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Video games 'not to blame for Virginia Tech shootings'

August 31, 2007

Virginia Tech gunman Seung Hui Cho did not play any video games with violent or war-related themes, according to Virginia governor Tim Kaine's final report on the killings in April.

Contradicting the protestations of anti-gaming crusaders such as Jack Thompson, the report notes only that Cho played non-violent games such as Sonic the Hedgehog while approximately nine years old.

From chapter IV, 'Life and mental health history of Cho':

"Sun and her parents recall that Cho seemed to be doing better. He was enrolled in a Tae Kwon Do program for a while, watched TV and played video games like Sonic the Hedgehog. None of the video games were war games or had violent themes."

The report also mentions the fact that Cho's high-school room-mate never saw him play a video game - although he did observe him watching "dark" films and listening to heavy metal music, two fields that can now presumably expect to be vilified to the same extent that games were in the months after the tragedy.

[Via Gamepolitics.com]

More:

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Posted by: David Price

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Comments

Posted by Ginger boy on August 31, 2007 :

Dark films? Heavy metal? And are they still referred to as 'Video games'. Surely it should be 'console FPS' or MMORPG, etc...
I love the ginge.

Posted by Surely on August 31, 2007 :

there's no need to make childish comments on a topic such as this?

Posted by In memoriam on August 31, 2007 :

I think the taxi driver wot killed Princess Di was playing Sonic the Hedgehog.

Posted by Skuds on September 3, 2007 :

Sorry but the media love a scape goat and these days it`s
games before that it was TV then films before that caveman drawings.

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