Games seized following murder

Notorious anti-videogames campaigner Jack Thompson has been claiming there's a link between games and violence once again after two teenagers were charged with the murder of a 55-year-old man in Louisiana.

According to 2theadvocate.com, the man was beaten to death before being shot in the face. Thompson claims that the teenagers said they killed the man because he refused to lend them his car - and Thompson believes "the same scenario [can be found in] Grand Theft Auto."

"Nobody shoots anybody in the face unless you're a hitman or a videogamer," he went on, before adding that the "pummeling" of the victim is consistent with what you might see in a violent videogame.

Police have since searched the home of one of the suspects again, seizing several games with a Mature rating - at Thompson's suggestion, according to him. Detective Spence Dilworth said he's not convinced there's a link between the crime and the games, though, stating: "I think it goes beyond videogames, but who's to say?"

The question of whether games can cause players to become violent, Dilworth went on, may be "more of a debate for the living room rather than the courtroom."

Doug Lowenstein - president of the Entertainment Software Association - was keen to play down any suggestion of a link.

"The Entertainment Software Association expresses sincere sympathy to the family of the victim of this senseless crime. But efforts by discredited anti-videogame zealots to blame video games are cynical and misplaced,” he said.

"Violent crime involving kids predates videogames. Common sense tells us that video games do not create killers and that tragedies like this have to do with far more complex issues, from deep-seated psychological problems to a society in which violence and guns permeate the culture, from TV news to child and spousal abuse to war."