I’d like to start off by saying that this kid has more problems than just a video game addiction. That being said here’s the story:

IGN.com reported the title – “Halo 3 Teen Killer Didn’t Understand That People Don’t Respawn”

Daniel Petric, 17, claimed he didn’t understand that people don’t re-spawn in real life. He shot and killed his mother, and severely wounded his father back in 2007. The parents forbid him from playing Halo 3 and as a result they ended up dead. The judge at the trial was quoted as saying:

This Court’s opinion is that we don’t know enough about these video games…

It’s my firm belief that after a while the same physiological responses occur that occur in the ingestion of some drugs. And I believe that an addiction to these games can do the same thing…

The other dangerous thing about these games, in my opinion, is that when these changes occur, they occur in an environment that is delusional. Because you can shoot these aliens, and they’re there again the next day. You have to shoot them again. And I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea, at the time he hatched this plot, that if he killed his parents, they would be dead forever.

Unfortunately gamers are under fire yet again. An unstable kid kills his parents and blames a video game. Games must be evil and we have to protect everyone from them now.

Columbine is another example of when games were blamed for the actions of mentally unstable individuals. Many other cases have had video games labeled as evil. The truth is that the games didn’t cause the problem the person(s) chose to do what they did.

Stereotyping gamers or video games has been happening for years now. The more these cases come up the more we’ll start to see the gaming world change. Should we blame all drug addicted teens problems on professional athletes that take steroids?

Frankly I think that kids don’t have much for role models today. Digital copies of themselves or heroes is far better than ones that think dog fighting is okay or ones that think tuna is really chicken.

The reality is that video games are what you make them. People that can’t separate fact from fiction should be receiving help. I think this case is nothing more than a sad, misguided youth who made a very stupid decision. Either way three people have lost their lives and gamers take another negative blow from the media.