Obviously, he was trained to save people from playing videogames.

Yes, the school massacres do ring some bells; however none of them have ever been linked to the consumption of violent or “unpopular” media.

Yes they have, Marilyn Manson was singled out at Columbine, before actual facts about their music tastes become evident.

I hate to be the one to question the victim's heroism, but I can't tell from the way the article is written exactly what he did. What few details there are only seem to state that he tried to block the thugs' escape, which sounds kind of unwise to me. He -was- called "heroic" by a "Det Supt", whatever that is, so I guess that's good enough, at least for tabloid journalism.

[...] [Via GamePolitics] [...]

Let's look at this situation according to the logic used by Jack Thompson and his ilk. This guy played counterstrike and several other violent video games. Obviously these games trained this man to put his own sense of self preservation aside and to stand up and come to the aid of someone else being attacked. These games trained him to think quickly and put his life on the line to do what was right. Thank God this young man trained on these games because they turned him into a brave man willing to sacrifice himself to help somebody else. I can guarantee that if children continue to play these games we will end up with a generation of heroes. Of course i'm not being serious, this was just a brave guy that was willing to do the right thing. But if people like Jack Thompson are consistent in their beliefs, they would have to conceed that my above statements are true, according to their fallacious logic.

"Unless you like Emo Rock, in which case you’re a pussy :)"

QFT
:D

"So because you’ve noticed SOME delinquents who happen to enjoy heavier forms of music, that instantly makes it MOST people?"

I'd like to point out that I went to high school in a small hick town in eastern Oregon, and the most foul, violent-minded, dumb-as-a-brick people there were the ones who listened to country music. The rock kids were generally well behaved and intelligent.

Your taste in music does not affect what kind of person you are. Unless you like Emo Rock, in which case you're a pussy :)

[...] Of course one could argue that playing computer games might have dulled that little voice in his head that would normally tell him to sit his happy ass down and not rush men with guns while unarmed, but taking a page from anti-gaming press coverage of the past I’ll ignore that possibility and simply add, “Go team!” Michael Fahey Gang shoot hero commuter [The Sun via GamePolitics] [...]

Meh Metal like emo is a style more than anything else you can ahve fien upright people that are just a bit odd.

Zippy is very odd :P

@Evil

You misunderstand me.

They would bring a gun rights expert on the show. He would then dissect the situation and claim how it was just another case of UK gun control disarming citizens and allowing criminals to run free because only they have guns.


Stupid laptop, i hit the mouse pad just right while going to a new line. Sorry for the double post.

@Evil

You misunderstand me.

They would bring a gun rights exper

"I don’t know how it is in the UK, but I know a lot of the US has local laws that forbid “hero” activity. Hopefully, he won’t be charged with a crime once he’s cleared."

Seriously...WTH are you talking about?

I hope you quick recovery to healthiness, Adam Mapleson. :)

@Clyde

Im just going to ask, are you trying to piss people off and take this thread completely off topic?

Best wishes and hope for a safe and fast recovery to Adam.

Kudos to this guy for what he did.

And of course it won't change what the anti gamers say. They'll say the robber enjoyed violent games, and at least one of them will pray the guy doesn't make it.

@clyde: Actually, I find most kids like that listen to rap, not rock.

@Clyde

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/essex/6690771.stm

Nice report to see, and I mean that sincerely. It was a good read. However... it won't change anything the anti-gamers say. Jack Thompson himself has never used logic or reason in his arguments and the brighter anti-game activists will just point out that only a small (but in their minds significant) percentage of gamers are supposedly adversely affected by violent games.

@ Clyde: Not to go way off topic, but I also listen to rock/metal and I play violent games as do my friends. We're not violent or inconsiderate people. Violent ill-mannered people may be more prone to turn to a certain type of entertainment, but that isn't causation.

Haha, he listens to black metal, too. This guy is awesome.

Whoa, illspirit and Tank!! I'm a Grand Theft Auto fan too and I think what that guy did was worth praising. Anyway, Jack Thompson could never twist the story the other way round, because JT lost the lawsuit against Rockstar, remember? Maybe GTAIV could make a parody of this to praise this "Hero". Maybe in a mission you have to save this female security guard from a attempted robbery which turns out to be Elizabeta? Now that'll be great. I bet this guy plays "Vigilante" and "Brown thunder" in San Andreas everyday. And I bet he chooses CT everytime he plays CS.

