Verdict exonerates video games?
It was "game over" Tuesday for 20-year-old Devin Moore, who was convicted of capital murder despite his lawyers' claims that the video game "Grand Theft Auto" made him kill three small-town police officers.
An Alabama judge barred jurors from hearing testimony linking the 2003 deadly shootings to the video game, according to The Associated Press. But a defense lawyer reminded jurors that Moore, after his arrest, told police: "Life is a video game; everybody has to die sometime," the AP reported.
The jury's verdict, which came after just one hour of deliberation, was a sort of vindication for those who believe video games have been unfairly blamed for unlawful behavior. Some bloggers were troubled, however, to learn that the victims' families have filed a civil suit against the video-game manufacturer and two stores.
Blog community response:
"Guess what, kids? Games don't make you kill people. Games aren't an excuse. Stop trying to use them as a catch-all for all the world's ailments...I feel sorry for the victims and their families, but using the now-convicted killer's own failed defense as basis for a civil suit just seems incredibly dumb and greedy to me."
--Directional Pad
"Millions of people have seen the Batman movies, but few to none (there may be one or two) are dressing up in costumes and attempting to fight crime...Their suit is reminiscent of the Columbine High School massacre, where parents blamed the video game 'Doom' for pushing Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to murder 12 classmates and a teacher before committing suicide."
--Hanging By the News
"I canÂ’t even begin to explain how much this all angers me. Not just the senseless loss of life or the annihilation of MooreÂ’s future, but now the aimless blame game, which seems to be primarily focused on who has the more money."
--Journal of the Angry Puppy
"Good for the jury, I say. It's an absurd contention that game players relinquish moral responsibility for their actions, because they've somehow been hypnotized by playing. More dangerous is the assertion made in the police officers' civil suit against the Grand Theft Auto creators, seeking to hold Take-Two Interactive Software responsible for the deaths, however."
--News.com Gaming Blog