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Halo 3 Criticized In Murder Conviction
oldwindways writes "An Ohio teen was found guilty of murdering his mother and shooting his father in the head after they took away his copy of Halo 3. One has to wonder if this is going to have any effect on the games industry. Clearly, the AP thought they could stir up something controversial by asking the IP owner for a statement: 'Microsoft, which owns the intellectual property for the game, declined to comment beyond a statement saying: "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case."' I suppose the good news is they did not accept his insanity plea, so no one can claim that Halo 3 drove him insane. Even so, I don't think anything good can come out of this for gamers."
Unfortunately, it seems somebody can claim that the game was a contributing factor; the judge who presided over this case said he believes that the 17-year-old defendant "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever." GamePolitics has further details from the judge's statement. It doesn't help that the boy's lawyers used video game addiction as a defense.
he believes that the 17-year-old defendant "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever."
If someone as old as 17 doesn't understand this basic fact of life, then there's obviously something wrong that has nothing to do with the video game.
... and then they built the supercollider.
"An Ohio teen was found guilty of murdering his mother and shooting his father in the head after they took away his [thing that he really liked]"
If he had a caffeine addiction and his parents took away his Coke would that mean that it was the fault of the Coke that he murdered them?
Video Games, Movies, The Media... they all get blamed for some moron's actions. It's just another thing for politicians to hang their hat on and say "I'm fighting the good fight."
Would this murder have happened if it would have been harder for the kid the get hold of a gun?
--- guns don't kill people, people with guns kill people ---
Hey, plenty of 17 year olds don't believe death is forever.
They're called "religious".
If the judge believes he didn't know his parents wouldn't respawn, and that he was addicted to the game, why did he find him guilty? Perhaps, it was a case of his opinion being based on something other than the evidence presented? Either way, I don't think one can realistically blame the game, the guy must have already been insane to think real life would be like Halo.
Mod points: Guaranteed to remove your sense of humor.
Side effects may include gullibility and temporary retardation
GOD forbid anyone should be held responsible for their actions, or be expected to have any kind of grip on reality. I think people maybe need to realise that sometimes it's not the TV's fault, or the computers fault, or anyone else's fault, perhaps some people really have no concept of consequences until they are sharing a cell with Bubba. I'm pretty sure they are able to catch with reality real quick then.
Let me get this, this kid probably have some kind of anger problem, he manage to get a gun, he is 17 and still have problem distinguishing reality but lets focus on a video game.
Okay, why hasn't anyone even mentioned the "9mm handgun"? To my simple, unAmerican mind, that seems far more like a murder weapon than the video game.
Talk about elephant in the room.
Anyway, I expect the usual 800-post NRA/2nd Amendment gun nuts vs rational people thread.
Only in America.
I was not aware of the fact that Microsoft also makes guns. Or did he shot his parents dead with the Xbox controller?...
Real life is overrated.
Quoted from this article:
When he came to a few moments later, Mark Petric said, he saw that his wife wasn't moving, and Daniel was trying to place a 9 mm handgun in his hand.
Prosecutors contend that Daniel stole his father's key to the lockbox where the gun was kept and retrieved the semiautomatic pistol along with a copy of the sci-fi video game "Halo 3" that his parents had confiscated from him before the shooting.
(I snipped a section here)
Prosecutors say Daniel later confessed to the shootings and said he tried to make it appear to be a murder-suicide.
His Defense lawyer is grasping at straws for a reduced sentance, if the kid didn't realize his parents wouldn't be DEAD... WTF would he try and frame his Dad?!?!
A Man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties -- Albert Einstein
Doesn't mean it can't be true, though. 17-year olds SHOULD know that death is permanent (and that even if it wasn't, you still wouldn't just kill people), but that doesn't mean they all DO.
Also, video game addiction IS a real phenomenon. Seriously, people read far too much into the word "addiction"; it really just describes a certain set of symptoms that can be tied to any particular trigger.
