I said it was probably madden related. Remember that dude who punched and killed his baby over madden? Madden is a killer.... I demand it be removed from store shelves immediatly.

I was going to say it was probably Madden as well, so they could probably blame it on violence in football. Or Madden's love of a Turducken.

While certainly, my condolences to the family and I wish not only the parents bur the younger brother to get through it will, I'm more afraid of the social backlash that will be helmed by our friend Jack Thompson.

I know it's a family issue and there is nothing inherently violent about video games (Sports games in particular) but he'll manage to twist it somehow. Let's just hope Thompson isn't that sad to swoop down to that level of using a death to his advantage.

It is not implausible that this household may have only one controller for many siblings.

It is called poverty.

My poor-as-hell neighbor kids have a janky flea-market ps2- and no memory card. They don't seem to understand or care about saving any "progress".

A sad story. I also can't help to be curious about what game was it... But maybe it's for the best that the internets not know.

It would be incredibly lame if the only reason this happened was because the family owned only one controller.

@Mega-Driven: If someone in poverty can find a way to afford a PS2, it's no wonder why they're in their bad situation... poor decisions. Saying that they only had one controller due to poverty is just silly.

It's sad, and gives JT alot of anti-gaming bait.

I can only imagine what the spin would be for a sports game. Like what if it comes out it is like golf or some peaceful sport. Mario Strikers anyone?

@Digitalguardian: I think the only reason that this happened was because that little kid is a psycho murderer.

Wait, so NOW it is important that what video game it was is brought to attention, whereas when some jackass that happened to play DOOM or Counterstrike as a hobby goes on a killing spree, its immaterial?

There needs to be a level of consistency, and it should be that people are crazy because they are crazy. Video games don't have crap to do with anything. This kid would have done the same crap if it was his turn to play with whatever toy the older kid had. I had to fight with my siblings over who's turn it was to play the console or watch tv when I was younger, but I never went and got a knife to threaten them.

Wii Sports. Obviously.

Sorry Mezodon, but its called relative deprivation. You cant reduce the problem of poverty to "poor decision making" because this assumes decisions are made in a vacuum - there not. Decisions are made as part of what some of us like to call society.

Manhunt... Single Player, involves knifes and sharp instruments.... kind of a sport too...

maybe the older brother finally gave the younger brother the beatdown that broke the camels back..

@DashTheHand: It's because people will just assume it's going to be one of those violent games that caused the kid to become disturbed.

If it turns out to be a relatively tame sports title, then it's even harder to justify the game being the cause rather than the interpersonal relationship between the boys.

...not that it will matter to the zealots, but it might sway some of those with the powers of logic and deduction

terrible, just terrible. if he-who-i-must-never-name can find a way to spin this to his psychotic agenda, may satan shove a pineapple up his ass every morning at 10:00 A.M. hell time for the rest of eternity. he can be the butler. hitler is the maid already down there.

but seriously, this was probably just a disturbed child who found an anger outlet in a silly dispute. blind rage, poof, you've stabbed your brother twice, clink clink go the cuffs. just shitty society not seeing the warning signs of a disturbed mind. as the metallica song goes, sad but true.

The PS2 could have been a gift, who knows. Just because someone acquires something doesnt mean they paid for it directly (and no, dont mean stealing), or can afford to support it. I have personally given my old gamecube and old xbox (with games) to families who couldnt afford to purchase them new or used. (incidently, the Xbox only had one controller....the other broke long before i gave it away, damn xbox controllers..). And i gave my dreamcast to a local children's cancer ward (They just had N64s! i had to do something! the horror! I think someone, much more monitarily endowned than i, donated a bunch of PS2s later)

Also, The article doesnt mention the details of the arugment. It could've been as simple as:
Boy 1: "Dude, I want to play God of War! Get the hell off that stupid Madden Game!"
Boy 2: "Madden isnt stupid!"
Boy 1: "yes it is!"
Boy 2: "What!!!!1111..."

@Nadams1229: Hey look, it's catching on = )

kids today are getting mixed signals from everywhere. i was trying to see if i could find an old story about one shenking another for a GI Joe or something but if i can't find it in under a minute forget about it. you know its happened. i did find an awesome blog about kids called Our Horrible Children [www.neoflux.com]

I wonder what the killer kid is going through right now. He must know is life if ruined because he wanted his turn on Barbie Horse Adventures. He's got to be completely alienated from his family and friends with nothing to live for but the promise of finally finding Lucky.

PS Lucky = Barbie's missing horse

YO Thats What Yous get for Touching MY POKEMANS!!!!

@DashTheHand: You are right, crazy is crazy and the game doesnt matter. But poloticians would have a hard time saying madden 07 or wii sports caused this one. Thankfully it wasnt an FPS or a Fighting Game.

