My mother E-mailed me this week telling me about an article in this months Readers Digest. I picked up a copy today and it tells of Devin Moore an 18yr. old who shot three officers to death and led police on a brief manhunt. Upon being apprehended Moore first asked officers to "Please shoot me. Please shoot me." And later in the jailhouse spouted these wods of wisdom, "Life is like a video game. You have to die sometime."
Moore had never been in any real trouble before this, perhaps some minor "offences" and played Grand Thief Auto, so of course the video game industry is to blame for his actions. Jack Thompson, a Miami attorney and antiviolent videogame advocate sightes this case in a $600 million civilsuit (consisting of himself, and the relatives of the victims of Moore) against the entire chain that makes, distributes or sells GTA. That incompasses Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., and Rockstar Games; the Sony Corp. of America, and retailers Wal-Mart and Gamestop.
To prove his case Thompson intends to present neurobiological research that shows how children's maturing brains are organically conditioned to respond in certain ways to specific types of stimuli. Over time, studies suggest that learned responses become hard-wired into the brain. Video games can be particuliarly effective tools for that wiring because they are interactive.
Moore came from a broken home; his parents, who never married, went through a nasty split when he was very young. The prosecution's own experts has diagnosed Moore with post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a turbulent childhood.
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