Activision Blizzard Investors on Alert as Violent Video Games Being Partly Blamed for CT Shooting

The Street Insider ^ | Dec 17 2012 | The Street Insider

[WilliamIII]

Shareholders of Call of Duty video game maker Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI) and other video game makers are nervous Monday related to fears about a potential backlash from Friday's horrible Sandy Hook school shootings, which left 26 dead, including 20 children.

There have been reports from the Hartford Courant that alleged gunman Adam Lanza played "violent video game in which life-like characters engage in graphic battle scenes."

[Vendome]

I’m buying a couple versions of “Call of Duty” for myself and Halo IV for my nephew.

[Eagle of Liberty]

Oh boy! Maybe we will have another nationally broadcast Senate hearing with Tipper Gore!

[MtnMan101]

This is what happen when God is no longer in schools and is replaced with computers.

[Pox]

BFD. As I’ve stated previously, tens of millions of young men play these video games yet do not go out and murder people.

Really, we need to get our priorities straight, and worrying about video games is something that shouldn’t even register on our radar.

Americans, always looking for the simple answer and a quick fix.

[Darren McCarty]

Blaming video games is as f’ing stupid as blaming guns.

Blame PEOPLE.

[chris37]

Well, the anger has to go somehwere.

Since the killer killed himself and the woman who bore him, might as well direct it at everyone who had nothing to do with it at all.

Good thing the media misreported that his father was killed too, otherwise he might have to answer why he didn’t raise, discipline and control his murderous son better than he did.

The stupidity of Americans has reached cosmic proportions now.

[WilliamIII]

As I’ve stated previously, tens of millions of young men play these video games yet do not go out and murder people.

Tens of millions who aren’t psychotic. You can say these games, when consumed by kids with psychotic disorders, don’t have any influence. But you’d be arguing from a position of ideology, not common sense.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And why do growing throngs find playing such drek to be charming?

[zeestephen]

Wait until some Black dude shoots a roomful of white people like Jamie Foxx does in “Django Unchained.”

The news coverage will disappear in one day.

By Day Two, Hollywood stars will be shrieking for more gun control.

[Slump Tester]

"Oh boy! Maybe we will have another nationally broadcast Senate hearing with Tipper Gore!'

But this time there's no Frank Zappa to ask, "So who pluked the monkey?"

[Pox]

So, do you advocate banning video games on the grounds that a few bad apples just might possibly be affected by them?

I surely wouldn’t and I don’t state my opinion from an ideological viewpoint.

Your “logic” would be no different than those who call for banning guns since a few demented individuals use them to commit atrocities regardless of the fact that tens of millions of gun owners are law abiding citizens who don’t run around murdering people.

[WilliamIII]

So, do you advocate banning video games

No, but I’d favor a law establishing tort liability for their producers. The makers of other potentially dangerous products are subject to being sued for damages if their products result in harm. The rich conscience-free folks who produce these blood-spattered games shouldn’t be exempt from product liability litigation.

[babygene]

“BFD. As I’ve stated previously, tens of millions of young men play these video games yet do not go out and murder people.”

That’s correct. And tens of millions of Americans can drink alcohol and not become addicted. Your point is?

[LastNorwegian]

I’m just waiting for them to report on what movies and TV-shows he watched...

...Any minute now...

[max americana]

I’ve got every Call of Duty version. Gee, where’s my interview from the libtard media?

[Pox]

Perhaps it's an enjoyable pastime?

You may not prefer to play such games, but I enjoy them immensely and I don't personally see any harm in them. I certainly don't get the urge to run around and murder people, nor do I feel that any of the games that are on the market have any useful value in either desensitizing a person to violence nor do I believe any of it would be a useful “training” tool for murdering psychopaths.

Really, it's a stupid belief, IMO, and we have got to get back to common sense. There are insane bad people in the world and from time to time they will commit outrageous acts of violence. In the end, it is the person that is the problem.

I'm much more concerned about brain dead leftist ideologues who have much more sinister intentions than the random psychotic who snaps and brings misery to our society.

[Pox]

That is as absurd as blaming the manufacturers of firearms, IMO.

Just as absurd as holding car manufacturers liable for the results of drunk drivers.

Do you play any of these games? I’m asking because I do and I cannot make the connection that you do between these games and the actions of demented individuals who just so happen to play them and then go out and commit an atrocity. I see no cause and effect.

Following your line of reasoning, why not hold motion picture makers liable as well? In fact, I would emphasize that the fictional entertainment coming out of Hollywood is much more influential on the psyche of murderers than a video game.

[Pox]

My point is pretty simple and straightforward, and that is blaming video games as a root cause for the actions of individuals is an unrealistic exercise.

[WilliamIII]

That is as absurd as blaming the manufacturers of firearms, IMO.
Just as absurd as holding car manufacturers liable for the results of drunk drivers.

On the contrary, neither the gun nor the car contributes to the mental derangement of the user. A video game pumping “kill kill kill” into a disturbed mind, is something else again.