Two 17 year old boys were arrested for murder this past weekend in the small German village of Tessin, after invading a couple's home and stabbing them both to death. The police caught up with them after they had kidnapped a 15 year old female friend, bound and gagged her, and then held a knife at her throat for an hour before giving themselves up. The murderers' names? Reno and Sephiroth.

At least that's what Torben B. and Felix D. called themselves as they carried out the grisly crimes, and when the police seized their computer they discovered a copy of Final Fantasy VII installed. You probably know the rest here. In Germany, Final Fantasy VII is now being labeled as a "Killerspiele"; a killer game.

Now we all know the worst thing that has ever come of FFVII is bad Sephiroth / Cloud fan yaoi, but people in Germany seem far worse than Americans when it comes to blaming whatever they can for their homicidally deranged children other than themselves. Nevermind the fact that Sephiroth is clearly painted as evil and the game contains less gratuitous violence than most German television commercials.

My suggestion for German gamers? Leave as soon as you can. The situation there is not getting any better. Michael Fahey

Das sind die Opfer der Killer-Sch ler! [Bild.de (in German)]
Killerspiele [Gamestar.de - Thanks Barniel!]
German schoolboys announced stabbing murders (news report in English before game link was made) [Expatica]

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