Sounds like they were doing some Wii Boxing and only had one nunchuck.

He told him he was hardcore.

@nootau: hahhaah! I think that is exactly how it went!

The only reason we brought up where the parents were was because how most people handled the same situation when they were a kid. If Mom was home, I went to her if my brother wasnt being fair, and she would make him give me my turn. I am not saying there was bad parenting, but that kid should have gone to his parents first. And if he did, then yes I would say semi bad parenting. (unless there were other things they wont ever tell us going on)

@Zero_: We don't speak that name aloud here, for fear that the beast will awaken.

It must have been over who would play "boob volleyball" next. Since that's all we play apparently.

@Mezodon: It's not like people never make bad decisions.

Anyway, it can still be poverty related. The family could have, say, had a budget to buy a PS2 and a game (or the kids could have bought it themselves) with plans to get a second controller later. They probably have the money for another controller, but this money is not meant to be used at that end yet. In that case, it's not really bad decisions related.

@Mega-Driven: You could always drop one through the letter box anonymously, thus doing a good deed this week.

@Grodesh: If they're poor and they're buying a PS2, they're making bad decisions. Simple as that.

I would be willing to bet about six hundred dollars it was madden. If I learned one thing in my (horrible) years as a gamestop assistant manager it was this: people who play madden are fucking idiots. People who play madden on ps2? Yeah, they probably had one controller and no memory card. And every year they go into the store to trade in last year's copy of madden and get the new one, and every year they bitch about only getting seven bucks in store credit.

Sad situation, all around. Time to sue EA.

What a shame! Poor parental guidance, more often than not, is the root of all killings.

Preemptive Strike against any knee-jerking news outlets:
Whatever happened to crazy? What, you can't be crazy no more? Should we eliminate crazy from the dictionary?

I still blame the parents.

it is so sad that a life of a young boy has ended...
The murder must have had some real issues in his life to do such a horrible thing...

It will be something he will carry for the rest of his life... to bad he was not old enough to be executed by the chair or lethal injection... If in his mind killing is ok then he should be put down like all other killers...and quickly to...non of this we have to wait 15 years first...

"What wasn't divulged by any of the news sources I had uncovered was what game they were playing."

That's because it doesn't matter. Who cares?

I knew this would make all the gaming sites when I saw it in the local news, even though it has nothing to do with video games.

Two kids, who obviously weren't raised with any sort of values for human life, got in a fight over a toy. End of story.

What a shame! Poor parental guidance, more often than not, is the root of all killings.

And as you demonstrate: Ignorance, more often than not, is the root of all ridiculous forum posts.

i could practically hear the collective news reporter groan when it turns out it wasnt a violent murder simulator game.

...

@Mezodon: Bullshit. It's certainly possible that families can scrimp and save to buy their kids a $60 used PS2 as a treat, but not be able to afford a second controller.

You may not be aware of this, but there's differing degrees of poverty. I'm guessing by your judgmental, know-it-all attitude that you've never actually been poor yourself, but even poor people sometimes save up money to buy their kids gifts.

This is irrefutable proof that video games are a catalyst for violence. The highly competitive nature of a sports video game without the actual physical exertion of energy leads to pent-up aggressive behavior with no medium of expression beyond twiddling thumbs on a controller. This is absolutely outrageous and I demand that the developer of the video game be reprimanded this instant!

Wait, what am I saying? The kid was just batshit crazy.

Why do people still play sports games? If you've played one you've played them all and I see that as rather pointless and a waste of money. Just go outside get some beers and some friends and you can play all the football you could ever want.

@Zero_: He's done it numerous times before. Columbine, VT, even blaming a kid's suicide on South Park, though the parents clearly said "But...he DIDN'T watch South Park."

Thats just really sad. How do things like this happen? On top of that, Of all the places his brother could have stabbed he does so in the heart? sickening really.. I'd be curious to find out if this child had any mental health problems that had been discovered prior to this event. That family has got to be going through hell right now.

Blame Madden for it all! It unleashes the animal in people....

@el_gordo:

...as he took the drugs?

"Either way, the fact that it was a sports game and not an FPS or GTA game tends to support the theory that the younger boy, still being held at a Delaware County prison, was simply one troubled individual."

And if it was either an FPS or GTA, then he wouldn't be a troubled individual, but rather a product of the game?

"Many of you in the comments section of the first story were asking where the parents were, but what parent would expect their child to kill over a sports franchise"

The thing you should focus on is not that it was over a sports game, but that it happened at all. Ignore why it was such a petty cause. Now, do you think a well adjusted teenager would stab their brother in the heart for any reason? Clearly there is the presence of, if not psychosis, then severe rage issues. Either way, surely you'd expect a parent to notice these things. That's assuming they didn't. If they did, however, then you'd assume they'd remove all the sharp things from the reach of their troubled child.

