7 year old nephew goes on violent rampage

[somtamslap]

I really don't know about nippers thesedays. When I was younger I'd occupy my time playing a healthy game of hopscotch or running down the lane with pushing a hoop along with a stick..but, of course, times they are a changing..

I bought a new game for my rarely used Playstation 2 the other day. It's called Grand Theft Auto, Liberty City Stories.
I cranked it up and systematically completed a few missions, shooting a few gangsters and taking a few close up pictures of drug deals along the way.
My 7 year nephew heard the sounds of the game and ran into the room, massive grin all over his face. I wasn't really sure I wanted him playing the game but he was ridiculously excited about having a go, so I T'd up a tame mission for him. All he had to do was pick someone up and drop them off.

The first thing he did was get out of the car, run up to what appeared to be a prostitute, beat her to death with a baseball bat and nick all her cash..he continued to do this without prejudice to old people, business men and pimps. Then when he had enough cash he drove to the gun shop, bought an Uzi and massacred everyone in sight.

Erm, not quite sure what to make of that..

A possible lunatic in the making.

Games been put where young mitts can't reach now.

[barbaro]

^ Well, it's just a game.

Most normal kids will understand this.

Game is one thing - acting out in real life is another.

Kinda like Wrestlin'

[Bung]

Yeah, GTA isn't really suitable for kids, a lot has been said about that games impact.

[Nawty]

Thought a 7yo had gone ballistic on the new digs....demolition like.

[somtamslap]

If he keeps on playing that game anything is possible. I'll get home to see the little bugger cackling maniacally behind the controls of a wrecking ball.

[StrontiumDog]

If he starts showing a lot of interests in guns, then worry.

[The Fresh Prince]

What he should have done is drive up to the prostitute, stop, and beep the horn. (this can only be done at night or the wee hours of the morning before 5am) Then when she comes over to the window and offers her services, wait, until she gets in the car. When she's in drive off and find a secluded back ally or park and bang the back end out of her. Then when you done and your all paid up, she'll get out the car and walk off. Chase her and beat her to death with a baseball bat and get your money back!

Please remember people that this is only a game!

I never let any of my nephews play this game.

[Travelmate]

Thought GTA is banned in Thailand!

[The Fresh Prince]

It is but I bought it before it was banned.

[Stinky]

^ Well, it's just a game.

Most normal kids will understand this.

Games like this desensitize kids view of violence, a kid ain't like you and me Milky, it's imagination and susceptibility to external influences are huge.

Don't give games like this to kids, it's irresponsible and there's far more suitable games they could play with

[The Fresh Prince]

Have you tried it yet Somtam?

[Stinky]

Got an older version, gotta be similar from the sounds of it.

Somtam?

[withnallstoke]

Somtams been arrested for carjacking at Pak Chong traffic lights.

[StrontiumDog]

I've never played any of the series or any games like it. Too boring.

But as Sd said, desensitization is a serious problem for kids.

[melvbot]

I let my son play GTA on the PSP for a bit, dont let him now as he found Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones. Ive just bought an XBOX 360 so Im going to teach him how to play some proper games, you know the ones where you go and kill people in wars ......................

[DrAndy]

It will be interesting to see if he gets any changes to his behaviour if you let him keep playing

[lom]

Im going to teach him how to play some proper games, you know the ones where you go and kill people in wars

Nooo. Don't say you're gonna let him watch news and movies on the telly

[The Fresh Prince]

I've never played any of the series or any games like it. Too boring.

But you've never played it.

[somtamslap]

It is but I bought it before it was banned

I just bought it on Saturday..must still be allowed up here..ofcourse its a copied version, 70 bt.

Have you tried it yet Somtam?

I'll do some curb crawling when I get in..thats if the nipper hasn't killed them all already.

[kingwilly]

Little KW loves those games, i get bored of him hogging the xbox, so I gave him my old one.

Lego Star Wars, Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones

[English Noodles]

Thought GTA is banned in Thailand!

