Whenever a real bad thing happens in America, the chubby finger of blame is often wafted in the direction of video games.
Indeed, President Donald Covefefe-Plenty-Of-Oil-Everybody-Loves-Me Trump did just this recently, in the wake of the shootings in Texas and Ohio which left 31 people dead in the space of 24 hours.
You know, rather than attributing it to something like, oh I dunno, America's absurdly relaxed gun laws and the radicalisation of disenfranchised young men by a culture and an administration which allows white supremacy to flourish unchecked.
Since the series first debuted in 1992, Mortal Kombat - famed for its gory, over-the-top, finishing moves, such as freezing an opponent in a block of ice and shattering them, or using telekinetic abilities to pull an enemy's entrails out through their mouth, or dismembering somebody with a sharp hat - has often been linked to real-world acts of violence.
The franchise has been at the centre of various studies into the psychological effects of gaming violence, and was named during the infamous 1993 US Congressional hearing, which led to increased industry regulation. Consequently, various incarnations of the series have been banned around the world, and the latest instalment, Mortal Kombat 11, is unavailable in China, Japan, Indonesia, and Ukraine.
Her are six times Mortal Kombat - a game in which it is possible to swallow a fellow combatant whole, and spit out their bones, or inflate their head like a balloon - was linked to real-life awfulness.
Indeed, President Donald Covefefe-Plenty-Of-Oil-Everybody-Loves-Me Trump did just this recently, in the wake of the shootings in Texas and Ohio which left 31 people dead in the space of 24 hours.
You know, rather than attributing it to something like, oh I dunno, America's absurdly relaxed gun laws and the radicalisation of disenfranchised young men by a culture and an administration which allows white supremacy to flourish unchecked.
Since the series first debuted in 1992, Mortal Kombat - famed for its gory, over-the-top, finishing moves, such as freezing an opponent in a block of ice and shattering them, or using telekinetic abilities to pull an enemy's entrails out through their mouth, or dismembering somebody with a sharp hat - has often been linked to real-world acts of violence.
The franchise has been at the centre of various studies into the psychological effects of gaming violence, and was named during the infamous 1993 US Congressional hearing, which led to increased industry regulation. Consequently, various incarnations of the series have been banned around the world, and the latest instalment, Mortal Kombat 11, is unavailable in China, Japan, Indonesia, and Ukraine.
Her are six times Mortal Kombat - a game in which it is possible to swallow a fellow combatant whole, and spit out their bones, or inflate their head like a balloon - was linked to real-life awfulness.
COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL MASSACRE
Admittedly, Mortal Kombat was just one of three games name-checked by President Bill Blue-Dress-Kneepads-Cigar-Tastes-Good-Epstein Clinton in the wake of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, which saw teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shoot and kill 12 of their peers and one teacher.
Addressing the nation, he rasped: "Video games like Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and Doom, the very game played obsessively by the two young men who ended so many lives in Littleton, make our children more active participants in simulated violence."
While there is no direct evidence that either shooter was inspired by Mortal Kombat - a game in which players can transform into a dragon and bite their enemies in half - Harris did write in his journal that the pair's assault would "Be like the the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing, WWII, Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together."
Strangely, Clinton did not blame American wars or the decades of community tension and institutionalised police racism which led to the LA riots.
Perhaps inspired by Clinton's words, several parents of the deceased filed unsuccessful lawsuits against game manufacturers, including Sony America, AOL/TimeWarner, ID Software, Atari, Sega of America, Virgin Interactive Media, Activision, Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution, New Line Cinema, GT Interactive Software and Nintendo.
But not Midway Games, the creators of Mortal Kombat.
Addressing the nation, he rasped: "Video games like Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, and Doom, the very game played obsessively by the two young men who ended so many lives in Littleton, make our children more active participants in simulated violence."
While there is no direct evidence that either shooter was inspired by Mortal Kombat - a game in which players can transform into a dragon and bite their enemies in half - Harris did write in his journal that the pair's assault would "Be like the the LA riots, the Oklahoma bombing, WWII, Vietnam, Duke and Doom all mixed together."
