So this might be the first time I've ever seen video games being associated with real-world violence and it being even remotely relevant. In today's Washington Post, there's an article on a recent spate of attacks that are being attributed to something called the 'Knockout Game'. Essentially, a bunch of asshole kids run up behind someone and try to knock them to the ground in one punch. To reiterate, assholes.
The weird thing is, by the time the article mentions Grand Theft Auto (because of course it does), it's only because the kids they interview brought it up in the first place. For clarification, this kind of thing is what they're referring to:
So basically, kids are doing that IRL, and then posting it to Youtube. Of course the article goes on to mention that these particular sorts of attacks have been recorded since at least the early 90's - i.e. before GTA or Youtube even existed. So, on the one hand, saying 'Those punks are gonna get ya because of video games and the Internet' is really stupid and paranoid. On the other hand, I can totally see some idiot being all 'yo man, this shits funny' and then trying to actually do it. I'm still not willing to concede that this is GTA's fault - assholes are assholes - but this might be the one time I've ever seen it being mentioned in regards to actual violence in a way that wasn't completely absurd.
In more cheerful news, this 24 hour music video is pretty great.
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