1) As it was pointed out, the rooftop should've been locked and the child should've been more paid attention to, moreso because of their special needs. There's ZERO excuse for this one, and attempting to blame it on a game is downright ludicrous.

2) Chances are if he was a huge fan of the game, he was also a huge fan of the WWE as well. As the rep from WWE said, nobody in their company performs moves like that with a parachute (hell, they don't even allow certain heights like that anymore ever since the death of Owen Hart). To blame them for that is ignorant.

3) As it was pointed out...almost like always...the story added the spin on the video games again. I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days someone fires right back with a slander lawsuit if this keeps up.

This is a tragedy that either the woman is trying to cope by passing the blame, or the media is trying to sensationalize yet again with the "violence our children are exposed to". I just wish one of these days people would just look beyond that and see the true nature of this can be anything, ranging from negligent parenting to just flat-out accidental death. Never going to happen as long as there's a scapegoat though...

 Reply

Please. If you can't make sense out of Undertaker killed his family as a young boy, wait no he didn't because his brother is still alive, and the employee of the funeral home was his brother's father so they are only really half brothers, wait, Undertaker really didn't set the fire that didn't kill them, oh wait YES he did and now he admits it, then it turns out Kane raped a dead chick he dated a long time ago, wait, no he didn't, then his half-brother buries him in dirt and kills him, then Undertaker brings back his half-brother's father after a long hiatus to fight his half-brother, then kills his half-brother's father in cement, then teams up with his half-brother again, then his half-brother turns evil again but DOESN'T fight him...::passes out::

 Reply

Just think about it: What flying animal takes off out of a window? Why not start off the ground first?

Also, we should probably blame cartoons for umbrellas and other miscelany working as parachutes, and for that whole not falling till you look down myth.

 Reply

1) Cut the kid some slack, he was just a kid being a kid.

2) Parents really, really need to take more of an interest in their kids (particularly when they're going up to the roof with a makeshift parachute).

 Reply

The only evidence you have of a video game focus are the headlines, and I can't count the number of times Kotaku has used misleading or inflamatory headlines from the most mundane story to the racially charged RE5 saga (and then blamed the commenters, too).

Yes, it does make for a more interesting headline, and all news sites like Kotaku know all about interesting headlines. It's the content of the story that "should" matter. At least, what matters ultimately.

Anyway, this is a damn shame. It sounds like the child was mentally disabled somehow, and hopefully no rational person involved would place the weight entirely on games.

 Reply

Nope.

 Reply

Or maybe Gene Ray is right and we're just being Educated Stupid these days.

 Reply

I was just in class yesterday when a fellow classmate and single mom decided to say that videogames were attributing to childhood obesity, and then in the same breath said that kids that are receive regular cognitive stimulation are 2-3x LESS likely to become obese than kids that don't. Then she equated cognitive stimulation with them playing outside, or playing a board game with family, and other such activities.

I couldn't raise my hand fast enough. I told her that you might not know this, but video games provide more cognitive stimulation than anything else you have mentioned, because although you are plopped in front of the TV, you are actively engaged in a videogame. Then I said that I agree that everything should be in moderation, but that the real culprit is inactivity, not videogames.

So she looks at me and goes, "Have you seen the Wii Fit? My kids play that all the time and they are moving around!"

So then I point out that, once again, that's great and all, but my point is that videogames in moderation is fine and can actually be beneficial to improving the mentals. Then I just gave up.

We will never be understood it seems...

 Reply