emergency services with her mobile phone after the two boys left but Mrs. Edburry had already died of a punctured lung by the time help arrived.

Local police have refused to comment on exactly what the suspects will be charged with but sources have confirmed that they are taking the crime's similarity to the video game's scenario very seriously.

While games such as Halo and Manhunt have made headlines regularly, this is the first time a non-violent, E-Rated game has been linked to violence. Dr Terrance Silex of Frogenmouth University, an expert on the psychological effects of modern media commented, "While there's no evidence supporting the idea that video games have intrinsically harmful effects on the user, regardless of their content it is a proven fact that children and teens will imitate what they see. Taking that into account, I think the events in Tulare, as tragic as they are, aren't surprising at all."

Family members close to the boys refused to comment.

 

[Lyiat]

I... bu... dwah?

 

[kommando367]

this just proves my point, cuteness is evil

 

[Fanboy]

That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read...

I don't really know what else to say...

 

[Lyiat]

People like this need to read my college term paper.

 

[Aries_Split]

pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Spoiler

... It was only a matter of time before somebody drew the line between murder and Katamari Damacy. Maybe they should ban the game. I'm sure that would eliminate all murders, ever. After all, games cause murder, right? There was no murder/violence prior to the existence of games, right?

 

[Berndawg69]

this just disproves the violent video games argument further, and besides they didn't any living creatures to her, so it's not like katamari Damacy,lol..... if they rolled her and a couple of others as well then the resemblance would be there more

 

[sirdanrhodes]

I am just happy that they didn't blame GTA for once, and just thought "Fuck it, lets kill off gaming all together."

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

Wow.... just... wow... , My Question is: What is wrong with those kids to want to tape two Elderly woman together along with random Household Objects and push them down a hill?...

 

[The_Prophet]

That isn't video game's fault. It's their parent's fault for raising them like that

 

[geldonyetich]

Another tragic case of excessive caffeine intake among today's youth.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

This is just a spoof, yo.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

How old were the kids? Because if they were below 15 that would explain their behavior instantly.

That and Katamari is so 2007.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

PS- Good to see Doctorpus is back.

 

[Isaac Dodgson]

What...but how...where were their...is this...WHAT???

 

[blackcherry]

Ha, good one. For a moment I actually though that was real. If it were real then, wow those kids are really messed up.

 

[geldonyetich]

I'd have used the contents of a pet store, myself.

 

[TsunamiWombat]

Worse happened in Kansas, where someone actually pulled it off with a tub of superglue.

At least the kids were stopped before this could happen.

 

[Abedeus]

Wow.... just... wow... , My Question is: What is wrong with those kids to want to tape two Elderly woman together along with random Household Objects and push them down a hill?...

I think they brained their damages.