Bad Language in Video Games Article

Bad language in video games and on TV linked to aggression in teenagers

By Nadia Gilani


Being exposed to swearing and foul language on TV as well as playing video games are linked to aggression in teenagers, a university report shows.


While it has been long established that watching violent scenes increases aggression levels, a new study in the medical journal Pediatrics suggests that being exposed to foul language may have a similar effect.

The US study appears to be the first to examine the impact of obscene language, which is surprising considering how central language is to film and TV ratings as well as affecting how a film is classified.

Violent: Being exposed to foul language on TV and playing video games can lead to teenagers being more aggressive

To explore the issue, scholars at Brigham Young University gathered information from 223 middle school students.


Family life professor at the university Sarah Coyne explained that the findings revealed that exposure to bad language is associated with acceptance and use of similar language, which in turn influences both physical and verbal aggression.

Professor Coyne said: 'On the whole, it's a moderate effect.

'We even ran the statistical model the opposite way to test if the violent kids used more profanity and then sought it out in the media, but the first path we took was a much better statistical fit even when we tried other explanations'.

Acceptance: The study found that exposure to obscene language such as swearing made teenagers view such words as 'normal'

Brad Bushman, a media expert at Ohio State University who was not involved with the study, said: 'This research shows that profanity is not harmless.

'Children exposed to profanity in the media think that such language is normal, which may reduce their inhibitions about using profanity themselves.

'And children who use profanity are more likely to make them more aggressive towards others.
'These are very important findings for parents, teachers, and pediatricians'.


Prof Coyne added: 'Profanity is kind of like a stepping stone.

'You don't go to a movie, hear a bad word, and then go and shoot somebody.

'But when youth both hear and then try profanity out for themselves it can start a downward slide toward more aggressive behavior'.



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050159/Bad-language-video-games-TV-linked-aggression-teenagers.html#ixzz1b7ZLQ6Z5

Idents Research

These are different idents for film companies. We are looking at these particular companies because they suit our film the best. We think that Lionsgate would suit our film the best as it has the most films in common with it that are alike to our film.

Miles' practice tackles

As part of our research, one of our needs for the main actor was to tackle a person as he replicates a violent scene from a video game. Here, we have Miles tackling Andy in various ways for us to find a tackle which looks convincing. We shot from two angles so we could see different visual perspectives of the tackle to decide which looked most convincing from the viewer's point of view.  

Banned :- Manhunt 2

Censors ban 'brutal' video game!

British censors have banned a violent video game from the UK for the first time in a decade.

The video game Manhunt 2 was rejected for its "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying", the British Board of Film Classification said.

It means the Manhunt sequel cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK.

The parents of a Leicester schoolboy who blamed the original game for the murder of their 14-year-old son said they were "absolutely elated".

The original Manhunt game was given an 18 classification in 2003. Manhunt 2, for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles, is made by Rockstar Games. The company has six weeks to submit an appeal.The last game to be refused classification was Carmageddon in 1997. That decision was overturned on appeal. David Cooke, director of the BBFC, said: "Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone.

"There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

'Morally irresponsible'

The original Manhunt game caused huge controversy and was blamed for the murder of Stefan Pakeerah.
The boy was stabbed and beaten to death in Leicester in February 2004.

His parents believe the killer, Warren LeBlanc, 17, was inspired by the game.
Stefan's mother, Giselle Pakeerah, had condemned the sequel, branding the gaming industry "morally irresponsible".

"We have been campaigning against these games for a long time and the BBFC made the right decision," she said.

Police said robbery was the motive behind the attack on Stefan in Stokes Wood Park on 26 February 2004 - and not the video game blamed by Stefan's parents.

Manhunt's maker Rockstar North has always insisted its games are geared towards mature audiences and are marketed responsibly.

Leicester MP Keith Vaz, who campaigned with the Pakeerahs against the original version of Manhunt, praised the decision to ban Manhunt 2.

Stefan Pakeerah was murdered in 2004

He said: "This is an excellent decision by the British Board of Film Classification, showing that game publishers cannot expect to get interactive games where players take the part of killers engaged in 'casual sadism' and murder."

Teaser Trailer Deconstructions

Chris Nolan loves a viral marketing campaign and Inception was one of the best examples of a well marketed movie. This 63 second teaser gives us no idea really about what the movie is actually about but shows off some of the incredible visuals and action scenes that can be expected. With a simple repetitive backing music that gives a very intense and exciting feel.



Once again Chris Nolan hits a fantastic viral marketing campaign for his second Batman movie "The Dark Knight". The movie we were given this which shows nothing other than the Batman logo, but this teaser is all about the audio. It has some brilliant dialogue from the movie and it was the first time we got to hear the late Heath Ledger in his now legendary performance as the Joker. There is also a clever joker card shown very quickly right at the end, to just heighten the excitement.

