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The biggest selling newspaper in the UK, The Sun, has printed perhaps its most shocking games-related headline yet: ‘SEX BEAST COPIED GRAND THEFT AUTO’.
And, yes, it’s all capital letters.
On page nine of today’s newspaper, the UK tabloid reports on the court case of Ryan Chinnery, 19, who yesterday admitted to Maidstone Crown Court that he was guilty of two sex attacks on women.
The Sun reports that Chinnery ‘prowled streets in his car targeting females he thought were prostitutes after becoming obsessed with the video nasty.’
The Sun adds that the court ‘was told’ that Chinnery ‘may’ have been influenced by the ‘virtual reality driving game’.
Prosecutor Eleanor Laws said Chinnery’s love of Grand Theft Auto "may go some way to explaining his attitude towards women". She said: "Prostitutes in it can be subjected to violence.
There may be some connection with the defendant admitting spending a lot of time playing that game.’”
The Sun has a rich history of running aggressive articles on games. Recent targets have included
and a
‘paedophile site parody’ in GTA IV
.
The article is the latest in a long line of media controversies in gaming – as you can see in our special MCV HOTLIST feature here.