@vorlon010

The most recent numbers for England and Wales can be found here. A word of caution when using them in a debate though: Counting rules were changed in '98 and '02 to add various misuses of airguns and replicas into the "gun crime" category, which skews the totals a bit. Not to mention simple possession of a banned firearm adds to the number. 'Tis best to stick specific and well categorized stats like non-fatal attacks, homicides, and the number of police officers wounded (which tend to be the most meticulously kept records by the police, for obvious reasons).

Then again (and IMHO), things like robbery should be fair game regardless of if a real or air gun was used, as the victim was just as robbed and just as terrified either way. Especially seeing as another Home Office study found that many criminals arrested for using airsoft/replica guns had access to the real thing, they simply chose the fakes. Possibly because they figured it would give them a lighter sentence if caught. However, if IANSA and Labour have their way, and realistic looking toys are treated the same, don't be surprised if thugs start just using the real thing again since the punishment will be no different.

As for the price of the compensation, I found that number in some Parliment report from October '99. Not only has it probably gone up, like you said, as people have sued for delinquent compensation, it didn't include the costs for police salaries, destruction facilities, court fees, etc.. Then there are the secondary and tertiary costs such as lost jobs in the shooting sports industry, lost tourism revenue from people who might have visited a range while on holiday, the cost of flying the Olympics pistol team to Switzerland for target practice, and so on.

Not to mention the lost tax stream from all the "refugees" who fled to other countries. Last time I was at the range, there was a group of seven or eight British expatriates shooting pistols who apparently came here in part because of the silly ban. Would be rather interesting to know how many did just that..

And, yea, from what I've read, the reaction to Dunblane was as crazy as the shooter. If anything, that should have been an indictment against cronyism and such in the local council and constabulary. But instead of answering why they were protecting (or covering up) for the shooter's craziness and letting him run free, they starting shrieking about the gun laws (which seemed to have worked well enough for 70+ years..) as a distraction. Or maybe it was a ploy to disarm the people so there could be no resistance to Labour's planned surveillance state. Hmm...

It's a shame.

You never see stuff like this in the news

Either way, this guy's a hero

[...] Credit: game politics [...]

"Most people who indulges and have a passion for death metal or rock music (Maroon 5, Linkin Park, Scott Humphrey and Rob Zombie for prime example) and violent games were rude and insolent teenagers. But thankfully not this 24 year old britian though, for he not only save his own life but most importantly other people’s lives.

Kudos to gamepolitics for the news! "

Lol @ your examples, Maroon 5? Linkin park? where did you come of with these as being "heavy" bands that people who listen to real metal would even consider music.

@bhudda

er.. why?

@Rammsoldat

Sorry about that. I wasn't trying to be a jerk, it just males my brain hurt that so many people accept the political myth that gun bans make crime disappear without double-checking.

Mind you, I'm not saying this is the reason the UK should run out and legalize guns either. If, as a people, you really don't want guns around, so be it. I just think it's insane (in the Einstein-esque 'doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results' sense) for politicians to waste so much time and money inventing new ways to blame inanimate objects (be it guns, knives, or games) instead of focusing on real causes of crime or focusing on criminals.

With the money Labour spent paying for hundreds of thousands of confiscated pistols (roughly £168,000,000), and registering tracking and inspecting even more legally owned shotguns and rifles, they could literally pay thousands of chavs/yobs/etc.. a year to not commit crimes. Or they could have used it to build more jails and hired more cops, then perhaps caught this shooter earlier; and/or kept him in jail for a (statistically almost certain) prior offense instead of the catch-and-release system of overcrowded prisons they have now. Either way, nearly 99% of all the weapons tracked and destroyed would have never been used in a crime. All the effort and money to do so just seems quixotic, to say the least.

Likewise, on this side of the pond, Illinois, for example, could have used that $1 million spent defending their failed game law on schools to help educate kids so they could avoid a life of crime.

