The investigation of the cybercafes, also known as “PC bangs” or “cybercafes,” came after a brawl erupted between rival groups playing in a tournament involving the online combat game “Counter Strike.” … One unidentified teenager was shot in the leg on Monday outside an Internet cafe in Northridge, a suburb that is part of Los Angeles. A second youth was struck in the head, reportedly with a chair.
Read the rest at Reuters.
In unrelated news…. the new Reuters design is tailor made to make it my source for news over CNN. Good job Reuters.
I’m surprised didn’t use my favorite term for this phenomenon, “offline PK.”
man oh man oh man…
I hate to admitt it, but I once, with a couple of other folks, actually went searching for some guy we knew online, to beat his ass. While it wasn’t a game, it still is pretty immature to take the fantasy of the digital world, take it so seriously, and have the badness spill out into the real world.
This doesn’t surprise me however. It’s no different the neighborhood sports rivalry’s. Same stuff, different form. As online gaming gets bigger (and it will now that the consoles are online) you will see more of these online gaming arcades pop up (perhaps this is a goos business venture to think about) you will see more of these fights break out.
There is a good side to it though – you will see more comraderies being formed. As much as I think the game DanceDance Revolution is the biggest waste of money to come into the arcade – it is a smash hit and has a large cult following. The tournaments attract the community of therse kids together and they know one another from this phenom. I forsee, as more of these “online arcades” come into existence, the same type of bonding that todays teens are lacking. Who knows, it may break down the walls that divides thee cliques. It puts everyone on an equal playing field. And when you start out with one thing in common with someone who you thought was different, it brings out others things in common.
Point being, we need to take the good with the bad. I think more good can come out of these things than bad.