Strangely, Clinton did not blame American wars or the decades of community tension and institutionalised police racism which led to the LA riots.
Perhaps inspired by Clinton's words, several parents of the deceased filed unsuccessful lawsuits against game manufacturers, including Sony America, AOL/TimeWarner, ID Software, Atari, Sega of America, Virgin Interactive Media, Activision, Polygram Film Entertainment Distribution, New Line Cinema, GT Interactive Software and Nintendo.
But not Midway Games, the creators of Mortal Kombat.
MORUMBI SHOPPING MALL MASSACRE
Three people were killed when 24 year-old medical student Mateus da Costa Meira went on a shooting spree at the Morumbi shopping mall in Sao Paulo, the same year as the Columbine massacre.
Da Costa Meira was a known gamer, said to be particularly enamoured with the Duke Nukem franchise, and was found to have a large collection of illegally copied games.
In the direct wake of the shooting, Brazil banned six games it felt were no longer acceptable: Doom, Requiem, Blood, Postal, Duke Nukem 3D, and - inevitably - Mortal Kombat. A game in which one fighter can make a giant trash compact shoot out of their chest, and use it to crush his opponents.
A spokesman for the Brazilian government raged at the time: "The games are considered violent and affecting people who play them, particularly children."
It was probably nothing, but da Costa Meira was also diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder, and found to have traces of cocaine in his system.
Da Costa Meira was a known gamer, said to be particularly enamoured with the Duke Nukem franchise, and was found to have a large collection of illegally copied games.
In the direct wake of the shooting, Brazil banned six games it felt were no longer acceptable: Doom, Requiem, Blood, Postal, Duke Nukem 3D, and - inevitably - Mortal Kombat. A game in which one fighter can make a giant trash compact shoot out of their chest, and use it to crush his opponents.
A spokesman for the Brazilian government raged at the time: "The games are considered violent and affecting people who play them, particularly children."
It was probably nothing, but da Costa Meira was also diagnosed with schizoid personality disorder, and found to have traces of cocaine in his system.
THE MURDER OF DIEGO AGUILAR
In 2007, 20 year-old Patrick Morris shot 15 year-old Diego Aguilar five times with a twelve-gauge shotgun. At his trial, Morris's attorney argued that games such as Grand Theft Auto and Mortal Kombat - which he was alleged to have played for up to seven hours at a time - may have blurred the shooter's ability to understand the consequences of his violent actions.
Again, it was probably nothing, but Morris received a prison sentence after it was found that he had shot Aguilar in return for giving him a fake diamond as payment for some magic mushrooms.
Again, it was probably nothing, but Morris received a prison sentence after it was found that he had shot Aguilar in return for giving him a fake diamond as payment for some magic mushrooms.
THE MURDER OF ZOE GARCIA
Also in 2007, and billed as the "Mortal Kombat Murder" by sensationalist newspaper headlines, teenagers Lamar Roberts and 16-year-old Heather Trujillo beat her seven year-old sister to death. According to a story in the Denver Post, Roberts told police that they were acting out moves from Mortal Kombat - a game in which it is possible rip the skin off somebody by shrieking at them - and that his fists were "registered as lethal weapons".
Following their assault, he pair attempted to revive the child by running her under a tap, and then cracked an egg in her mouth “to see if she was messing around with them...”
That's not a joke.
However, when speaking to the Greely Tribune, Trujillo's aunt claimed that Roberts made up the Mortal Kombat story "to look tough".
When asked at his trial why he didn't stop the beating when the seven-year-old asked him to, Roberts said: "I don't know... I was drunk!"
He was sentenced to 36 years in prison, while Trujillo was given a 17-year suspended sentence.
Following their assault, he pair attempted to revive the child by running her under a tap, and then cracked an egg in her mouth “to see if she was messing around with them...”
That's not a joke.
However, when speaking to the Greely Tribune, Trujillo's aunt claimed that Roberts made up the Mortal Kombat story "to look tough".
