UK Game Critic Keith Vaz "Not Surprised" About Stabbing in GTA IV Line, But...
UK Game Critic Keith Vaz "Not Surprised" About Stabbing in GTA IV Line, But...
May 1, 2008
Labour MP Keith Vaz, a longtime critic of violent video games, was quick to relate a recent London stabbing to Grand Theft Auto IV.Will Vaz be as quick to retract his comments now that further investigation seems to negate such a link?
As initially reported by the Times, the incident occurred late Monday night as buyers queued up for the midnight launch of Rockstar's controversial crime game. Initial news reports indicated that the attacker was in line for the game:
A hooded man queuing to buy the new Grand Theft Auto IV, the notoriously violent computer game, stabbed a passer-by in the head and neck. Up to 100 people witnessed the attack.
Vaz told the newspaper:
[Grand Theft Auto] is a violent and nasty video game and it doesn’t surprise me that some of those who play it behave in this way.
However, VNU reports that linkage of the stabbing incident to GTA IV may be a case of "media panic":
"The victim had categorically not pre-ordered the game and GameStation is confident that he was not a GameStation customer; neither was he a part of the queue outside the Croydon store, a source told the Games Radar blog.
The source also said that the stabbing did not occur outside the store, but a quarter of a mile away outside East Croydon station.
Via: Kotaku
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Posted 11/07/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
ZippyDSMlee: man I got alot of junk and dup files too >< god I need orginization...and no not the knee capping media mafia kind :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:26pm
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
ZippyDSMlee: replaced :P
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:23pm
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
ZippyDSMlee: beemoh:hey its like 60GB porn,400GB anime 100GB games and crap I have took from all my DVDs, I hate waiting on dvds to install stuff..... oh and 40GB of my porn was in the found.000 folder...mostly corrupted.... least I got names of wut needs to be repa
Posted 11/07/09 at 04:18pm
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
beemoh: @Zip: ...and you'd have to spend all that time re-downloading that porn?
Posted 11/07/09 at 03:34pm
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
ZippyDSMlee: ggrrrrr......vista lost one of my hard drives and I had a heart attack thinking I lost 1TB of data....
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:58am
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
JDKJ: Which could be explained by both (a) and (b).
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:56am
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Austin_Lewis: JDKJ: You forgot C) the fact that, for some reason, every time he did something that would suggest he shouldn't be in the military, let alone an officer, higher ups ignored it or let it slide.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:51am
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
JDKJ: Part of the problem is, I believe, that (a) the Army had a lot of time and money already invested in him and which they were unwilling to simply write-off and (b) an increasing need for the type of skills and services he provided.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:48am
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
JDKJ: And that even if he was begging not to get cut loose, he was apparently a real good candidate for being cut loose, anyway.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:11am
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
JDKJ: @chada: And while Kennedy once noted that there's usually more than enough blame for everyone to get a slice, the possibility that the Army was unwilling to cut loose someone who was asking to get cut loose could be a factor.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:07am
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
ZippyDSMlee: *noms on his feet*..nomnomnomnom*droooll* ...wuuutttttt uuu looking at?
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:05am
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
JDKJ: I'm no psychologist, but I'm told that crazy people have a tendency to do crazy things.
Posted 11/07/09 at 10:03am
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
chadachada321: Whoops, was out of the convo for awhile. I do wonder what type of ammo he used etc, but the real issue is WHY he did it, not HOW
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:56am
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
JDKJ: But if it turns out that they actually did, they'll have Hell to pay.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:45am
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
JDKJ: And I'd tend to rule out the possibilty of FN Herstal supplying restricted ammunition to someone merely because they're ordering it from a military base.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:37am
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
JDKJ: I know you don't leave your gated community and get around much in dark alleys, so you may be surprised to learn that there's this thing called "the black market" where, if you've got enough money, ain't too much of anything which can't be bought.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:36am
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Austin_Lewis: Or, maybe he or someone else at the base ordered the SS190 from FN Herstal.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:32am
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Austin_Lewis: the hands of private owners. They run about 300 dollars minimum for a box of 50, and boxes of AP 5.7 are extremely scarce, mainly residing in the hands of Class III stores or individuals who for one reason or another got a demo box of it.
Posted 11/07/09 at 09:30am
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Austin_Lewis: There are other firearms that fire the 5.7. However, I too would like to know where he got the ammo and what kind was used. Maybe Hasan, planning not to live through this, went out and bought one the boxes of SS190 that are floating around in
Posted 11/07/09 at 08:44am
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
JDKJ: And it isn't yet clear what type of ammunition Hasan used. It's strange that he purchased a gun but didn't purchase ammunition for it at the same place and time. Especially because the calibre required is peculiar to the actual gun.
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Comments
"A hooded man queuing to buy the new Grand Theft Auto IV, the notoriously violent computer game, stabbed a passer-by in the head and neck. Up to 100 people witnessed the attack."
