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Deaths Related To Video Games / Gamers / Gaming

Prostitutes call for ban on GTA


Sex workers cry foul, say game "accrues points to players for the depiction of rape and murder of prostitutes."

The Grand Theft Auto franchise is getting attacked from all angles. Joining the ranks of politicians, policemen, and attorneys in their crusade to see the game lifted from shelves are the nation's sex workers. On its Web site, the Sex Workers Outreach Project USA is asking parents to assist them in calling for a ban of Take-Two Interactive's controversial game.

Citing a 2001 document from the National Institute on Media and the Family's David Walsh, SWOP is calling "on all parents and all gamers to boycott Grand Theft Auto."

The organization quotes various points from Walsh's paper, including, "Children are more likely to imitate a character with whom they identify with. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator."

Though the organization admits to being "adamantly opposed to any and all forms of censorship," as concerned parents themselves, they "wish to inform other parents of the potential danger extremely violent video games pose to children." Likewise, in the interest of promoting the rights of sex workers, the organization is opposed to the depiction of the rape and murder of prostitutes.

In the games, players can solicit "services" from prostitutes by driving their cars slowly near them. No sexual acts are in clear visible view, but during the "transaction," the player regains health and loses money. Though the player cannot actively rape prostitutes in the game, a possible rape is alluded to once during the storyline of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The prostitutes, like every other character, are also subject to homicide at the hands of the protagonist.

According to its Web site, SWOP USA is an organization dedicated to improving the lives of sex-industry workers and to the promotion of a safe working environment for the industry.
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www.gamespot.com/news/6144286.html
 
On similar GTA lines:

Tyrone McMillan sentenced

Updated: 4/13/2006 4:57 PM
By: Capital News 9 Web Staff



The Troy man who thought he could outrun police because of his video game skills has learned his fate.

Tyrone McMillan will spend seven years behind bars for second-degree assault and first-degree attempted assault. He received two seven-year sentences, but they will be served concurrently.

McMillan pleaded guilty to the charges in March.

The chase happened on Aug. 5 when police said they tried to pull McMillan over because of a parole violation. He took off in his SUV with his girlfriend's 11-year-old daughter and 10-year-old cousin in the vehicle.

The girls managed to jump from the car while it was moving slowly on a 787 on-ramp.

A Troy man will spend seven years in prison for leading police on a high-speed chase through two counties last summer.

The chase went on for a total of 55 minutes, ending when McMillan slammed into two cars -- one of them was a police cruiser. A Troy police officer was treated at an area hospital and released.

McMillan later told police he thought he could outrun them because he played the PlayStation video game "Grand Theft Auto."

After serving time, McMillan will be on post-release supervision for 10 years.
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www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_storie ... rID=175621
 
Sounds like someone there has difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality...
 
Game Distributor Sued Over Boy's Suicide

By JOE McDONALD, Associated Press Writer Fri May 12, 5:28 AM ET

BEIJING - The parents of a 13-year-old Chinese boy who they say jumped to his death from a tall building after playing one of the popular "Warcraft" online games for 36 hours straight are suing its Chinese distributor, a news report said Friday.

Zhang Xiaoyi died on Dec. 27, 2004, leaving behind a suicide note saying he wanted "to join the heroes of the game he worshipped," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

It said Zhang's parents, who live in Tianjin, just east of Beijing, are seeking 100,000 yuan ($12,500) from Aomeisoft, the Chinese distributor of "Warcraft: Orcs and Humans."

The suit says Aomeisoft failed to include a warning that the game's U.S. maker rates it as suitable only for players above age 13, according to Xinhua.

The Warcraft games are made by Blizzard Entertainment, a unit of Paris-based Vivendi Universal SA. Xinhua said a Tianjin court rejected a claim by the parents against the game maker.

The vice president of Aomeisoft, Bai Jie, told The Associated Press that he saw news reports about the lawsuit but that the company hasn't received any official court notice.

Bai said Zhang's parents were suing the wrong company, because Aomeisoft was set up in August, eight months after his death. Bai said he didn't know which distributor sold the game in 2004.

