TheBrandon Crisp casewas a very twisted one indeed. 15-year-old Brand Crisp ran away from his Ontario home after being banned from playing Call of Duty 4. As the press started to masturbate at the thought of demonizing videogames again, it was speculated that Crisp had been “lured by gamers” and eventually, a body was found. It later transpired that, rather than getting himself murdered by an evil gamer, Crisp had died simply falling from a tree. A sad way to go, really.
One journalist, Jesse Brown of CBC,has reflected on the case, and by reflected, I mean he basically givesCall of Duty 4‘s multiplayer aspect a thorough dressing down. It doesn’t help that he naturally ran into the usual cadre of obnoxious Xbox Live filth, but it’s his closing argument on the game that really sounds like a condemnation.
Brandon Crisp played video games compulsively and Brandon Crisp died in the woods after falling from a tree. And those two things might not have anything at all to do with each another.
But as I playedCall of Duty 4late at night, crouching in a digital simulation of a snowy field and then collapsing in the leaves as a stranger somewhere in the world pushed a button and cursed in my ear, it was eerie to think that Brandon Crisp was here too, virtually killing and virtually dying thousands of times.
This world is a sad place and it’s awful that Brandon Crisp spent so much of his time here when he had so little to spend.
Brown’s description ofCoD4as a “stark” and “realistic” violent game where you’re able to “steal weapons” sounds damning as anything. He claims the missions feel like work, and that “fun isn’t the first, or even the fiftieth word” he would use to describe it. Of course, he fails to mention that fact thatCoD4‘s entire point is to show how brutal real war can be. He describes it as a violent fantasy, when it’s supposed to be violent reality … within the rules of a videogame, of course.
Ultimately, this was a bitter story. Crisp’s parents eventually did the right thing, and as a reward, they lost their son. All I know is that I do thinkCoD4is a fun game, and if I were to die tomorrow, I would not consider my time spent there awful. I doubt Brand Crisp would have regretted the nights spent with hisCoDteam either.
[ViaGP]