A hooded man...in line to buy a video game that is (falsely) touted as being the cause of violent acts...stabs a passer-by...in the head and neck...with many witnesses.
I'm sorry, something doesn't add up. I'd be more willing to toss Achem's Razor out the window on this one and say the most logical answer, being that this wasn't staged or pre-planned, isn't the right one. Then again, with them saying the stabbing was away from the whole store completely, it seems like another case of connections made with such a distance that its almost laughable to see anyone attempt to stand behind them.
If anything, it was a mugging. People were in line to get the game, and he knew they'd have money.
WOW.
The source also said that the stabbing did not occur outside the store, but a quarter of a mile away outside East Croydon station."
@Keith Vaz
Grasping at straws...
...yur doing it right!
The nearest dedicated computer game store is at least a quarter of a mile away, at least any store that would have GTA IV so soon after release. It's hard to imagine that someone would follow a victim so far from the shop, just to stab them in THE MOST VISIBLE and PUBLIC places for miles when they could have done it in a secluded alley dozens of times along the route.
Yeah, I call lunacy.
:)
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
(1 week later)
Military actually finds Hussein in Iraq, Politician says "GTA caused a tear in the space time continuum allowing him to go back in time movae to iraq and be found there just so they can say they had no involvement and to cover their butts, we hypocritical,selfserving faith based few know the truth, My good buddey Jack Thompson plans to sue Rockstar for inventing GTA, Space Time rifts, Gravity, Wendy's, The baconator, Physics, space flight, and guns."
Please Vaz... say Mr. Fantastic was the mugger. Please.
Ignoring the distance factor that has been mentioned, that's some hard *ahem* "logic" to follow there.
I'm gonna guess that the negative influence emanating from GTAIV is so potent that just being in the presence of a single copy and not even playing it is enough to drive other wise normal, safe, law-abiding people to crime...Or...somebody is lying and/or twisting facts to suit their own needs.
I could go on (the 365 would give me a decent connection to the Mayan calendar, which everyone knows is the holy grail of wacko conspiracies) but my head has a very important engagement with a brick wall -- it's the only antidote to the horror of living in these modern times.
Occam. Occam's Razor. Vaz still looks like a chipmunk to me.
What a failtard.
Gift.
LOL Is that your new 'thing'?
I assume you frequent the Black Sheep. Good man.
Millions of people were out to get GTA that night over the world. The idea all those people could be together and and incident NOT kicking off is naive at best. There were hundreds of incidents like this for the release of the 360, the PS3, Halo; hell, even Harry Potter. It has nothing to do with GTA, GTA just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I was pointing out that, even though it came from FOX News, a story a few days ago indicated the stabbing was committed by the passer-by against the person in line, not by the person in line.
Was that a different case?
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
Truth: Will make you look stupid
A sad world we live in
Except GTA wasn't even in the wrong place. GTA was sitting around with its friends having a smoke halfway across town.
"[Grand Theft Auto] is a violent and nasty video game and it doesn’t surprise me that some of those who PROBABLY DON'T play it behave in this way."
Fixed.
Seriously, what stupid question is that? Of course he's going to retract such a statement, like he has accepted manhunt wasn't responsible for Stefan Pakeerah's murder......
Yup, the BSB rules. Wasted far too many evenings there. :)
Everything about the way this event has been reported is just outright misleading. The trouble is that it's worded in such a way that people will probably get away with it. Never let facts get in the way of a good story, eh?
How many people got hurt over Tickle Me Elmo? Those things incite violence.
Check the details Vaz.
This could be a confusion about the store location. Gamestation IS about a quarter of a mile aweay from East Croydon station, but what IS right next to the station is a second-hand videogame store (You turn right outside the station, and it's on your right). It's a small self-run business. I'm guessing a journo saw the stabbing happened near to a videogame store, and made the connection with the queue that was happening at a shop nearby (well, a quarter of a mile away) and erroneously put the two together.
Put that together with a fat, corrupt politician (hey, I can say that, it's been proved!) and you have your headline.
That's my theory, anyway.
You can pretty much links everything bad that happens in the western world to GTA this way. Oh wait, isn't it what they do already?
Reminds me of some of the crap spouted during the 80s video nasties scare - especially The Deer Hunter. Reports claimed that the movie was linked to numerous murders between 1974 and 1983. Some of the "evidence" for the earlier murders seemed quite convincing... until you considered the fact that The Deer Hunter was released in 1978!
Nothing changes, but I'm sick and tired of assholes like this jumping on "issues" like this instead of fixing real problems like he's meant to have been elected to do. I can take this crap from Jack Thompson, but an elected MP? It's shame how the government resources he's wasting should have gone to much more deserving causes.
Is it really THAT violent? The fighting could be considered violent, sure, but it's not really, and there's barely any blood.
And interestingly enough, knives existed before video games.