Poster One

This is just a quick poster that we made for our teaser trailer. This is for us to practice making posters and to help us decide what we would like our final poster to look like.

We found the Xbox controller image on Google and layered it onto a black background and removed the image's background so we were left with just the hands and controller. There were a few slogans or taglines we were considering but we went for "Who's controlling who?" as it hints at the theme of our teaser trailer.

The font was one on Photoshop and it isn't very suitable for our film so this is something we know to develop at a later point. The text includes the title, release date, tag line and the name of our actor.

Story Board

This is the first page of our Story Board, it consists of the first 6 shots of our teaser trailer.

This is the second page of our Story Board.

This is the third page of our Story Board.

This is the fourth page of our Story Board.

This is the fifth page of our Story Board.

This is the sixth page of our Story Board.

Location Photo - Bedroom

I decided to take a photo of the room with the television on and the Xbox being played onto so it is easier to visualize whether this is the right set-up or location for us.

Location Photo - Bedroom

This is the same bedroom as before but with the cupboard below open to show where the Xbox is and give a general idea of proportions.

Location Photo - Bedroom

This is our potential bedroom with the bigger 50" LG Television in it to show how it looks in proportion to the room.

Stefan Pakeerah murder

Stefan Pakeerah was murdered on the 27 February 2004. Stefan was killed by Warren Leblanc an older friend. Leblanc, 17, stabbed 14 yeard old Stefan after luring him to a Leicester park to steal from him.
Stefan's mother described Leblanc as "inherently evil". Leblanc pleaded guilty to murder. The court heard Leblanc had been obsessed with the game Manhunt developed by company Rockstar North. Leblanc armed himself with a claw hammer and a knife with which he killed Pakeerah in the park. Mrs Pakeerah, 36, called for violent video games to be banned but Rockstar the games producers say it is absurd to blame 'Manhunt' for the boys actions. It is said Leblanc mimicked the game to kill Pakeerah but no responsibility is being claimed by the game makers.

Daniel Petric

Teenager Daniel Petric shot parents who took away Xbox


A 17-year-old has been convicted of shooting his parents in the head after they took away his video game.

Daniel Petric killed his mother and wounded his father when they banned him from playing "Halo 3" and took away his Xbox console. He now faces a possible life sentence.

Lorain County Judge James Burge convicted him of aggravated murder for the death of his mother, Susan, 43, and attempted aggravated murder for the attack on his father, Mark, 46.

The judge ruled that although Petric's obsession with the video game, in which players shoot aliens, may have warped his sense of reality, the boy knew what he was doing and had planned the shooting.

On the night of the shooting, Petric used his father's key to open a lockbox and remove a 9 mm handgun and the game.
Mark Petric testified that his son came into the room and asked: "Would you guys close your eyes? I have a surprise for you." He testified that he expected a pleasant surprise. Then his head went numb from the gunshot.

The teenager then put the gun in his father's hand in an attempt to make the shootings look like murder-suicide. When he fled the scene, he only took one item with him: the "Halo 3" game.

Judge Burge rejected the defence attorneys' argument that Petric, 17, of Wellington, Ohio, was not guilty by reason of insanity, saying that the teen's youth and addiction made him less responsible. Petric played the Halo games as much as 18 hours a day at friends' houses when he had the chance. Tried as an adult, Petric now faces a maximum possible penalty of life in prison without parole.

Judge Burge said there was ample evidence that the boy planned to kill his parents. But the judge said he believed playing the games long enough caused physical and psychological changes in the teenager's brain, similar to drug use. "When you stop, your brain won't stand for it, just as it wouldn't stand for it when you quit using heroin or crack cocaine," he said.

The popular Halo series involves destroying aliens. Once the game ends and a new game starts, the aliens return. Simply put, death in the game is only temporary, the judge said.

"I firmly believe that Daniel Petric had no idea at the time he hatched this plot that if he killed his parents they would be dead forever," he added.

Family members have said they have forgiven the teenager. Mark Petric, a pastor at New Life Assembly of God in Wellington, stood up as deputies led his son from court. The teenager turned and gave his father a wave goodbye. "We love you, Danny," the father yelled.

Bungie, once part of Microsoft, developed the Xbox 360-exclusive Halo 3, and Microsoft owns the game's intellectual property. Microsoft declined to comment beyond a statement: "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5512446.ece

Lara Croft

The Lara Croft film plots are not directly based around a game, however the whole premise and character of Lara is based on the Tomb Raider video games. The games were first developed in 1996 and more than ten games have been released. Two films have been released as part of the franchise which is unusual as the games are usually based around films. Films usually release their own official games as part of their merchandise however it is very rare that a film is based around an existing video game.