China has 111 million Internet users, second only to the United States. It is one of the world's biggest markets for online games, with tens of millions of players, many of whom hunker down for hours in front of PCs in public Internet cafes.

But the government has expressed concern about the violence and sexual content of some games. It has imposed curfews and time limits on children in Internet cafes and banned them near schools.

Also Friday, a newspaper said the Beijing city government has launched a review of the Chinese capital's 1,007 licensed Internet cafes to ensure they are complying with rules on admitting minors.

Violators could lose their licenses, the China Daily said.

In 2004, China shut down thousands of Internet cafes nationwide after a series of fatal fires and other accidents.

Xinhua said Zhang played at a "game hall," but didn't say whether that was an Internet cafe, which would have been required to limit his time there to a few hours.

Several cities have clinics to treat what psychiatrists have dubbed "Internet addiction" in users, many of them children and teenagers, who play online games or surf the Web for days at a time.

Specialists at a Beijing hospital examined Zhang's diary, school records and suicide note and concluded that "Zhang had excessively indulged in unhealthy games and contracted serious Internet addiction before his death," Xinhua reported.

His parents' suit also calls on the distributor to put a warning on the game's packaging saying "playing games excessively harms health," the report said.

Bai, the Aomeisoft executive, said the company plans to add "anti-addiction warnings" to future games.

The Warcraft games have 2.5 million players in China, with copies in more than 100,000 Internet cafes, Vivendi Universal chairman Jean-Bernard Levy told reporters in Shanghai in April.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060512/ap_ ... ne_suicide
 
Hmmm. Good article find. Will get back to you. I've completed some meta research on tv and video games re: violence etc, and as far as I can tell, the jury is not just out, but the case hasn't even been defined properly. There is so much contradtictory evidence it would make your head swim. However, away from a professional opinion, it seems likely that people can be desensitised but my own view is that it is not just tv or games to blame (same way that macdonalds is not to blame for fat people), but a whole raft of social problems.
 
You may want to start your research by looking at what some of the ancient greeks thought about the youth of their day. Nothing ever changes.

I once had a link to a good piece on this that started from the effect of 'Penny Dreadfuls' and other such literature on the minds of the victorian kids. then there's rock and roll, TV, video nasties etc.

To be honest, the only time the older generation didn't seem to complain about the youth of their day was when they were getting bits shot off them in two world wars.

Of course with statistics you can blame anything on anything...

[/quote]You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average global temperature over the last 200 years. As you can see, there is a statistically significant inverse relationship between pirates and global temperature.
http://www.venganza.org/
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It said Zhang's parents, who live in Tianjin, just east of Beijing, are seeking 100,000 yuan ($12,500) from Aomeisoft, the Chinese distributor of "Warcraft: Orcs and Humans."
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Seems odd if someone really played this ancient game for 36 hours straight. Do they mean the much more recent "World of Warcraft"?
 
From this month's gamesTM

See You In Court

It's official. The case against TakeTwo, Sony and US retailers filed by the familes of police officers murdered by 18-year -old GTA addict Devin moore will go to court.

The infamous Jack thompson originally presented the case, but since his disbarring it has been handled by the state of Alabama. The trial is expected to commence later this year.

Moore was sentenced to death in 2003, and this follow-up lawsuit is expected to attract a lot of media attention.
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Source : Data Stream, p10, gamesTM issue 44
 
from the Observer...




Playing computer games may actually be good for children, according to a government study that found no proof that even violent games triggered aggressive behaviour.
The games can improve children's decision-making and instil 'positive learning traits', some research suggests. At least one study argues that make-believe violence helps children 'conquer fears and develop a sense of identity', as gruesome fairytales once did.

The review was ordered by ministers over concerns about possible links between bloodthirsty games and real-life violence. The fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah, whose attacker was said to have been obsessed with a game called Manhunt, prompted a campaign by his mother to have violent titles banned.

The review concluded fears about violent games reflected deeper social concerns about 'the changing nature of childhood in a modern world'. Most research suggesting a link came from America and did not take into account the context in which children played.

Ministers have discussed age-labelling of games and are understood to be planning talks with the industry about helping parents choose titles.


http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/ ... 20,00.html
 
Perhaps there is a thread for this, if so, can someone merge?

