the stimulator

The Valentines day massacre in Northern Illinois University was executed by a seemingly ordinary person – a former student of the said university, and with no police record. Investigators found no intent by the gunsman to do what he did. Later on, when testimonies by his dormmates reveal that he plays Counter Strike (CS), a first-person shooting game, critics are quick to point to the said computer game, and other shooting games for that matter, as stimulant for murder. Could playing this game really give one the urge to kill or inflict harm, to the extent that they do?

Being the only person in her 20's who have never even tried Counter Strike and other shooting games – fine, that is an exaggeration but my point is, almost person I know who is my age played the game at least one, but I never did – I sought the advice of my brother. My brother seldoms plays CS but he very interested in playing similar games on his X-box, like “Splinter Cell”, “Metal Gear” and “Hitman”. His answer to this question was a yes then a no. “Yes” meaning he does get this natural high in playing the game to the extent that he says to himself, “Hey, choking another person seems feels great! I think I want to try it!” or “Whoa, it was really cool seeing that ugly guy fall off the building and die because I pushed him! Maybe I should try that sometime!” He says that this is the normal reaction to overexposure to games like this.

On the other hand, what does he do about it? NONE. Why? Because he has a choice, and he choose not to. He knows it is wrong, he knows it hurts others, and he is sane enough to know that this is not a game, this is real life, where he, and not some fictional character, lives in.

So is video shooting games a stimulant? Maybe. But for sure, this is not the only reason why Kazmierczak (the NIU killer) and the other on-campus killers did what they did; they are not the only ones playing those games and the rest of those that do choose not do enact the game to real life. There must be other reasons, each one different from the other. Let us not put the blame on only one culprit.