People talk about being a video game addict, or hooked on the WoW, but have any of these people committed a real crime (not counting the chick who sold herself for a Mount)? It was reported that a 13 year old named Dinh Dan was arrested in Vietnam for the murder and robbery of an 81 year old woman so he could pay for his online gaming.

Apparently Dan strangled the geriatric with a rope and then buried her outside his house, all for 100,000 dong (which is about $62 in the US). Since Dan is too young to be sent to prison, he will be sent to a “re-education camp,” where he will be released with showed signs of improvement.

This appears to be a recurring theme for the gamer youth in Vietnam, as it was just last November when 15 year old Trinh Dinh Thanh was arrested for extortion. Thanh allegedly demanded about $300 dollars from a local business man or he would douse his 12 year old daughter with sulfuric acid. The Vietnamese news media even reported on a boy who died after sitting three days straight at his computer, but police could not confirm such a death (this might be an urban legend).

How crazy are these kids, that they’d snap and murder a senior citizen? When does a game become a drug? People kill for crack, but I’ll never kill for any video game. A story like this makes me think we should all spend a little time away from our computers, and our consoles to just enjoy the day.

Source: int.iol.co.za

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3 Comments » TruthHurtz on November 20, 2007 11:47 pm WOW! thats crazzzzzy! Stefan Cameron on November 21, 2007 4:11 am Video games are hardly the problem.. it’s the impoverished areas that these kids grow up in.. Games such as WoW are their escape from reality.. WOWOWIE on December 21, 2007 2:15 am No actually is idiots who are addicted to the game and there parents wont pay for it so they think there cool and go murder or rob someone just to play another month.These kids need to go ride bikes or take a walk or something. RSS feed for comments on this post. Comment Now Note: Commenting on Ripten does not currently require registration, however to be eligible for contests on the site, you must be a registered user. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Commenting Rules: No hate speech allowed. If you must argue, please debate intelligently. Comments containing selected keywords or outbound links will be put into moderation to help prevent spam. Ripten reserves the right to delete comments and ban anyone who doesn't follow the rules. Thanks. Notify me of followup comments Tired of the Goomba? Upload your own custom comment avatar.