What a shame...

[TopoGeigeo]

http://forums.relicnews.com/showthre...threadid=16400

'Grand Theft Auto' makers sued over teenage killing
By Maxine Frith Social Affairs Correspondent

18 September 2003

The makers of the bestselling video game Grand Theft Auto are being sued for more than £60m after two teenagers said they were copying its violent scenes when they killed a man.

The court case could help to decide the debate over whether violent video and computer games cause aggression in children. Grand Theft Auto and its three sequels are designed in Britain and have topped the UK and US games charts, selling more than 20 million copies in the past five years. The player acts the role of a street thug with 40 different weapons.

Points, ammunition and more weapons are awarded for completing missions that include stealing cars, crashing them, shooting pedestrians and other motorists, drug dealing and beating up prostitutes. The fourth in the series, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, quickly became the bestselling video game in history when it was launched last year, with 250,000 copies sold in the first two days.

The $100m legal action involves Joshua Buckner, 14, and his stepbrother William, 16, from Newport, Tennessee, who shot dead Aaron Hamel, 45, and seriously injured Kimberly Bede, 19, on 25 June.

The two boys told police they shot at vehicles on a highway near their home with a .22 rifle in an attempt to recreate images from Grand Theft Auto. Mr Hamel, a nurse, was killed while driving home to Knoxville, Tennessee. Miss Bede, who was travelling in another car with her boyfriend, was seriously injured and has eight fragments of shrapnel in her pelvis.

The Buckner brothers had no criminal record or any history of trouble-making. In court last month, they pleaded guilty to reckless homicide, aggravated assault and reckless endangerment. They were sentenced to indefinite detention. District Attorney General Al Schmutzer told the court: "They said they got the idea from a video game called Grand Theft Auto and that they were bored, that they went out and began shooting."

In a letter to victims and their families, Joshua said: "I did not mean to hurt anyone. I hate that it happened. This will stick with me for the rest of my life."

Miss Bede and the family of Aaron Hamel plan to sue Take-Two Interactive Software, which publishes Grand Theft Auto, for liability in a wrongful death lawsuit. Take-Two owns Rockstar Games, which is based in Edinburgh and designed the first version of the game in 1997. Sony will also be named in the lawsuit, because Grand Theft Auto was made exclusively for its Play- Station consoles. Sony declined to comment on the case.

Jack Thompson, the lawyer representing the families, said the court case could be the first to rule on whether watching and playing violent video games caused excess aggression in children. He said: "We are going to show that this game did influence these boys and cause them to go out and shoot at these people.

"There has been a wealth of research to show that children's brains process these video games in a different way from adults'. They cannot differentiate between fantasy and reality, so they play these games and then think if they do the same thing in reality, it's OK, there will be no consequences."

Referring to The Manchurian Candidate, a 1962 film in which American soldiers are brainwashed into becoming fighting machines in the Korean war, Mr Thompson said: "We have got a nation of Manchurian Candidates who are training on these video games." Mr Thompson plans to call American defence ministry officials to give evidence on how they have employed video-game designers to help to train soldiers.

One company, Pandemic Games, is selling a game to the public that was designed to train infantry troops in urban combat. Players use "real weaponry and equipment currently in use by the US Army".

Mr Thompson claims that this shows video games "desensitise" people, particularly children, to violence. He will also point to the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999, when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot 13 people dead. Both boys were fans of the video game Doom, which has been used to train US soldiers in lethal combat.

Claims of a link between video games and real violence have always been highly controversial, with manufacturers pointing out that millions of people enjoy playing the games but do not show any aggression. There are also arguments over whether aggression is innate, or learnt, and whether people who are naturally more aggressive are more likely to play violent video games.

But recent research has tended to back the argument that games can increase the risk of some young men committing acts of aggression.

A study by Iowa State University showed last year that even brief exposure to violent video games could temporarily increase aggressive behaviour in all types of people. Another study found that people who had played violent video games were more likely to have aggressive attitudes.

