We all love our games, and most everyone?s got a story or
two under our belts of a moment when we maybe took that love a little too far.
Maybe we gamed a little too long, or ignored a few obligations we had in favor
of a few more hours of game time. Either way, anything any of us have done
can?t hold a candle to any of the people on this list.
I want to emphasize one thing before we continue: it?s
not the video games that cause this sort of behavior, as some would like
everybody to believe. The people who take their hobby this far; turn their
pastime into an outright obsession, well?they?ve got problems.
[heading]Did it for the Cash:[/heading]
We?ll
start with the story of an unnamed fifteen year old boy in the Vietnamese
province of Nghe An; who murdered a seven year old girl so that he could steal
her gold earrings. The girl, one of his acquaintances, went into the jungle with
him to pick fruit, at which point he bashed her head in with a rock and made
off with the earrings. The reason?
He
needed money to fuel an online gaming addiction
this isn?t the first such crime ? and it probably won?t be the last, either.
[heading]The SWAT:[/heading]
next scumbag actually lives in Canada. Earlier this year, some brat logged in
to a Minecraft server, and began spouting off profanities and insults, and
generally just being thoroughly unpleasant. The moderator, 16-year-old Jacob,
decided he?d do his job, and kicked the kid from the server. The kid responded by saying he was going to
?swat? Jacob?s house.
Cue a 9-1-1 call which had a SWAT team arresting Jacob?s
father on the allegation
that he shot his fourteen year old daughter. Because that was the mature,
adult way to handle the situation, right?
[heading]Murderous Temper Tantrum:[/heading]
not getting what we want, and it sucks ? particularly when our parents are involved.
Most of us coped by accepting it and moving on; or storming up to our rooms
with cries about hatred and injustice. Daniel Petric, however, decided to take
things a step further. His parents refused to let him purchase or play Halo 3. Naturally, when he was caught
trying to sneak it into the house, his parents took it from him, and locked it
away.
His response
constituted a positively baffling leap of logic: he went to thelockbox they kept it in, broke in, took a 9mm handgun out of it, and shot both
of them, then trying to pin the blame on his father ? who survived the
shooting.
[heading]Trash Talk Gone Wrong:[/heading]
sorts of people who do it are pretty miserable to put up with. Most of us can
cope, though. After all why should anyone care what some random yutz on the
Internet says to them? Apparently,
Mark Bradford did. After losing to some thirteen year old punk in Call of Duty and getting hit with a
torrent of insults and name-calling, he
drove all the way to the kid?s house and physically attacked him ? he later
told the court he ?just lost it.?
To be fair, Bradford suffered from mental health issues,
and later apologized to the kid. Still, no one can deny that his response was
rather extreme.
[heading]Gamed to Death:[/heading]
years of people dying after marathon gaming sessions, but none quite so extreme
as a man in Beijing, who somehow
managed to last twenty-seven days straight in an Internet caf? before he
passed away. That he so rarely ate or slept during this time only makes this
even more bizarre, and definitely brings up some questions of just how he
managed to survive for so long.
[heading]Bad Parenting:[/heading]
people simply shouldn?t be parents. They simply lack the basic sense of
responsibility necessary for the job. Rebecca Christie is one of those people,
and has been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for starving her
three-year-old daughter to death. The reason? She was too busy playing World of Warcraft. She?s far from the
only one who?s done something like this ? that?s probably the worst part.
If any of you have a few more insane stories to share,
we?d love to hear them.