This could have easily happened if they were fighting over a toy, or who's turn it was to watch TV, or practically anything in which taking turns is involved. To point to the video game is to ignore the real problems these kids and family were facing.

Where were the parents!? I don't mean at the time of the stabbing, but rather the 13 years of this boys life leading up to the moment where he should have been learning that you don't to this type of shit.

I have heard many reasons for teens killing people over the years. This is the first I've heard of it being over a game. This proves that games actually lesson the amount of violence, since most teen boys spend a large percent of their time playing them.

No wonder the murder rate amongst our under 25 age group has reduced by over 40 percent since DOOM was released. Just as I suspected, video games are making the world a safer and better place. Rejoice!

"well adjusted teenager" "severe rage issues" "troubled child"

woah, woah, I love buzz words as much as the next person. But all this is, is a tragic accident. He made a mistake, one that he can't take back or get a second chance.

He's not going to be the last child either, no matter how much "good parenting" anyone has. Our emotions override most of that.

Think it's hard for us adults? Try being 13 year old with testosterone pumping for the first time.

@Discombobulatingly Devastating: Bullshit? Back at ya. A video game system is a luxury. If you want to quit being poor, you need to learn to get by without PS2s and anything else non-essential. When you're not making or saving much money, something like a PS2, a cell phone, or a meal at a restaurant are huge expenses. The kids can find something else to do... it's called sacrifice and sometime it's necessary to get to where you want to be in life. Saving money for a PS2 while at any degree of poverty is idiotic... unless you're trying to stay poor I guess.

@Draconis: Oh, how The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy can teach us about the universe!

Shaltanacs

The Shaltanacs are a race from the planet Broop Kidron Thirteen, who had their own version of the Earth phrase, "The other man's grass is always greener." Although, given their planet's horticultural peculiarities, theirs was, "The other Shaltanac's joopleberry shrub is always a more mauve-y shade of pinky russet," and so, the expression fell into disuse, and the Shaltanacs found they had little choice but to become exceptionally happy and content, which surprised everyone else in the galaxy, who had never realised that the best way not to be unhappy is not to have a word for it.

@thelifeafterlove: "Think it's hard for us adults? Try being 13 year old with testosterone pumping for the first time."

Been there, just like 99.999% of the male population, without killing anyone (especially my own brother). Being a 13 year old with testosterone pumping for the first time is not an excuse. Maybe the kid was beaten regularly by his older brother. Maybe he's a psycho. Maybe there was severe abuse/neglect by the parents. We just don't know. But don't blame it on age, testosterone, or video games - that's a cop out.

@justhesh: What you said:

"Either way, the fact that it was a sports game and not an FPS or GTA game tends to support the theory that the younger boy, still being held at a Delaware County prison, was simply one troubled individual."

And if it was either an FPS or GTA, then he wouldn't be a troubled individual, but rather a product of the game?

What I say:

No, noting that the game was a sports title and not a violent game does make sense in this argument. Normal people say things like, "video games don't really cause violent behavior, no matter what kind of game", which crazy people say, "ZOMFG! He played Doom, of course he started killing people."

This is being used as a counter example to the argument put forth by the batshit crazy people, that here's a kid who killed while playing video games, but the type of game obviously had nothing to do with it, and so another chink in the armor of the crazy argument is exposed. (At least, it's exposed to people with no sense of how statistics work.) It's not a particularly good argument, but hey, this is a story with sensationalism. You might as well use it for your cause than not, right?

While I do not like Jack Thompson, I don't think he he will cry foul about this. The game had little to do with the stabbing, there are no knives, and it simulated America's favorite sport, and what is more wholesome than sports? (most things are.)

He is insane, no doubt about that, his venomous attacks on gamers, both the general and the specific, demonstrate that, but there is a method to his madness, an underlying logic. There must be a perceived indecency for him to attack a video game.

Of course, I could be wrong, but hell, who hasn't been once in a while.

The problem with this kind of situation is that the human mind is completely and utterly unpredictable. No matter how you were raised, there's always the slimmest possiblility that something in your brain will go snap, and that'll be the end of your non-psychosis years.

Gaming is no culprit here. This was a temporary lack of judgement on the part of the kid brought on by a once-healthy sense of brotherly competition. Or stupid male ego. Either way, this is brother being brothers. My younger step brother was talking **** about Halo (learned how to do it from Live I'm sure). Except this time his anonymity failed him and there was someone to sock him. It was a learning experience for him.

Hey, maybe if these kids weren't allowed to be such brats in the first place, one of them