I get the attraction of Grand Theft Auto 5; publisher Take Two Interactive may be pushing its story and characters a lot, but they’re not really what reels people in and keeps them hooked. That job is left to the immersive open world that allows you to fulfill the grimmest of mass destructive fantasies (if you have such ideas floating around in your head, that is – some players seem to do…).
Those behind the game will always insist that their product is not to blame for any mirroring of the digital violence that is transposed into the real world, even if the perpetrators themselves say it drove them to commit their acts.
I’m not taking sides here, but at the same time, I feel that even with basic knowledge about the human brain, one should be aware of the sponge-like nature of the subconscious, which soaks up pretty much all that we see in an manner most have little control over.
With that in mind, do you think Zachary Burgess’ actions are in any way related to spending lots of time behind the controller playing the new game? He stole a truck from a parking lot with a female passenger still inside. Apparently, the driver had hopped out and went to a store, leaving the engine running.
According to NBC News, Burgess says he saw this as an opportunity to “see what it was really like to play the video game Grand Theft Auto,” so he drove off, and rammed nine cars in the same parking lot in his attempt to flee.
Do you find any of this odd from a 20-year-old freshman and lacrosse player going to Auburn University? He now faces multiple charges, the most severe of which is kidnapping.
By Andrei Nedelea
Video: WDSU/YouTube
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