When asked at his trial why he didn't stop the beating when the seven-year-old asked him to, Roberts said: "I don't know... I was drunk!"
He was sentenced to 36 years in prison, while Trujillo was given a 17-year suspended sentence.
THE CHARLESTON CHURCH MASSACRE
In 2015, self-confessed white supremacist Dylann Roof shot and killed nine African-American worshippers during a service at the Emmanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina - one of the oldest black churches in the USA.
Though Roof had posted online a manifesto full of racial hatred, CNN correspondent Ashleigh Banfield, during an interview with a Democratic congressman who was defending the continued use of the controversial Confederate flag, nevertheless described white supremacy as leading to the "Mortal Kombat murders of nine innocent churchgoers".
That's Mortal Kombat, the game where you can pull a face so scary that it makes a person's soul leap out of their body.
Banfield failed to elaborate on her stupid description, instead choosing to cut the interview short.
Though Roof had posted online a manifesto full of racial hatred, CNN correspondent Ashleigh Banfield, during an interview with a Democratic congressman who was defending the continued use of the controversial Confederate flag, nevertheless described white supremacy as leading to the "Mortal Kombat murders of nine innocent churchgoers".
That's Mortal Kombat, the game where you can pull a face so scary that it makes a person's soul leap out of their body.
Banfield failed to elaborate on her stupid description, instead choosing to cut the interview short.
SANDY HOOK SCHOOL MASSACRE
In the wake of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, in which 20 year-old Adam Lanza killed 26 people, including 20 children, America's gun laws once again came under scrutiny. Inevitably, the National Rifle Association - which describes itself as America's longest-standing civil rights organisation - came out fighting.
Speaking at a press conference, Wayne LaPierre, executive president of the influential political lobby group, argued: "There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people, through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Splatterhouse."
For context, Splatterhouse was released in 1988, some 26 years prior to the Sandy Hook murders.
LaPierre also drew unnecessary attention to an obscure, 10 year-old, crude, home-brew Flash game called Kindergarten Killers, which was buried in the depths of the website flash-game.net. He summed up his argument by stating: "Guns don’t kill people: video games, the media and Obama’s budget kill people!”
It's probably nothing, but shooter Adam Lanza was found to have struggled with mental health disorders since the age of three, and his father believed he may have been suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia. He apparently spent most of his free time in his bedroom playing World of Warcraft, and had an "obsessive" interest in mass murders. Among his belongings, investigators found a clipping from The New York times, reporting on a school shooting in 1891, which occurred around 80 years before the rise of video games.
Tangentially, Ronda Rousey, a professional wrestler who voiced the character of Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat 11, in 2013 shared a video on her social media platforms which alleged the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax perpetuated by the US government.
In her defence she stated: “I just figure asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you’re told."
Apparently, her favourite Pokemon is Mew.
Speaking at a press conference, Wayne LaPierre, executive president of the influential political lobby group, argued: "There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows, violence against its own people, through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat, and Splatterhouse."
For context, Splatterhouse was released in 1988, some 26 years prior to the Sandy Hook murders.
LaPierre also drew unnecessary attention to an obscure, 10 year-old, crude, home-brew Flash game called Kindergarten Killers, which was buried in the depths of the website flash-game.net. He summed up his argument by stating: "Guns don’t kill people: video games, the media and Obama’s budget kill people!”
It's probably nothing, but shooter Adam Lanza was found to have struggled with mental health disorders since the age of three, and his father believed he may have been suffering from undiagnosed schizophrenia. He apparently spent most of his free time in his bedroom playing World of Warcraft, and had an "obsessive" interest in mass murders. Among his belongings, investigators found a clipping from The New York times, reporting on a school shooting in 1891, which occurred around 80 years before the rise of video games.
Tangentially, Ronda Rousey, a professional wrestler who voiced the character of Sonya Blade in Mortal Kombat 11, in 2013 shared a video on her social media platforms which alleged the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax perpetuated by the US government.
In her defence she stated: “I just figure asking questions and doing research is more patriotic than blindly accepting what you’re told."
Apparently, her favourite Pokemon is Mew.
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