Yes, it was banned after this happened.

Grand Theft Auto pulled from sale after Bangkok teen murders taxi driver 'to see if it was as easy as in the game'


A Thai student murdered a taxi driver while trying to recreate a scene from the Grand Theft Auto computer game.
Polwat Chino, 18, who was said to be an obsessive player of the controversial game, stabbed the 54-year-old driver ten times.
'He said he wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game,' chief police investigator Veeravit Pipattanasak said.
Grand Theft Auto, which is made by Edinburgh-based firm Rockstar North, has been criticised for depicting carjackings, drive-by shootings and prostitution. It has also been accused of encouraging juvenile crime in Britain.
Now a Thai video game distributor has halted sales of 'Grand Theft Auto' as backlash against the controversially violent game began.
The 18-year-old high school student, who is now in custody, faces death by lethal injection if found guilty of robbing and killing the 54-year-old taxi driver over the weekend.


Copycat killing: Police watch as the suspect, second right, re-enacts the crime in Bangkok yesterday

Police said the youth showed no sign of mental problems during questioning and had confessed to committing the crime because of the game.

The youth, described by his parents as polite and diligent, was arrested late on Saturday after he was found trying to steer a cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the severely wounded driver in the back seat, newspapers reported.
The suspect told police he did not mean to kill the driver, whom he had chosen as a possible victim because of his age, but that he stabbed him to death when he fought back, newspapers reported.
"We are sending out requests today to outlets and shops to pull the games off their shelves and we will replace them with other games," Sakchai Chotikachinda, sales and marketing director of New Era Interactive Media, said.



Grand Theft Auto IV: The controversial game has been pulled in Thailand after the attack

"We are also urging video game arcades to pull the games from service," Sakchai said.

"Grand Theft Auto", now available in its fourth edition, has been criticised for depicting violence including beatings, carjackings, drive-by shootings, drunk driving and prostitution.
A senior official at Thailand's Culture Ministry said the murder was a wake-up call for authorities to tackle the issue of violent video games, and urged parents to pay closer attention to what their children played.
"This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse," Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the ministry's Cultural Surveillance Centre, said.
"Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner."
The ministry has been pushing for tougher regulation of video games such as Grand Theft Auto, including the imposition of a rating system on sales and restriction on hours that youngsters can play the games in public arcades.
A multi-million dollar lawsuit was filed in the U.S. state of Alabama against the makers and marketers of Grand Theft Auto in 2005, claiming that months of playing the game led a teenager to kill two police officers and a 911 dispatcher.
The blockbuster Grand Theft Auto games are published by Nasdaq-listed Take-Two Interactive Software.

Read more: Grand Theft Auto pulled from sale after Bangkok teen murders taxi driver 'to see if it was as easy as in the game' | Mail Online

[The Fresh Prince]

"This time-bomb has already exploded and the situation could get worse," Ladda Thangsupachai, director of the ministry's Cultural Surveillance Centre, said. "Today it is a cab driver, but tomorrow it could be a video game shop owner."

Why does she think stabbing a video game shop owner is worse than stabbing a taxi driver?

[The Fresh Prince]

I just bought it on Saturday..must still be allowed up here..ofcourse its a copied version, 70 bt.

Yes, what would the world be coming to if they started banning illegally copied games?

[withnallstoke]

Is this the bit from the game when the perp gets caught, and the catchers form a dissorderly queue intent on buggery?

[somtamslap]

Is this the bit from the game when the perp gets caught

No, before the perp gets caught, if you have your wits about you and have a fairly decent arsenal of weaponry in your coat, the chase can last for a good 20 minutes, during which period you should kill at least 30 policemen, blow up their cars, shoot down their helicopters, maim everyone you come across by poughing them down in your motor before finally ending it all by driving into a river where your car will explode..nevermind though, because 5 seconds later you find yourself walking out of the hospital ready for more mayhem.

The whole Station's been top shelved in our house now, it's disturbing homework patterns.