This has been an ongoing phenomenon but here's a new case:

http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/6904 ... l-shirley/

Diablo III Claims its First Real-World Victim, 32-Year Old Russell Shirley
Bad news hits the Diablo III community.

by Jacob Saylor on 23rd May, 2012

Good friend and writer here at Gameranx, Dave Oshry tweeted that the first Diablo III-related death has occurred. It’s sad that we have come to see this as a common phenomenon. It is as if we all expected there to be deaths associated with the game.

32-year old Russell Shirley was found dead in his home over the weekend by his landlord and coworker. He suffered a heart attack after a three-day binge on Diablo III.

The blog post Oshry linked us to indicates that Shirley lived a sedentary lifestyle, and while his place of employment offered free gym membership, he was hard pressed to use it.

I suppose it goes without saying that everyone should monitor their playtime, and take time out for physical activity. Personally, I get my daily physical activity through the sport of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu; there are tons of other options, though. Try and channel that competitive spirit you have fostered through gaming into self-improvement once in a blue moon and the results might be more attractive than you thought.

Our hearts, thoughts, and controllers are with Russell Shirley. We here at Gameranx ask that you treat games as anything else, and only use them in moderation.
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I don't see the connection particularly.

Am I being unnecssearily obtuse? What evidence is there to suggest that this is a phenomenon? Have gamers been dropping like flies? I can understand increased cases of epilepsy etc, but a sedentary man dying of a heart attack, whatever he was doing, doesn't strike me as being particularly strange.

I played Doom once for about 16 hours and when I went to bed, I couldn't stop running through the game in my head - scary stuff, but heart-attack inducing....hmmm.
 
One of the big dangers of long gaming sessions is DVT, it get's a few folks a year.

I participate in an online game, and have to say that every two months or so there is a news story about another death from an extended gaming session. It's the kind of news that pops up on gaming sites not general news sites, so it perhaps doesn't get the media attention it could.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-so ... e-14350216

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4137782.stm

And a Wiki round up...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_game ... ble_deaths

Then there's the child welfare issues

http://gamepolitics.com/2010/03/04/kore ... irtual-one

http://news.yahoo.com/mexico-mom-not-al ... 00159.html

Now those are from a quick Google, but yeah, gamers can drop like flies :?
 
There are 2 examples in 0f such gaming deaths in the Strange Deaths column in FT 289.
 
Ok, thanks. I think to describe it as a 'gaming death' or worse, a Diablo III-related death, is mildly misleading. Playing games/sitting still may be a cause/effect thing, but 'gaming death' suggests a direct correlation between the game and the death, whereas if I sat reading a book for 15 hours, I'd have just as much chance of developing DVT.

I hears you, though.
 
Playing games/sitting still may be a cause/effect thing, but 'gaming death' suggests a direct correlation between the game and the death, whereas if I sat reading a book for 15 hours, I'd have just as much chance of developing DVT.
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Agreed.

But Diablo III *is* extremely addictive!
 
Quake42 said:
Playing games/sitting still may be a cause/effect thing, but 'gaming death' suggests a direct correlation between the game and the death, whereas if I sat reading a book for 15 hours, I'd have just as much chance of developing DVT.
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Agreed.

But Diablo III *is* extremely addictive!
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That's the thing about 'Gaming Deaths', the addictive nature of said games causes the deceased to behave/adopt behaviours that do have a causal effect.
 
That's the thing about 'Gaming Deaths', the addictive nature of said games causes the deceased to behave/adopt behaviours that do have a causal effect.
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But I would argue no more so than any other pleasurable activity. I was joking when I used the word "addictive" - I think the term "addiction" is bandied around far too much these days.
 
The use of the word addiction in relation to gaming is certainly debatable...

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers scanned the teens’ brains and found that frequent gamers had a greater volume of gray matter — indicating a higher number of brain cell bodies — on the left side of a brain region called the ventral striatum, which is known to play a role in reward and addiction.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/18/b ... z1vhXXvqNb
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I agree, it's a word that is too quickly used to describe gamers playing habits. Anyone who does play games regularly will be able to testify to a competitive element driving them, just like an athlete can. Shoot more bad guys/run faster, gain a level/ jump higher etc.