This is not a problem with the game, this is a problem with the US second amendment.
I have worked in the UK within the games industry on and off for 17 years.
From helping out in a video games retailer, when I was Tweleve, to working for a top five global publisher.
I have probably played more FPS's that 95% of the gaming community.
It has never crossed my mind to get a gun and shoot someone in the real world.
Oh but wait I live in the UK, where gun control is strict.
Its not just the access to guns that causes the problem, its the attitude that a massively out of date law creates in many Americans minds.
You don't see lots of British farmers sons going on killing sprees.
Right had my rant I'm off to kill some more Covenant.
If someone as old as 17 doesn't understand this basic fact of life, then there's obviously something wrong that has nothing to do with the video game.
Obviously. Nobody is arguing that completely normal people would go postal by playing Halo 3. If I said "All you people on slashdot are a wsate of oxygen and should go kill yourself" there won't be mass suicides, but someone already suicidal really sitting on the fence just might. So here we got a borderline psychotic, serious trouble separating famtasy from reality and he's on the fence. Was Halo 3 the push? How much should you pad the world to make sure he doesn't get a push? Or is it him, if anyone had realized how serious his issues are, that should have been put in a padded room? There's a line somewhere there, but I think what 99%+ of the population handles well should never be outlawed. The rest is just triggering some secret freak-out button that can't really be helped. Or rather, those people should be helped if possible.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Yeah, I know he was living up in Ohio but come one ...
Guns don't kill people! God do!
I wonder if there is a Rapture defense?
Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
Games aren't meant to be simulations, they're meant to be fun.
"Hey, plenty of 17 year olds don't believe death is forever.
They're called "religious". "
Kinda hard to sell suicide bombing and similar sports any other way.
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
It seems that nobody here is concerned by a young man killing his parents beyond the effect it might have on video games.
Looks like the kid wasn't the only one who lost contact with "reality".
The father, a minister, had a 9mm handgun that the son, who played video games, used as the tool for his action.
So lets see.
Religion.
Guns.
Video Games.
Which one is not enshrined in U.S. culture and will therefore be blamed.
Addiction: Not dealt with until far too late.
Child: Not able to tell that 'murder' is a bad idea.
How is it anything other than the parents fault? They're responsible for 17 years of this child's development, and he ended up sufficiently screwed up to murder them as they slept. There's no one else you get to pass that responsibility on to.
Not such a fan of this "blame everything on the parents" attitude. Yeah, sometimes it is the parents' fault, but not all the time. There are a whole slew of other factors that could have come into play, or the kid could have just been fucked up to begin with. There is no cut-and-dry guide to raising a perfect kid or even a mentally stable kid. And sometimes, no matter how good a job you do, you still get a bad egg.
He killed his mother and shot his father in the head. the father survived.
Daniel's plan was originally to make it look like a murder-suicide, by leaving the gun in his father's hand. After the shooting, Mark Petric said his son put the gun in his hand while saying, "Hey Dad, here's your gun. Take it."
The outrage is from people who are pissed that a manipulative evil piece of shit is trying to avoid a harsher punishment by blaming a hobby which most people here enjoy.
His first plan to avoid getting punished didn't work out so well but a judge seems to have bought into the "it was the videogames fault!",partly at least.
I think we have to stop and think this is tragic. My sympathy to the family.
Forget the game Halo ...
I think the real question is how did a 17 year get a hold of a gun?
Sure in the article it says he got it from the family safe but should it have been that easy ?
why was the ammunition stored with the gun ? As I understand it even with pro gun people thats a no no.
Movies, especially, are rather fond of bringing dead characters back to life. Actors go on to play other roles though I am not sure what role Lando Calrisian went on to play after Star Wars, for young developing minds, movies can certainly put some warped perceptions in there. Television is even worse in that it seems to suggest that life's problems can be resolved between 30 minutes to an hour with commercials although on occasion you may have to wait until next week for resolution. (some problems are really that big!)
