Boy beaten up thanks to Gears
A 36 year old man was arrested on Wednesday after he sent a 15 year old to hospital in the back of an ambulance. The man wanted Gears, and decided that the only way to get one was to prey on those that had it.
The incident kicked off in a Gamestop queue. The store manager announced stocks were getting low, so the man made his way to the front, beat the kid up ,and then the man was the proud owner of Gears of War, temporarily.
See, this is the problem with hyping things on such a huge scale. The man was dying for a copy, and would go to any length to get it. Without the hype, it would just be another regular game and everyone would sort themselves out in an orderly manner.
Ironic too, that the kid could have gotten himself arrested. The game is rated 18 in the UK, so presumably gets the American equivalent. Therefore he should not be allowed to buy the game, as the kid is under aged. The cops missed something there I feel.
This sadly isn’t the first case of violence over computer games and related products. The UK had a Manhunt-based murder in August 2004. Then, a week later, more murders over an Xbox became the headlines, with their sentencing reported here. Then arson. And now this. It is getting silly. People lose the power to wait. Is it worth going to prison over an Xbox or a game? Not for me, but I’m sure as games get more and more hyped, the violence will continue to escalate. Just watch out when you get a PS3 on launch day, you’re sure to be a target for many.
M games here (we have a 17+ rating and an 18+ rating but no 15/16+ rating, wtf?) can be purchased by the parents or an older friend and given to the kid. And you can’t be arrested for lucking out and getting an employee that forgets to card you, yay America \o/
Stupid guy though. Get ‘em, Jack Thompson!
Hahahahahahahaha stupid kid. Child abuse is great! BTW my mom works for CPS.Child Protective Services.
i went to circuit city today and they had like 30 copies AND were giving away free faceplates with purchase AND i had a 15% off coupon…damn i feel lucky.
How do I get a 15% coupon? Share please!
this 36yearold dude needs a life..i mean camoon!!!
go beat a fucking 15year old who just wants a game.. i mean this guy is sad..way sad..send this guy to prison and let the big dick guys rape this to death..i mean..its just wrong..36 year beating 15..so wrong
Camoon…???
Think i missed some English lessons in class…:/
It’s not illegal to by a Mature game in the US no matter what your age. The same goes for rated R movies. Retailers and the industry however, have agreed upon self-regulation and standards. So while selling Gears of War to a minor may be in breach of contract with the publisher for the game, it’s not a crime in itself.
result: more hype
What a fucking twat this bloke is lets hope he gets sent to prison and ends up being the whore for some huge animal.
Yeah and give him only three matches to read the secret inscriptions on the wall
“Don’t Drop the Soa…arghhh”
I get the feeling this guy will be made an example of and is probably looking at a spell in prison, where suprisingly they don’t have 360s(only PS2s.)
He acted like a 15 year old here which is cool if you’re, umm say 15 and not 36. Yet another example of a$$holes bring gaming into disrepute
bring=bringing. Please Father Curry could you bring me an edit feature for Christmas
what a dick that guy is. i hope he drops the soap!
Whats supposed to be so good about this game? I’ve seen a few trailers that make it look interesting but nothing child-punch worthy.
You mention the murder that the newspapers in the UK tried to blame on Manhunt. It was funny how when it was revealed the victim had been playing the game not the killer and it had no relevance to the case that the media never corrected themselves.
Yeah the daily fuckin mail was wanking it’s self stupid over the story then the copper in charge of the case said the whole story was bollocks,the mother of the kid trying to get money out of rockstar didn’t help either.
Me needs learn grammer good. Sorry about that last sentence.^^
That’s really sad. Especially considering that this was predicted (by myself and others) when the hype started getting really out of hands.
But who’s really to blame here ? The publisher for creating the hype ? The customer for becoming a “victim” of the hype ? Or the media for playing the key role in creating the hype and pushing it beyond any imaginable limits ?
In my opinion every party involved in creating such a mass hysteria like scenario should take responsibility equally. Surey the 36 year old man needs to be punished but he was influenced in a large way by press and media who also happen to show us violence as a solution to nearly every problem every day. Media, press, hollywood and game companies create a violence approving society and they need to take responsibility for it.
Watching brutal movies and playing violent games doesn’t make you go outside and kill ppl. But it raises your very own tolerance levels significantly by making you getting used to violence and thus raising your acceptance.
I agree up to a point, Yeah the media needs to be more responsible, but at the same time people like this tend to be predisposed to violence anyway. But as to him being a victim of hype? that doesn’t figure well it doesn’t in this case. If it was the other way around and the 15 year old had hit the 36 year old then yeah that would hold more water as a legitimate defense, but an adult succumbing to it is super weak and IMO unjustifiable because the adult should know better. We and I mean the over 25s here would have to face the responsibility of our actions had we been in this situation, and I for one would except that responsibility and I would expect everyone else to lay the blame on me where it would belong. I think that blaming the hype merchants is blaming the wrong party because it absolves this moron of his crime.
I think the problem is more that people wants things immediately.
Yeah and also the increasingly common held belief that instant gratification is their right. But then isn’t that sort of behaviour expected of kids and not adults?
Pretty fun when muggers, killers and so on asks what he’s in for
“Erm.. yeah.. I beat this 15 year old kid up to get the last Gears Of War copy for my Xbox360″. Guess he’ll have his ass handed to him by the inmates 
In the UK this guy will probably be given a small fine, a 6 month suspended sentence and 50 hours community work (2 hours each weekend).
He’ll then be told he has a mental problem that he needs counciling for and they will spend lots of money helping him.
