Teenager Kills Girl To Feed Video Game Habit

Most people I know are addicted to something.....but they're not murderers.

There has to be more to this story than what is here. If he killed the girl so he could sell her earrings for internet time, then why didn't he go to a pawn shop, sell them, and then immediately go straight back to the internet cafe? Instead he hides them somewhere, doesn't bother selling them, doesn't need to sell them to finance his addiction? Surely if he was a genuine addict, he wouldn't have just hidden them somewhere to use or sell later? He would want the money NOW, so he could play NOW. Just doesn't add up - sounds like a pathetic excuse since there are no true signs of addiction in that behaviour.

I have played video games all my life, and the worst thing I have ever done as a result was be half an hour late to a lecture at university because I got carried away trying to complete the level I was on.

And, on a related note, if these games are so dangerous and turn people in to monstrous killers, why haven't we seen more monstrous killings? Not just the ones the article says are apparently attributed, but thousands, if not millions, of them (given the number of people who play on line games around the world)?

Could it be that the games are not to blame, but that some people just like hurting other people? Or is that just too easy an explanation?

Plus - what about child killers of the past? If children committed horrible and heinous crimes before video games were invented, then isn't it possible some children are more like to go out and kill than others, and the video game isn't actually the cause?

This is some seriously shoddy reporting right here! This nutcase hasn't killied to "feed" an addiction. He's committed a vile act of murder and then tried to justify it as being a mugging. Three major points of contention. Firstly, if an "addict" kills to raise funds for their addiction, said addict tends to not then keep hold of the very item they set out to steal. Such a thing is more the MO of a serial killer. A real addict would of sold these earrings almost the second the blood had dried and would already be looking for more income. Secondly, this crusader Elizabeth Woolley, obviously has no idea what she's talking about. Saying that video game addiction is like drug addiction is blatantly ridiculous. Not saying that people can't be addicted to games, just that there's a big difference between physical and psychological addiction. As for her "estimate", what grounds has she got for throwing out such a scare mongering figure? My guess is none. Which kind of makes me question why yahoo is allowing such a figure to be posted without challenging it? Finally why on earth should UKIE provide you with a statement about something that happened with some random crazed individual in Vietnam? It would be some what out of their remit, don't ya think?

Where were his parents while he was spending all that time in cafes playing games?

Does that mean that every killing done for money is to be blamed on what the money is for? The guy who wants a new TV is a TV addict? The person who murders, for a pair of designer shoes the victim is wearing, is a fashion addict? The people who hold up a bank and shoot a couple of guards so they can have a better life are lifestyle addicts? This is really a very oversimplified way of analysing a society that has taken generations to ruin.

He said he cut the earrings into pieces before hiding them. If he wanted to sell them to get money, he wouldn't have cut them into pieces, which would render them valueless. The video games is just an excuse.

y will he kill inorder to play an online game?
where were his parents all this while he was in the cafe"s?
has he ever suffered from any mental deformity?
how are we sure he really wanted to sell the jeweries,since he cut them into pieces?
what were his early relationship with the little girl before he killed her?
this is a case of manslaughter and should be handled seriously.that boy should be roughly dealt with cuz there are many children who are addicted to online games yet they havnt killed.

The tragic murder of Jamie Bulger sickened the nation and the world, but take a look at the time line it happened in February 1993 way before any computer game was capable of showing life like graphics (PS1 launch 1994) and was a good as it got way back then.

The media blamed a film at the time ���Child���s Play��� a film that contained nothing like what the two children did, but was somehow singled out as the trigger for the murder.

And now many years later they are once more in court and being given new identities because they have committed even more sickening crimes.

Its easy to blame Film, music and computer games but the sad fact is that there are many disturbed and troubled kids (to use stronger language would be wrong) identifying them and helping them before they turn violent should be a priority, along with supporting those family���s who are affected by these tragic events

How many more kids have to die at the hands of other kids before we realize we have a global problem?

Someone give the journalists a thorough lobotomy. The News are harrowing enough but they just have too make the news more upsetting.

There doesn't seem much difference here to the Bulger murder. The boy is a very young psycopath. Just accept it.

This child was born deficient.He did not kill this girl because he spent too long playing computer games.Everyone wants someone to blame these days.Time to take responsibility for our own actions I think.

What a sad story RIP little girl the boy has mental health problems to kill as
many people are addicted to games and other things but don't kill.

What we've got here is an isolated incident blown out of proportion by a teary-eyed crusader on an impossible - and stupid - mission. Notice the little bit of text telling us who this woman is before she comments on the crime? She set up this "charity" after her so committed suicide, allegedly as a result of "video game addiction." She's irrational, has no idea what she's talking about but she's mainstream media gold because you can't disagree with her without getting labelled a monster. "Oh, it's all for my poor boy!"

The kid that murdered that little girl needs to go away to prison for a long time. His parents need to take a look at themselves, but let's not get carried away. He's 15, and by the time I was 15 I was trusted to make most decisions for myself. Maybe he really does have an addictive personality and really did want the ear-rings for gaming money. If so he needs psychiatric help. There's nothing else that needs doing. This idiot woman in the States needs to stop bothering the rest of us with her nonsense, and we can all go on with life.

sorry but....BULLSHIT!
a person is responsible for their own actions.@#$% scapegoats,blaming it on games/videos/music!
stupid brat should be hanged!

"Anh Nhu's killing is the latest in a long line of deaths and violent crimes around the world attributed to video game addiction."

-- I guess you don't need references to make outrageous claims any more. Maybe name some other video game related deaths, and then I'll take you seriously.

"There are always certain people who will get addicted to a drug, and in gaming we estimate it's about 20% to 30% of people."

-- Wow, very scientific. Yellow Journalism is definitely not dead.

hay i play computer games online all the time e.g call of duty and i dont run around killing people when i cant go on line it's nothing to do with computer games he's just sick in the head !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Always quick to blame the videogames. Hell, they would blame videogames if the killer was found to only have stood close to a game retailer. And what is a 15 year old doing playing games all day. Parents are to blame. Using it like an electronic babysitter. And what makes me wonder is why do these parents buy voilent games for youngsters and then complain.

I recall couple of years ago I was in GAME hunting through the old used PSone games, and I heard a 8 year old ask his mum for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (was a new release at the time). The mum then asked one of the staff for information about the game and the staff member clearly stated the games content and is contained content for adults only.

"So the mum turned it down?" I hear you ask. No, she was happy enough to let her 8 year old son have an 18 rated game even though she was informed of its contents. I bet good money after wards she was complaining about how games are making kids violent. And I bet everyone who complains about games has bought there kids the games they complain about.

Sorry for ranting but I'm sure I'm not the only one to have seen this crap.

I used to play Mario but I don't go around stomping on turtles, collecting gold coins and banging my head into a wall in order to release a mushroom to make me bigger.

The writer Alex Watts - I hope you are seen for what you are and struck off!! Awful piece, badly presented full of unsubstantiated claims - did you used to work for 'The Sun'? I hope Sky send you back.

These politically correct idiots need to get a backbone and admit that it's the parents fault and the way that society has changed over the years, infact idf we're to blame anyone it should be the pc brigade for not having the guts to point the finger at those responsible. I was chastised as a child and so was my daughter upto the age of 3 as and when it was necessary. Noone in my family has ever treated their fellow man ( and yes that's short for human, mankind, etc. to all you pc twits, I'm not being chauvanistic, sexist, or whatever you like to call it ) with disrespect!