This article from video game blog Kotaku is about a Chinese Counter-Strike player. He allegedly used a cheat code to give him the ability to see through walls and give him a distinct advantage in the game, and as a result, a fight ensued. But not just any fight. He received a foot-long knife through the head.
And survived.
To me, this shows how different Chinese gaming culture is from American gaming culture. Yes, there have been American WoW players who have killed themselves over the game and whatnot, but China is a country where people are professional WoW gold farmers, the government runs video game addiction clinics, and in general, seems to be a much more extreme gaming culture. Perhaps this is just because China is a country of 1.3 billion people, and among all those denizens, there are inevitably going to be some weirdos. Maybe Americans are just as crazy (some kid did kill his mom for taking away his Halo 3). Whatever the case, it’s an interesting look into gamer psychology.
The most intense image you will see today.
I believe video games do not create people like this, though. Kids who want to stab other kids are going to stab other kids, and video games just happen to be the excuse here. If video games didn’t exist, I’m sure they’d do it over a soccer game or LARPing.
Ouch. I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was until I realized that the fight took place outside the game. This takes us back to the Batesonian paradox we discussed in the first few weeks of class, where at any given moment there’s always a chance that play turns into the very opposite of play.