[OT] A cop who understands the difference between fantasy and reality:

[Pielorinho]

From The New York Times comes a news story about some teenager who got caught stealing cars. The kid is claiming to have gotten the idea from the computer game "Grand Theft Auto."

Does the cop say, "Kids today need to stop playing these evil games and do something healthy like tiddlywinks"? Not a bit:

``He (Zoerner) said that actually going out and committing these crimes was challenging and fun,'' Pleasant Prairie Police Chief Brian Wagner said.

``A video game is fantasy and you can turn it off and walk away without consequences -- there are no victims and no one gets hurt. Reality is not as forgiving.

``He cost this community thousands of dollars in damage and property loss and is facing some serious penalties as a result. I would hope that he'll rethink the meaning of the word 'fun.'''

Yay for public officials who understand the difference between fantasy and reality!

Daniel

 

[Zappo]

Yay for him! I just hope the media will follow the example. It is soooooo evident that this boy is trying to ride the videogame witch-hunt to get a reduced penalty.

 

[s/LaSH]

GTA? Isn't that, like, 5 years old? It's had two sequels! Would any gamer worth their salt be playing something that old? (Well, except Half-Life.) I'd be very tight-lipped around the kid were I investigating this matter, and see if they even knew how to hold a controller.

In all seriousness, though, cops are gamers too sometimes... I should know, I've got an associate in the States somewhere who shares his fantasy artwork with me, and he's in law enforcement. I can't find his web page right now, but I'll put a link up on my webcomic once I'm ready to start the next chapter.

 

[Pielorinho]

GTA? Isn't that, like, 5 years old? It's had two sequels! Would any gamer worth their salt be playing something that old? (Well, except Half-Life.) I'd be very tight-lipped around the kid were I investigating this matter, and see if they even knew how to hold a controller.

Hee hee!

(Although you probably know this, this is likely to be a mistake on the reporter's part -- probably the reporter didn't understand the vital difference between GTA and GTAIII:VC)

Daniel

 

[Gizzard]

I just hope the media will follow the example.

CNN.com seems too lazy to try. :-(

I popped into the article inflamatorially titled something like "Teen Theft Spree Inspired by Video Game" just to see. 'Course its only 6 paragraphs long or so, I bet the writer ripped the core off the wire, gave it a quick rewrite and polish in under 5 minutes.