by Rhian Hibner
Daily Lobo
There are people out there who will stoop to any level to come up with ammo for anti-video game lobbying. It would help if people would stop handing them perfect little packages to use in their misguided crusades.
For example, three teenagers in Milwaukee beat a homeless man to death in 2004. CNN, in its infinite wisdom, decided to interview the perpetrators about it last Monday. During the course of the interview, it was revealed that one of the kids compared beating a man to death to a video game. Of course, the anti-video game pundits will be quick to jump on this. It's just too juicy to pass up.
Basically, video games and video game producers will be blamed for the 2004 murder, and the old tired dog known as Grand Theft Auto will be dragged back into the limelight. The worst part is the logical fallacy that's involved when one chooses to blame a video game - a virtual simulation that is obviously not real - for the ills of the world. Millions of people buy and play video games that are extraordinarily violent. Millions of people are not running around beating homeless people to death. It would be obvious if they were. Someone would have noticed the huge homicidal mobs roaming the countryside.
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So, why did these kids beat up a homeless man? It's simple, really. When someone kills another person for no discernible reason, it's not because he or she played Grand Theft Auto, and it's not because he or she watched Mario jump on top of a turtle one too many times. It's because he or she is psychotic or sociopathic. Video games did not strip away the morals of those children. They never had morals to
begin with.
This isn't new. When the anti-video game pundits of today were teenagers, it was their parents' generation that was railing against comic books. Before that, it was rock 'n' roll. Before that, it was the blues. This is a cycle. One can only hope that when members of the video game generation are in their late 40s and 50s, they will remember this.
On a positive note, history proves that the voice of reason will win out. Comic books are still being published, and rock 'n' roll is still around. In 50 years, video games may not look anything like they do today, but they will definitely still be here.
