Woo-hoo! Journalism Fail!

[Elexia]

That's not bad.

Last week Ralph Nader called video game developers "electronic child molesters".
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain...ild-molesters/

Scapegoating videos games for social issues seems to be popular.

To be fair, no one can deny that video games have had a negative impact on society in many ways just like text messaging has changed how social many younger people have become, i.e less social face to face and more text text text.

Also murders via video games is pretty common in places like Korea and China. So while this particular case is meh, it's actually not that uncommon.

[Pseudopsia]

Murders happen by people who play and do not play video games. Blaming them as the cause is absurd, there has to be a real medical study to actually make a link not an assumption.

All murders happen by people who breath air... Does this mean air is the source of our violence?

[Akira_Tenshi]

Oh god Kotaku. Could you have warned us at least? I don't want to give that s**tty "journalism" site any more hits.

Kotaku only reported the story from german media, It isn't their own story.

[Lady]

To be fair, no one can deny that video games have had a negative impact on society in many ways just like text messaging has changed how social many younger people have become, i.e less social face to face and more text text text.

Also murders via video games is pretty common in places like Korea and China. So while this particular case is meh, it's actually not that uncommon.

This goes along the lines of blaming McDonald's for being fat. No the cause is much deeper than just a simple "the video games made them do it". Social education is beyond neglected worldwide, mental illnesses that develop around puberty are often either misdiagnosed or ignored, and the family structure has completely broken down which often leads to the neglection and solace found in escapism... IE video games.

So yeah easy answer = video games fault.

[Elexia]

This goes along the lines of blaming McDonald's for being fat. No the cause is much deeper than just a simple "the video games made them do it". Social education is beyond neglected worldwide, mental illnesses that develop around puberty are often either misdiagnosed or ignored, and the family structure has completely broken down which often leads to the neglection and solace found in escapism... IE video games.

So yeah easy answer = video games fault.

Pretty much, it's not the cause, but it's simply a factor that triggered it and it's easy to put the blame on the source. Just like people say "Guns don't kill people, people kill people", yet I'm pretty sure the gun bullet to your head was the cause of your death therefore it's easy to blame guns.

Though the fact it seems some never heard of people getting killed due to MMO drama in asia is kinda odd o.O, guess it never really hits western news sites. So you can't blame the MMO telling people to kill, it simply triggered the unstable nature of the person.

[SkyeWindbinder]

Pretty much, it's not the cause, but it's simply a factor that triggered it and it's easy to put the blame on the source. Just like people say "Guns don't kill people, people kill people", yet I'm pretty sure the gun bullet to your head was the cause of your death therefore it's easy to blame guns.

Though the fact it seems some never heard of people getting killed due to MMO drama in asia is kinda odd o.O, guess it never really hits western news sites. So you can't blame the MMO telling people to kill, it simply triggered the unstable nature of the person.

Uh, if a person is willing to kill someone because of an MMO, chances are their "unstable nature" was triggered long before they sat down at a computer. Really, all they needed was motive and opportunity to carry out their deed. If not over an MMO, it could have happened in line at Kroger because they saw someone in front of them in the "10 items or less" lane with 11 items. Just my humble $0.02.

[Pwnagraphic]

Wow.. Just wow.

[Delsus]

Just wondering because we play FFXIV, if any of this is to be believed, how many sheep, squirrels, dragons etc have you all killed recently? We play FFXIV so we must all do this because it's what we do in game.

[Lady]

Just wondering because we play FFXIV, if any of this is to be believed, how many sheep, squirrels, dragons etc have you all killed recently? We play FFXIV so we must all do this because it's what we do in game.

Well currently I'm working on getting my weaving to lvl cap IRL, but next I plan on slaying some dragons that keep swooping down in my backyard. I think they want to steal my chocobo that I drive to work everyday.

[Elexia]

Uh, if a person is willing to kill someone because of an MMO, chances are their "unstable nature" was triggered long before they sat down at a computer. Really, all they needed was motive and opportunity to carry out their deed. If not over an MMO, it could have happened in line at Kroger because they saw someone in front of them in the "10 items or less" lane with 11 items. Just my humble $0.02.

Just like getting bullied, there will be a certain time when the kid finally snaps and decides: You know what, it's time for you to die. So regardless if they could kill at any time, there's always that breaking point and that's where the source gets blamed.