Thailand's Public Health Ministry have labeled 10 violent video games following the reported confession of a teenager who claimed his murder of a taxi driver was inspired by playing "Grand Theft Auto."1. Grand Theft Auto
2. Manhunt
3. Scarface
4. 50 Cent Bulletproof
5. 300 The Videogame
6. The Godfather
7. Killer-7
8. Resident Evil 4
9. God of War
10. Hitman Blood Money
'Say hello to my little friend!'
Thailand's Public Health Ministry spokesman Praj Boonyarowong said Friday. "Some parents don't know what their children are playing and are just happy they are not out of their sight. But these games can have very damaging psychological effect on children, especially games which depict violence so casually."
Furor over the killing compelled a local software distributor, New Era Interactive Media Co. Ltd, to announce it was halting sales and distribution of the game, which is a worldwide best-seller now in its fourth edition despite controversies over its depiction of violent street life.
Players progress in the game by successfully carrying out simulated criminal activities.
Police Capt. Veerarit Pipattanasak said Friday that Palawat Chinno, 19, was arrested Sunday at the wheel of a taxi whose 54-year-old driver was dead of stab wounds in the back seat.
Palawat was charged with murder, robbery and possession of a weapon and could face the death penalty if convicted, Veerarit said.
The police officer said an initial investigation showed that Palawat is an obsessive player of "Grand Theft Auto," but that the motive for the killing was still not certain. The suspect allegedly claimed that playing the game convinced him that robbing a taxi driver was not difficult but he didn't intend to kill anyone.
"Grand Theft Auto" has been blamed for contributing to violent crime in the US and elsewhere. But defenders of such games point to the relatively few incidents reported, compared with the millions who play.
This past week, authorities in the US state of Georgia said three teenagers were inspired by "Grand Theft Auto" when they destroyed three cars with Molotov cocktails in a tranquil north Atlanta suburb. One suspect admitted learning how to make the homemade firebombs from the game.
The ministry did not say how it selected the (top 10 violent video games), but they match exactly a list of "top ten most violent" video games issued last December by a public prosecutor in Detroit in the US.
Thailand's official National Cultural Commission has said it would set up a committee to study violent video games.
"If the committee decides the games are dangerous, we may ask the distributors to halt distribution," said Preecha Kantiya, the commission's secretary general.
He said the ministry will also work with the police to check that online gaming sites are licensed and will block web sites that offer violent games.
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DCRJ's say on this hullabaloo: The power of blogging has been proven once again by the number of 'violent' comments that has sprouted from my posted remarks here and from an American website about their beloved GTA game. Okay, I admit I am wrong on saying that you earn points by killing taxi cab drivers or killing innocent bystander but then again you can really kill them by running over them with any type of vehicle or even with a bike or a baseball bat! or maul them to death with your bare knuckles and stomping feet at freewill OUTSIDE the game missions just for the heck of fun, right ? I must also admit that I find these elements fun indeed but not all of us will have the threshold not to exceed the borders into the manic depressive and schizophrenic dimensional side. Those who still can't relate with this line of thinking, well..the facts still showed that a number of games-related violence have been reported and by that number it is still alarming. It's even funnier that someone here has listed a number of violent games he has played yet still he just couldn't hurt a housefly in the real world, don't set yourselves as examples because you're not the Hannibal Lecter type. I did say that 'There will always come a time when someone who is highly disturbed will want to replicate or emulate such 'fun' elements in real life.' and by that I am referring to the minuscule number of people with personality disorders and every country has one, capice? Even though the percentage of someone emulating events from a violent video game is quite small there is still a possibility and personality disorders do exist my dear virginia!, thus my quoting of "A time bomb is just waiting to explode in the Philippines" which doesn't generalize the video gaming community as a whole but the mere fact that someone out of the zillion population with a deranged mind specially in other countries and here in the Philippines which has easy access to those GTA discs be it a pirated or a legitimate copy.
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