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Video games linked to German school shooting
Computer Games have once again been linked to a shooting, this time to the recent Winnenden school shooting by Tim Kretschmer, who killed fifteen people.
By Lawrence Benedict 'Malystryx' Phillips
Mar 16, 2009 10:04
Computer Games have once again been linked to a shooting, this time to the recent Winnenden school shooting by Tim Kretschmer, who killed fifteen people.Police revealed yesterday that Kretschmer spent the night before his killing spree playing FarCry2, "a violent computer games in which a heavily armed mercenary tracks down and kills an arms dealer," according to The Times.
Merkel, the German Chancellor said she was also considering what could be done to limit access to violent video games, but did not give details. "The lesson is that we must be attentive to all young people -- that's true for parents and educators," Merkel said. "We must do all to prevent children from having access to weapons and from them having to face too much violence."
The Times dedicated two paragraphs in their article to "remarkable parallels" between the shooting and FarCry2, the game which Tim Kretschmer allegedly played from 7.30pm to 9.40pm the night before.
Walter Hollstein, a sociologist working with the Council of Europe, disagreed. “It’s nonsense to assume they turn adolescents into school shooters,” he said. “A variety of factors, such as helplessness, anger and loss of control, must come together for them to become the trigger, but the games themselves don’t make anyone a killer.”
Germany already tightened its laws around violent computer games and following the Winnenden school shooting we could see further action being taken. You can read the entire article here.
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Photo from Boston.com
Merkel, the German Chancellor said she was also considering what could be done to limit access to violent video games, but did not give details. "The lesson is that we must be attentive to all young people -- that's true for parents and educators," Merkel said. "We must do all to prevent children from having access to weapons and from them having to face too much violence."
The Times dedicated two paragraphs in their article to "remarkable parallels" between the shooting and FarCry2, the game which Tim Kretschmer allegedly played from 7.30pm to 9.40pm the night before.
Extract from TheTimesOnline
In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer hijacked a car, held a pistol to the driver’s head and asked: “Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?” Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9m copies, wear black camouflage uniforms – the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday.
Most sinister of all, Far Cry 2’s killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun, the weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer. The game, which carries an 18 certificate in Britain, includes sequences in which the aiming, firing and reloading of a Beretta are portrayed in vivid detail. It also rewards players who shoot their victims in the head, the style of killing chosen by Kretschmer.
Kretschmer also played Counter-Strike, another game featuring gunplay, and TacticalOps, a special forces action game, both of which have a 16 certificate in Britain.
"Kretschmer also played Counter-Strike, another game featuring gunplay, and TacticalOps, a special forces action game"
Remarkable parallels emerged between the video game and the 17-year-old’s rampage. In the game it is essential to hijack cars to move around. Kretschmer hijacked a car, held a pistol to the driver’s head and asked: “Should I have fun and pick off some more drivers?” Characters in the game, which is made by the French company Ubisoft and has sold 2.9m copies, wear black camouflage uniforms – the clothing Kretschmer wore on Wednesday.
Most sinister of all, Far Cry 2’s killer uses a Beretta 92 handgun, the weapon fired 112 times by Kretschmer. The game, which carries an 18 certificate in Britain, includes sequences in which the aiming, firing and reloading of a Beretta are portrayed in vivid detail. It also rewards players who shoot their victims in the head, the style of killing chosen by Kretschmer.
Kretschmer also played Counter-Strike, another game featuring gunplay, and TacticalOps, a special forces action game, both of which have a 16 certificate in Britain.
Walter Hollstein, a sociologist working with the Council of Europe, disagreed. “It’s nonsense to assume they turn adolescents into school shooters,” he said. “A variety of factors, such as helplessness, anger and loss of control, must come together for them to become the trigger, but the games themselves don’t make anyone a killer.”
Germany already tightened its laws around violent computer games and following the Winnenden school shooting we could see further action being taken. You can read the entire article here.
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Photo from Boston.com
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this proves that some people shouldn't play fps games.
i agree with what Walter Hollstein said, many factors turned him into a killer, the least of which were video games.
1. its the easiest thing to put the blame on
2. video games are relatively new so there is still misunderstanding
3. society generally looks down on gamers as 'nerds' and 'no lifers'
4. traditional values are still big, just wait till our generation is older then views will have changed
But Teenagers like's play some video games like counter strike or Call of duty are a games with extremeli violence but can't create an Serial Killers some things happens in they lifes to kill someone.
Like LINKAGE Says: "you play WRC or collin mcrea and you are the next champion of WRC" Just need a car.
Peace! (:
condolences to family and friends of the victims.
A house plenty of guns that he knows how to use
They thing that he might have suffered bulling
One of the victims, a girl, refuse him
Counter-Strike
Counter-strike and ping-pong player...
With all of those things over the table... the media just call the counter-strike as the reason? It's so sad... they forget the single fact that there's 4 millon copys (legal ones) of counter-strike all over the world... are we, all those 4 millon players potential killers? Or maybe there's a few potential killers playing counter-strike, as they could be playing futbol, chess or even ping-pong? He was a depressive and violent guy that played Counter-Strike... not a normal guy that became depressive and violent due start playing it...
In the TV they tell people about "Killer Games" (Sorry for the bad translation ~~) and then they throw names of games in the discussion like "World of Warcraft". Yeah WoW is a violent game...
They don't care if the guy that did this killing spree was depressive or was bullied at school. He had no friends and the only thing he does was going to his shooting club and shoot. And of course a father that have 15 weapons at home with 4500-6000 ammo is normal (14 of them were locked in a safe). They will always blame the games for that.
A teacher in an interview said something like:"He got bullied alot but he absorbed it.." And now ? Yeah the games...
Picking the easiest way to solve a problem is always right...
I know he might got problems and all that blah blah blah , but what a jerk .
As shatte said "i think there is none shooting case in the world which is caused by games" is so true.
If someone runs outside thinking hes Chun Li or some CT because he pld the game too much, was sick in the head from the beginning.
Its proven games dont make peeps go bill0x. Its there ill brain, not the games, nothing more ^^
If that was the case, then I should be running around thinking Im Ash from Evil Dead, and u lot were monsters, because I saw the film when I was 8. Or I should be running around thinking Im some badass gangster, because I pld Kingpin several years online? Or should I be running around thinking Im some Druid from M
Yes true
sorry sarcasm..
Sorry for the friends/families of the murdered teens btw
the boy was obviously retarded and complexed , its not video game fault.
But it can't be the games fault.
on a serious note : rip