And if one could actually understand all of the words in music, I suspect one might find some pretty questionable subject matter as well.
Distortion of reality is found in every form of entertainment without exception. I feel pretty fortunate that the world has survived this far!
It's called nationalism.
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power lost.
It's called D&D. And it didn't used to take 2 hours to "max out your skills" but rather 2 decades.
Hey, plenty of 17 year olds don't believe death is forever.
They're called "religious".
Gimme a break - blaming religion is the same as blaming the game. Falling back on the "religion is the root of all evil" argument is the crutch of those who don't realize that "... people kill people, [insert 'religion', 'guns', video games'] don't kill people ..."
*sheesh*
Funny how the same sentiment is never expressed against the strawman arguments that flow endlessly in the other direction regarding the belief in an "invisible sky fairy".
There's a word for that: hypocrisy.
Modern copyright is theft of culture from everyone and it retards the progress of the useful arts and sciences.
Hm, wait, bad parenting + child killing the parents... I believe we got us some natural selection!
-1 doesn't understand science.
They already spawned, he would have to kill his siblings and himself for natural selection to be working.
17-year-old defendant "had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever." I know it has been quoted already, but seriously? I mean come on. My 5 year old son understands the fact that death is forever. And he has been playing games since he was old enough to hold a controller. Hell, I taught him how to snipe the pilots out of helicopters in Mercenaries when he was two. Also, why did the parents take the game away from the kid? My guess would be some kind of violent activity and they were taking his games away as punishment. The kid most likely had violent tendencies anyway.
Well said. If Halo 3 was the contributing cause to this murder, rather than just a whiny, petulant teenager who killed his parents for not giving into his demands, then there would've been a rash of parricides after the game's release. Since there weren't, it should be obvious the game had nothing to do with this one.
God invented whiskey so the Irish would not rule the world.
Damn you guys are worse then the people who knock on my door twice a month.
It is kinda sad for a group of people without a religion or a belief in God(s), that you are are so instantiate to bring up your views on religion even when it isn't part of the topic. Get over it religion will be with us for our lifetimes. I haven't heard anyone give a good enough reason to prove that the Atheist are right, conversely I haven't heard a good reason to prove that religious people are right.
Lets compromise God exists 1/2 of the time. There is a solution that no one likes so therefor it must be a good compromise.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Which part says Moses fucked his daughters?
Based on your comments I think you haven't really read the Bible either.
From this article:
"According to prosectors, Petric, 16 at the time of the shooting, was forbidden to buy Halo 3 by his parents, Mark and Susan Petric. The teen snuck out to purchase the game anyway, and was caught by his parents upon his return. The game was locked up in Mark's lockbox, along with a 9mm handgun."
So no, a history of violence wasn't mentioned in the articles I have seen so far. However, it also says he didn't have a copy of the game.
From the same article:
"Lawyers for the accused delivered a brief statement at the opening of the trial, explaining that their client had be under a large amount of stress after being homebound for a year due to a snowboarding accident with nothing to do but watch television and play video games."
So, presumably he hadn't been playing the game elsewhere.
But don't worry...
"Dad, I'm so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family," Daniel Petric said, according to his father. "I'm so glad you are alive."
"You're my son," Mark Petric responded. "You're my boy."
Dad forgives him...
come now, i mean look at the links he posted to support his claims!? I mean, Prison Planet? We're talking about a site that is so insane and disreputable that, when it served to introduce me to Ron Paul (back in 2005), I refused to believe that Ron Paul could possibly exist and had to go off and independently confirm his existence. And lets not even get started on 911 truth sites...
Daniel's plan was originally to make it look like a murder-suicide, by leaving the gun in his father's hand. After the shooting, Mark Petric said his son put the gun in his hand while saying, "Hey Dad, here's your gun. Take it."
Well there go the theories about him not thinking his parents would be permanently dead. I mean what would happen to the murder-suicide plan once the parents respawned?
It's called fanaticism. If it wasn't countries or religions it'd just be something else.