The victim will be forgotten. After all, he has only been assaulted, his wounds will heal, but the attacker needs help for his mental problem so he doesn’t suffer any more.
Thats the UK. Sod the victims, the attackers need tlc.
It’s got to be the only country where you can be attacked in your own home and if you injure the attacker (thief) YOU are the one who gets arrested and sent to prison.
The laws and the sentences in this country are pathetic. attackers know they will hardly do any time in prison (if any at all) because the courts are so lenient. Time to get games consoles etc out of prisons and get the lazy criminal bastards doing hard work. Even if the work is pointless, as long as it is hard work. Too many ‘bleeding heart’ idiots have a say in this country.
The only country? I do not know.
Also if for example you authorize to have a gun in your house and shoot robbers there is a risk that robbers get used to have a bigger gun and shoot first.
wow - aint nobody heard of pre-order! Most of my games were ordered months before release.
is the glovner ok.hahahahah
Don’t believe the hype about the “Manhunt Murder” in the UK, btw.
It was the VICTIM who owned the game, the killer had never played it in his life - a fact that only came to light a few weeks after the gutter press had got their “BAN THIS SICK FILTH NOW!” headlines out of the way. The killer wasn’t even a gamer - one random fact, that the victim happened to own Manhunt, was wrongly seized upon and ran with in entirely the wrong direction.
Yeah lets blame what happened on the fact the game was hyped up, HELLO, idiots like this guy need locking up anyway. Until such times as stupid comments like “See, this is the problem with hyping things on such a huge scale. The man was dying for a copy, and would go to any length to get it. Without the hype, it would just be another regular game and everyone would sort themselves out in an orderly manner.’ Media, movies, games will always be a scape goat for psychos. People have to already be mad to do things like this.
c’mon y’all. you can’t blame the hype. that is ridiculous. some people are just sick. that guy obviously has some severe problems (p.s. these are problems anal rape are probably not going to solve). so no, i do not believe you can blame epic or m$ or even xboxic on this one.
and to say ‘Without the hype, it would just be another regular game and everyone would sort themselves out in an orderly manner.’ is presuptuous too. there was a huge shortage of this incredible game. whenever there is not enough to go around, the have nots get pissed. it is a fact of life. and some people are just not stable enough to handle shit like that.
i blame the media blamers.
- mu
game ratings in europe(ecept germany) aren’t law
they arent in America either
They’re law here in U.K just not very enforced.
whoever wrote this article is a fag. you’re sitting there talking down about a 15 yr old who got beat up by a 36 yr old over a fucking game. i have a question. why is a 36 year old standing in line at gamestop for a video game?
Why is Rossko a fag?, ok the article isn’t the best he’s written but its a relevant and interesting story to Xboxic . If you’re gonna shoot the messenger at least put some thought into it and don’t use lame homophobic slurs.
Anything against people older than 30?
You will get there also
Yeah I got to say that having re-read this article, the headline and article are presented in very tabloid style. How sensational is “Boy beaten up thanks to Gears”.
And how misrepresentitive is it for the points I’ve made else where on this page. For Shame slack article man. I’ve come expect better from the Editorial crew and you Rossko than this frankly “Lowest Common Denominator” article. There is really no need to glitz up what is an already interesting and relevant story for this site and its viewers. And if its Ironic then I missed it. Less of this sort of thing please.
Don’t know if this has been mentioned before, but the boy would not have been breaking the law. The shop that sold it to him would have been.
I think in the US its the shop/employee which gets prosecuted, assuming its not simply policy rather than law (I can’t remember which).
That “Manhunt” murder was a load of bull created by the tabloids. The murderer never played it and it was the victim who owned it.
The title of this post is rather inflammatory, and is really no better than the normal politically one eyed approach taken by newspapers. I’m not attacking the op, but the heading “Boy beaten up FOR Gears” would have been more appropriate.
This is no different from someone being beaten up in a car-jacking, if it was a car jacking you wouldn’t say “Man beaten up beacause of Nissan Skyline GTR 33″ no, you’d say he was beaten up for the car.
This has everything to do with stupid, nasty people, and nothing to do with the game in question.
Except for the fact that this is the most overhyped game in 360 history. Noone will get beaten up over Import Tuner Challenge or Bomberman Act Zero, it’s Gears’ hype that causes this to happen to people.
In the car analogy, would it make the newspapers if it was for his unique $800k Lamborghini Murcielago? Yep, thought so as well.
there must have been plenty of adults in the store why didnt any of those gutless arseholes help him
That crossed my mind too. But it probably happened rather quickly and was over before anyone had a chance to react.
i disagree strongly with this articles view on hyping things, another fucking result of the blame someone else culture. grow some fucking balls and a brain and just admit that this 36 year old man was a fucking moron, it’s no one elses fault, and the manhunt murder was bullshit as in the end it turned out the copy of manhunt found was the victims and not the murderers.
I don’t think we disagree anywhere that the 36-year old is a moron and is rightfully in jail now
The kid needed a good beating damn brats and their GEARS, makes me sick !!!!!!!!!!!
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If you’re gonna shoot the messenger at least put some thought into it and don’t use lame homophobic slurs.
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If that’s the way you want it, I’d be more than happy to.
You see, this story is a fake. I live in the Detroit area and frequent Gamestop often.
This story is complete bullshit and did not happen.
It’s rather sad to see 2 UK “journalists” not even bother to fact check the story they post.
Likely they get paid by the story whether it’s true or not.
This is truly in bad form. Sad that someone would stoop so low to make shit up, actually.