Originally posted by Gamespot
GTA linked to homicide in Japan
Today, some media outlets are reporting that the boy’s schoolmates have described him as an average student who loved playing video games and who was a fan of Grand Theft Auto III.
The boy was arrested yesterday at a hot springs resort in the Gunma prefecture. According to police, the boy admitted to his crime when confronted, reportedly saying, “I wanted to kill my father since he made a fool out of me. I decided to kill my mother as well, since she was always saying that she wanted to die because of all the work she had to do. I felt sorry for her.”
Grand Theft Auto III’s Japanese publisher, Capcom–and the entire Japanese game industry–have been facing an onslaught of criticism recently, primarily in the Kanagawa prefecture where the local government has decided to put age restrictions on the sale of the game.
By Hirohiko Niizumi — GameSpot
POSTED: 06/22/05 06:28 PM PST
I don’t believe that games are to blame if a disturbed boy kills his parents. For someone to commit murder, he must be seriously insane. One is not well in his mind to kill another person no matter how violent a game is. Games are designed to take you to an imaginary world and make you feel that you are someone else, not to erge you to go and kill people. There are so many millions of video game players, what stops them from start killing people? Sanity.
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