Some of the stories are tragic on their face.  Someone is injured or even killed by acts of pure stupidity or criminal intent.  Investigations ensue that peel back the past activities of the person involved like a glass onion. Why did the person do this thing?  Who is really to blame for all the sorrow and grief?  For some grieving people who are't finding closure or satisfaction with the criminal justice system in the United States, more and more are looking to the civil court system in order to find deeper pockets to blame.

Recently, a $160 million lawsuit was filed against the makers of the Grand Theft Auto video game.  Apparently, an 18-year-old Alabama man shot and killed three people, two of them were police officers.  The investigation revealed that he had bought Grand Theft Auto when he was sixteen.  Grand Theft Auto is also the focus of an investigation initiated by Senator Hillary Clintoon after the discovery of some explicitly sexual scenes hidden in the game.

Blaming video games is not a new trend.  You might remember that in the aftermath of the tragic Columbine High School shooting incident in Colorado, some people found it possible to blame the first person shooter video game, Doom II, as some sort of violent inspiration for the killers.  Similarly, investigations revealed that some of the September 11th hijacker's may have played Microsoft Flight Simulator to practice flying into the World Trade Center buildings.

Another ridiculous lawsuit has been filed against Lucas Arts by a couple blaming a Star Wars video game's flashing screens for inducing a grand mal seizure in their epileptic child.  Hey, parents! I'm not happy your kid has epilepsy, but don't blame the force for your own stupidity for not reading the manual.  In addition, someone really should shove a hot light sabre up the greedy, ambulance chasing attorney's ass for even filing this lawsuit.

So, remember kids, save your allowance money to buy as many video games for your collection as you can.  That way, when you do something incredibly stupid or criminal in your teenage years, you'll be more likely to have a video game to blame it on.  And then -- you, your parents, or the victims of your acts can sue for millions!  This is America.  Nothing is your fault.

[Headphones] :: Evil Stevie: Activate! - JfZ