For those of us who haven’t heard it all, I present GamePolitics presents to you the story of the man who blames video games for animal slaughter.

Bill Croke of the American Spectator (proving once again that you can name a newspaper anything if you put the word “American” in front of it) has presented a new, radical theory worthy of Jack Thompson: That violent video games are driving teenagers to slaughter animals like moose and antelope:

It’s a sickeningly familiar story. Two moose shot and left to rot… Two yearling grizzly bears killed… An increasing wasted antelope body count… Senselessly murdered mule deer left on the ground… All this has nothing to do with the legal autumn hunting seasons… it’s “thrill killing,” as wildlife managers call it… It’s actually a national problem.

According to studies extant, these wildlife atrocities are committed mostly by young men aged 15 to 22, the video game generation. Much has been written about the nihilistic violence that kids are exposed to when they play some of these games…

I think it might be an easy jump to get up from a computer game, go out and pull the trigger on an elk or a deer, and then walk away with a laugh. After all, it’s only a game… Yet, I think our four-legged friends will get a break soon, as the video game-thrill killing trend graduates to a higher plane: human beings.

Video games are mindless, as are the parents who let their kids play them.

First of all, if your kid is fucking with a grizzly bear then his problems lie deeper than with Manhunt 2. Secondly, perhaps the answer to why these 15-22 year-olds are going on these “thrill killing” sprees can be found in the terminology used: THRILL killing!

This isn’t a matter of whether or not kids are playing video games. It’s a simple desire to get an adrenaline rush! It’s the same reason why they drive absurdly fast, listen to loud music and do copious amounts of drugs.

Either way, Mr. Croke may want to consider taking his concerns to West Virginia Department of Natural Resources director Frank Jezioro, who wants to start using video games to train school children to hunt.

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