I'm struggling to find anything comparative with gaming addiction and athletes, it's probably my Google skills rather than a lack of evidence that successful athletes have similar fMRI scans. Then again, if you've just won a gold medal at the Olympics, you're not gonna rush off for a scan. Mmm
 
Isn't it one of the modern age's incipient fears? That there will be a game out there so good, that gamers will keep playing it until they collapse and die. Perhaps, only a few steps beyond games where reviewers recommend that players give up their day jobs.
 
If this guy had played for 3 days straight without a break, he probably used something to keep him awake (huge doses of caffeine, speed or other junk) - which may be a major contributing cause to the death.
I played Fallout 3 for a day and most of a night without much of a break, and found that I was very mentally drained the next day. I was zombified.
 
That there will be a game out there so good, that gamers will keep playing it until they collapse and die. Perhaps, only a few steps beyond games where reviewers recommend that players give up their day jobs.
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Moral panics about new pastimes are nothing new. No doubt there were medieval fears that backgammon players would keep playing until they collapse and die.

Most gamers are pretty sensible, no matter how much they enjoy their hobby, and I think you'll find that reviewers who make comments along the lines you quote have their tongues firmly in their cheeks. :)
 
They say that when you die, your soul gets sucked into the game. Yeah, really. I had a near death experience where I ressurected as Duke Nukem crawling through aircon ducts for three days, pausing only to poke my head out to make lewd suggestions to lap dancers.

Thankfully, I got better.

Although to this day, I still look at ventilation grills and wish for a shotgun.
 
More than 200 academics have signed an open letter criticising controversial new research suggesting a link between violent video games and aggression.

The findings were released by the American Psychological Association.

It set up a taskforce that reviewed hundreds of studies and papers published between 2005 and 2013.

The American Psychological Association concluded while there was "no single risk factor" to blame for aggression, violent video games did contribute.

"The research demonstrates a consistent relation between violent video game use and increases in aggressive behaviour, aggressive cognitions and aggressive affect, and decreases in pro-social behaviour, empathy and sensitivity to aggression," said the report.

"It is the accumulation of risk factors that tends to lead to aggressive or violent behaviour. The research reviewed here demonstrates that violent video game use is one such risk factor."

However, a large group of academics said they felt the methodology of the research was deeply flawed as a significant part of material included in the study had not been subjected to peer review.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-33960075
 
Sounds a lot like those studies into video nasties of yesteryear where they would set out to make the data fit their existing ideas, i.e. that there was a link between the fictional media and real life violence. More independent and balanced studies would throw cold water on that notion, but they don't get the publicity. Considering how millions play violent video games weekly and they aren't all out rampaging, it doesn't look very likely.
 
Hm. I've not so sure that violence based games games don't desensitize some folk (perhaps 'some personality types') to violence. Proving it however? And it may be that those pre-disposed to violence play those sorts of games.

There are still those who argue violent TV and films have no effect on behaviour, but I note that films and TV programs are book-ended and split with advertisements (which of course have no effect).
 
There's a big difference between buying a packet of crisps you've seen advertised and going out to recreate your favourite murders from GTA.
 
GNC said:
There's a big difference between buying a packet of crisps you've seen advertised and going out to recreate your favourite murders from GTA.
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Ay, that's true. But the argument for there being an affect on the mind from what's seen on the screen, is the same.
 
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It would be if the owner of that mind had no sense of morality whatsoever, but if they did it wouldn't take a computer game to instil that into them, it would take a whole set of terrible life experiences away from the screen.
 
A school has issued a warning to parents urging them not to allow their children to use a ‘suicide’ dating game as it has deemed it too dangerous. The Doki Doki Literature Club app has been allegedly linked to the deaths of two teenagers, due to its themes of self-harm and suicide.
The app is advertised as a school dating game which begins with users playing a school pupil who wants to write poetry to impress girls. While the first part of the game features no hints of violence, it quickly descends into a psychological horror, with users allowed to select various endings to the game.

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/read-this/school-dating-game-warning/
 
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