Craig Anderson, who led the studies, said: "The active nature of the learning environment of the video game suggests this medium is potentially more dangerous than television and movie media. With the recent trend toward greater realism and more graphic violence in video games, consumers and parents of consumers should be aware of these potential risks."

Grand Theft Auto has an 18 certificate in Britain but is popular with much younger teenagers, especially boys.

Source: http://news.independent.co.uk/world...sp?story=444500

What a shame.

[Maelstrom]

That is ******** you should not be able to sue for things like that

[Hanners]

We have a new contender for 'Stupid lawsuit of the week' it seems...

[TopoGeigeo]

Eigther way, its a shame to see children taking things like this. I think they should restrict games liek this to older people if things like tihs happen. Maybe the stores shoud actually hold to the ESRB raitings.

[typoEDR]

Current society's view of dealing with problems:

Blame everybody else but yourself.

If you can't handle the content of a videogame, then buy another, tamer videogame, or even better, don't buy or rent a console at all.

The world is being constipated with stupid people, and logic is one to deliver the enema to save everyone...

I should stop watching Once Upon a Time in Mexico.

[Trekster]

Imagine if they got 100m pounds, and only a few years in jail each?

Hey, that gives me an idea.....
(*goes off to find rifle, and then to find civil lawyer"*)

[DorXtar]

The parents should be sued. Not all kids that play GTA go out and shoot people. Only the kids with shoddy parents commit crimes.

[_leech_]

Yes, let's blame videogames but not their government's message that if you have a problem with someone/something, the best way to deal with it is through violence

[Animotion]

The two retards that reacted this should be jailed or shot (an eye for an eye), there parent's should definatly be jailed there paren't up bringing can not have been right, yeah i play gta dosen't make me want to go out kill everyone thou. , yeah blame the videogames because your son is a psychopath, and cannot define the difference between reality and non reality

[imagine]

Saw this a few weeks ago, but they hadn't named any names or brought up the possibility of a lawsuit (although it was in my mind, of course). Seeing as I'm a huge GTA fan, and I have been since the original GTA in '97, this really affects me (not like it wouldn't other people, but these games are considered, by me, to the best games ever made). Anyway, I find it interesting that the families of the people that were killed and injured are *not* suing the parents of the children for mal-parenting, but the producers of a video gaming for constructing a game that's rated Mature, and that should be inaccessible to young teens.

If you'll notice, too, I'm only 16 - and I've been playing these games for the last 6 years of my life, nonstop, with a really abnormal love for them. Do you see me out shooting people? No, I don't even like to get into fights ...

[alphaisawanker]

Hmmm..... one of them is 16 and one of them is 14 - the people should sue the parents for buying their kids the game if they are going to sue anything the game has an age limit of 18 in the UK and i believe it to be an R in the states - which would mean 17.


Plus.... how the hell could anybody be influenced by a video game to kill people???

ffs

[alphaisawanker]

Originally posted by imagine
Saw this a few weeks ago, but they hadn't named any names or brought up the possibility of a lawsuit (although it was in my mind, of course). Seeing as I'm a huge GTA fan, and I have been since the original GTA in '97, this really affects me (not like it wouldn't other people, but these games are considered, by me, to the best games ever made). Anyway, I find it interesting that the families of the people that were killed and injured are *not* suing the parents of the children for mal-parenting, but the producers of a video gaming for constructing a game that's rated Mature, and that should be inaccessible to young teens.

If you'll notice, too, I'm only 16 - and I've been playing these games for the last 6 years of my life, nonstop, with a really abnormal love for them. Do you see me out shooting people? No, I don't even like to get into fights ...

you practically said what i did - whoops

[Jackl]

"The [Insert source of blame here] made me do it."

Centuries ago it was the Devil, now its videogames.


Speaking of which, I might add these lawsuits resemble a witch hunt in more ways than one.