Reality must take precedence over public relations, for nature cannot be fooled.
From this article: "According to prosectors, Petric, 16 at the time of the shooting, was forbidden to buy Halo 3 by his parents, Mark and Susan Petric. The teen snuck out to purchase the game anyway, and was caught by his parents upon his return. The game was locked up in Mark's lockbox, along with a 9mm handgun." So no, a history of violence wasn't mentioned in the articles I have seen so far. However, it also says he didn't have a copy of the game. From the same article: "Lawyers for the accused delivered a brief statement at the opening of the trial, explaining that their client had be under a large amount of stress after being homebound for a year due to a snowboarding accident with nothing to do but watch television and play video games." So, presumably he hadn't been playing the game elsewhere. But don't worry... "Dad, I'm so sorry for what I did to Mom, to you and to the family," Daniel Petric said, according to his father. "I'm so glad you are alive." "You're my son," Mark Petric responded. "You're my boy." Dad forgives him...
This is quite revealing. I think it's safe to say there is at least some degree of a lack of rationality in that family that is not Halo 3 related
perl -e "eval pack(q{H*},join q{},qw{70 72696e74207061636b28717b482a7d2c717b343 637323635363534323533343430617d293b})"
It's called nationalism.
Funny that the suicide bombers always seem to come from theocracies.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Until recently Alaskan state law required pilots of passenger plans carrying 15 people or less to carry a gun as part of a survival kit. Why? If they go down in the woods for bear protection.
They are pretty useful items to have if you live out in the country and need them to protect livestock or yourself if you live in bear country.
Plus target shooting of course.
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
I agree, Lot is not forgotten. Perhaps I should have said, "Compared to Moses, Lot is barely remembered...". Lot's story is told in four chapters of Genesis, whereas Moses appears in multiple books.
I disagree that Lot is remembered as a "particularly good servant." The OT tells how he offered his daughters to a crowd of gang-rapers (Genesis 19:8), had sex with his daughters (Genesis 19:33), took the best land for himself (Genesis 13:10-11), etc. He's remembered as a barely good servant. The kind of guy you think, how is he a good man???
Liberal? Conservative? Compare perspectives at Left-Right
Oh excuse me, you're right, that was Lot. You remember him don't you? He was the hero of the story most modern Christians commonly use to assert that God hates fags. He saved some angels from homosexual rape by offering his daughters for rape instead, then later he got drunk and knocked-up those daughters himself (making him both the father and grandfather of two new tribes). Truly another one of our great biblical heroes for the kids to look up to. I guess marriage is between one man, one woman, the man's two daughters, and anyone who wants to rape the two daughters--as long as no dude buggers another dude.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Wow. I'd say the real thing to note here is "Don't store the stuff you take from your child as a punishment in the same box as your guns, they might get ideas"
I hate doing this because I'm not a Christian, but there is a lot of FUD among atheists with regard to the Bible. They use bad translations and don't interpret the text with the proper context, they just pick and choose specific lines and say here, this is proof of contradiction (ironically this is not so dissimilar of the behavior which they accuse Christians of only picking and choosing which parts to follow). You have to remember that the style of writing was vastly different than the style of today, so using modern day context to interpret a nearly 2000 year old text is just plain stupid. Even beyond the context of the chapter/book/testament they ignore the differences between the Old and New Covenants.
So atheists, until you actually go and bother to read the Bible and are willing to understand it within context it is presented, please stop passing this FUD around. On the other hand, criticizing the belief in religion is just fine and dandy. Trying to use evidence from a specific religion when you can't even interpret it in the proper context is just plain stupid.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
Is He willing to prevent evil but not able? Then is he impotent?
Is He able but not willing? Then is He malevolent?
Is He both able and willing? Whence then is evil?
Not that I agree with straight-up bashing of religion for bashing's sake, but there's logically nothing in favor of the Faith side besides, well, blind faith.
For the record, I'm agnostic, because I hope there is a God, because that would make things more exciting.