You know, as cool as it was that he stepped in and tried to help out (regardless of whether or not it was foolhardy), I think relating this to video games in any way is kind of hypocritical. On the one hand, we bash media outlets when they tie video games to violence, especially when the relationship is tenuous. We're doing the same thing here. We would not have paid any mind if the headline had read "Young Man Shot While Helping Robbery Victim". The fact that he was a gamer has very little, if anything, to do with what actually happened. We've suddenly gone the way of JT, latching on to a case and touting it as the shining example of why OUR camp is right.

In any case, I'm not trying to demean Adam. He did a very brave thing, and it's slightly disturbing the amount of people that are saying they would not have done the same thing. It's probably all those video games. :P

@ illspirit

ok i may be mistaken, no need to be an arse about it. I never said it dosent happen here i only said it wasnt rampant but if you've paid more attention to statistics that state otherwise im not gonna argue.

I've been seeing more and more stories like this and besides giving you a warm, fuzzy feeling it shows the gamer "non-believers" that we are not a bunch of insane killing machines. Except for maybe that guy locked in my basement-er....nevermind. Carry on, good work! *looks around frantically*

Rammsoldat: "Y’know we dont get a hell of alot of gun crime over here because guns are very illegal, especially since the dunblane massacre"

That's funny, according to Home Office stats, criminal wounding via handgun has more than tripled since they were banned, while general "gun crime" has doubled. But just keep telling yourself "it can't happen here" as things like this happen more and more often if it makes you feel any better. At the current rate, England and Wales will likely surpass the US in per-capita "gun crime" within a decade..

Cool, he's a fellow NWN fan. I hope the Clerics at the hospital roll all 6's while they cast "Cure Moderate Wounds" on him. Haahaaaa!

I agree with Jbourrie to an extent. People shouldn't endanger their lives or the lives or others over money. But we don't know what really happened. Maybe the robber looked like he was going to shoot the lady, maybe the robber didn't look like a robber but just some crazy nut, and this Paladin (ha!) acted right away. I mean if he's a Paladin player, he's bound to uphold "The Law" no matter what. Paladins have to be Lawful Good.

Please tell me you forwarded this to Jack.

Adam,On the off chance you visit this particular website between games of counterstrike, I would like to say good job.

Y'know we dont get a hell of alot of gun crime over here because guns are very illegal, especially since the dunblane massacre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunblane_massacre) wich was a primary school shooting that (suprise suprise) was not carried out by a metal music loving teen.

Im a big fan of metal music and video games so i get the prejudices of the common folk flug at me from left and right but they are both media interests and dont determine the personality or train of thought of a person who enjoys them.

Adam is a ballsy fella so kudos to him, considering the stories abou gun crime in the tabloids here most folk would have shat themselves and ran in the opposite direction.

@Tank

The quoted source for this story is The Sun, which is owned by the same media empire as Fox.

Of course that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of time to twist the story!

Very nice, someone who plays GTA that isn't going to be called a threat to society. But again, my paranoia keeps telling me they're going to misrepresent the facts in order to push an agenda. "Gamer involved in attempted robbery", still the facts, but agenda worthy

I hope he makes a speedy recovery, and hopefully the mainstream media will take it upon themselves to use this to undo the damage they have so wantonly done to the image of the Gaming Community.

@Clyde Wyman

What metal fans have you met? I count myself among them and I don't see myself as either Rude or Insolent during my teenage years (or ever for that matter). And having been to several Metal shows, 99% of all the fans attending were the nicest and most considerate people I've met, not to mention the patrons of my favourite Metal Bar. Perhaps you should keep your prejudices to yourself, esspecially on a News site dedicated to a Community that has been scapegoated and ostracized just as Metal music was.

@MaskedPixelante

I can easily see that happening...probably on Fox News.

I hope he'll make a speedy recovery with no permanent injury. Way to go, man!

@ clyde

I certainly wouldn't say "most" people who play violent games or listen to those bands are insolent OR rude, I would sooner say they are the minority.

[...] That sounds about right. We’re also capable of superhuman feats of courage but whether gaming is a performance inducing stimulant or not remains to be seen. I can also think of a few games that feel like crack such as WoW, Halo, Pokemon, Guitar Hero, Tetris etc. But like anyone else I can walk away from it at any time…..I’m in control…..really I am. [...]