[pushtun]

Originally posted by TopoGeigeo
Eigther way, its a shame to see children taking things like this. I think they should restrict games liek this to older people if things like tihs happen. Maybe the stores shoud actually hold to the ESRB raitings.

the parents probably bought it for them...

[imagine]

Originally posted by pushtun
the parents probably bought it for them...

...And the parents also probably purchased the shotgun that was used in this rampage, and left it laying around so that two young teens could gain access to it.

However, I don't think you'll be seeing them put into a position of account any time soon, though... because that would make sense.

[the_Vandal]

Yes, everyone knows that the GTA series invented murder so let's sue them!

[T07N]

Wow how stupid. You kill someone and you blame a game for it. The parents should be blamed for having such stupid children.

[xCLAVEx]

Originally posted by DorXtar
The parents should be sued. Not all kids that play GTA go out and shoot people. Only the kids with shoddy parents commit crimes.

But you see, the parents don't have the money that GTA makers do....

[Turd Ferguson]

Of course they're going to blame video games. If they can "prove" that it was the game's fault and not theirs, they can't be sent to jail. Makes sense, it's probably what I'd do if I just shot several people...

Although I think this was the best part:

Mr Thompson claims that this shows video games "desensitise" people, particularly children, to violence. He will also point to the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999, when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot 13 people dead. Both boys were fans of the video game Doom, which has been used to train US soldiers in lethal combat.

HAHAHA!

[PUDAK]

Yep, killing Cyberdemons with a BFG 9000 trains you for military combat....

[T07N]

What a retard...

[CHIPS]

These Boy on killing a man: I was following the game

Nazi officers on killing the Jews: I was following orders.

This is such a screwed up world.

[MarsGrunt]

Just goes to show that there are too many lawyers with nothing else to do in this country.

[the_Vandal]

If more stupid people killed off more stupid people then this world would be a better place. I say onward with the murder!

[squid]

well, with all our exposure to violent videogames, it's a wonder why lans aren't more violent

[cbsboyer]

It's yet another case of:

Parents: "Oh, sh!t. This time he's really gone and done it now."
Lawyer: "Well, let's look around and see what we can blame it on...I mean lets find the likely cause (doesn't look at parents at all because they are paying him). Oh, look! Here's a violent item made by a company with deep pockets!" {eyes drift inwards, thinks "Mmmmmmm...legal fees...years of legal fees... "}
Parents: "Yes, that game must have messed them up! They were only causing trouble for five years before they got it, but that must have been the cause!" {eyes drift inwards, thinks "Good! Now they won't blame us..."}
Kid: "So...um...yeah! I was just acting out the game...that's it..." {eyes drift inwards, thinks "... ... ..."}

cbsboyer

[XSBagage]

14 year old & 16 year old --> sue the STORE! the store is responsible, if it went how it should have the store should've refused to sell to them. Unless the parents bought it for them but than you just sue the parents, and if they acquired it through another person, sue him/her.

[ErrorS]

the parents of those kids need to be held 100% responsible for their kid's actions. The kids need to get 2 years in jail, be released and be rehibilitated.. the parents need 30yrs to LIFE in prison!

IM SICK OF THIS.. Parents can throw their kids in front of a TV with a video game console or a PC to keep them proccupied, or they can put them in school and expect the schools to raise them then they'll sue schools, game makers, blame PCs, etc etc etc because their kids weren't raised right.

YOU'RE BAD PARENTS.. you dont deserve to have children.. you belong in prison for having a child that killed .. its 100% your fault and NOONE elses..

I bet if their was a law making parents 100% responsible for their kid's actions, they would do a hell of alot better taking care of their kids then they do now.

omg, i wasnt rich when I was a kid.. i didn't go to college and i'm not working somewhere making 200k a year as a doctor or lawyer.. but i feel like I got really really lucky with my parents, i ended up OK.. It's sad too, i feel lucky because im not out killing people, because I'm not in prison for stealing shiet, because I'm not downright evil..

The world is a sad sad place right now..