Violent Games Didn't Kill The Homeless, Psych...

Violent Games Didn't Kill The Homeless, Psychos Did

An old murder case from 2004 was brought back to light this week by a disturbing BBC story that bears a vague, yet misleading connection to violent video games. Preceding an ample report about more and more teenagers "sport killing" homeless people in the US, the publication begins with the case of Rex Baum, a 49-year-old homeless man who was beaten to death by three derranged teens in 2004. Among them was 17-year-old Andrew Ihrcke, who at the time told police that killing "the bum" reminded him of playing a violent video game.

Unfortunately, that's exactly the kind of statement that the (non-gaming) media needs in order to put games in a bad light - which they do whenever they get the chance - and for the likes of Jack Thompson to waste public money on the wrong problem. Because there was obviously a very serious problem with those kids, and it wasn't about video games. Not by a long shot!

For once, however, somebody decided to speak out and set the record straight. The woman living with one of the boys' father wrote a lenghty letter to Penny Arcade, which was published in full yesterday, decribing what is clearly a very sick and twisted kid.

"To say that living with this kid was hell would be a complete understatement", she writes. "He was constantly in trouble in school, with the cops, with us, with his mother, and with anyone else who was an authority figure. (...) And we're not talking the usual teenager stuff, like coming home late, or refusing to do the dishes. We're talking stealing cars, setting fires, drinking, getting picked up for drugs, beating up handicapped kids at school (yes, really) stealing things out of our house... all with this "I'll do whatever the f*** I want" attitude."

Apparently, the "stepmother" is also a gamer herself, and so she makes it crystal clear that there was absolutely no connection between that murder and violent games:

"I can't stand hearing about the so-called correlation between games and real-life violence. Video games DID NOT make this kid who he was, and it's unfortunate that the correlation is there.

The thing that really gets me with this whole thing is that the kid knows full well that by equating what he's done to a video game, that he will generate controversy and media coverage. It makes me sick that the media is jumping all over this, because that is exactly the result that he wants."

It's interesting to note that the murdering kid also has a "kind, considerate, responsible, and independent" brother, so it's obviously not a matter of wrong education either. But whatever it is... well, I hope you get the point.

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)