Video Games at their most violent

Manhunt 2 game banned in Britain


In a landmark decision representing the U.K.'s first video game ban since 1997, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rejected Manhunt 2 for both PS2 and Wii, which now makes it illegal to sell the game within the borders of the country.

In a landmark decision representing the U.K.'s first video game ban since 1997, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has rejected Manhunt 2 for both PS2 and Wii, which now makes it illegal to sell the game within the borders of the country. A final decision on the PSP version of the game has not yet been made, although it is also not likely to make it past the classification process.

The BBFC's decision was based heavily on the game's bleak atmosphere and its tendency to encourage mindless slaughter.

"Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly," said BBFC director David Cooke. "Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

While the original Manhunt game was classified "18" back in 2003, Cooke lists a number of differences in the sequel that support the ban, including the game's "sheer lack of alternative pleasures", the "different overall narrative context", and the game's "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying".

Of course, the original Manhunt's "18" rating was given before the BBFC's scientific research on games and behavior was completed, although Cooke also notes that it was "already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable".

Rockstar Games has not yet had a chance to comment on the ruling, although, under the terms of the U.K.'s Video Recordings Act, the publisher has an opportunity to appeal the BBFC's decision. The ban on the 1997 title Carmageddon, the only other video game to be rejected by the BBFC, was eventually overturned after an appeal by the Video Appeals Committee. 

The decision to ban manhunt 2 in the UK was later revoked as Rockstar Games won an appeal to have the ban lifted.

A Quote...

This is a quotation from a Journal of Psychiatry Research 2008:

“Self-control is negatively correlated with game addiction.”

We felt this was really relevant to our film and could help with the premise and influences for our trailer.

Initial Typography Ideas

Here are some text ideas we had for our film poster and general typography. We got them from http://www.dafont.com/ and these are only intitial ideas as we are unsure whether or not we can convert them to the exact colour and style that we like.

Equipment Photo - Sony Bravia

This is Ursula's Sony Bravia that is in the living room. This would be possible to use but it would be inconvienent to move it when we have other options. The room itself is too big and airy for use in our film and the fact that it is so open plan also detracts from the isolation theme of our film.

Equipment Photo - LG

This is a 50" LG Television that has been borrowed for use in our trailer. The boy in the film is going to have the state of the art equipment, even at the expense of other necessities because it is such a big part of his life. The case of Ryan Cleary, although he was actually a hacker, also clearly shows that they are likely to have the best equipment available.

Location Photo - Bedroom

This is another shot of our potential bedroom facing one of the walls. It shows a wardrobe and chest of drawers, we would have to remove all the trophies from shot as a reclusive gamer is unlikely to be of sporting prowess and would not be social enough to go out and compete.

Certification

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2/


This is a guideline to age appropriation for films. We decided our film should have a 15 rating. This is because though it is quite a violent film with scenes of obsession and fixation over violence we decided it would not be graphic enough to have an 18 rating. Compared to films such as 'Gamer' and 'Chatroom' we see our film being very similar. However both these films have different factors that ours will not. THerefore we felt the appropriate age restriction would be a 15 rating.

Poster Ideas

For our poster ideas we decided to look at films similar to ours. For this we had to look at films such as 'Mum and Dad (top left), Gamer (top right) and Chatroom (below). We found that the 'Mum and Dad' poster would be difficult to recreate so well with such strange objects to make it appropriate to our film with just one main actor. For the 'Chatroom' poster we found that as the film had more than one main character it again would be more difficult to recreate, however as a group we felt that it was a more relevant poster than 'Mum and Dad' so could take some ideas from it. Finally the poster of 'Gamer'. We thought 'Gamer had a poster that was very unique but also very clever. We like the idea that it was a mix between the game and the person playing the game. We as a group thought 'Gamer' would be the most relevant poster. We thought the 'Gamer' poster would be one we could take for ideas and co-operate the ideas into our poster. It is something that we want to experiment with trying to get a similar effect as our end product.

Location Photo - Bedroom

This is Ursula's bedroom. This is unsuitable for our film as it is very open and quite light/airy which is not the feel we want for our film. It is an unusual shape which would be hard to film in and is also very feminine in it's decoration and contents such as posters and photos on the wall.

Location Photo - Bedroom

This is a bedroom in Ursula's house which is a contender for our main bedroom due to the shape and size of the room. We also have a 50" LG television which we could use which would be ideal for our plot line.

Poster Deconstruction - Mum & