For anyone who keeps in touch with all things gaming, hearing talking heads ramble on and on about how Grand Theft Auto turns people into killers is nothing new. According to the Telegraph, however, GTA players sometimes are not the murderers, but rather the murdered:

Malcolm Palmer, 62, turned on the mother of his three children after she became hooked on the violent Grand Theft Auto driving game.

He was forced to sleep on a sofa in their conservatory as Carol Cannom, 46, stayed up all night with the 37-inch plasma television screen she brought into their room for her all-night gaming sessions.

The couple from Long Sutton, Lincolnshire. [sic] had been together for 30 years but their relationship soured after they bought the console for their 10-year-old son James.

I also find it interesting that people redefine the game depending on its perceived role in a murder: sometimes Grand Theft Auto is the shooting game, sometimes it’s the cop killing game, sometimes it’s the hooker killing game, and sometimes it’s the game where you get points by killing as many people as possible. In any case, it seems like people who don’t play the game are capable of murder, too.

That’s something to think about.

(TE)DC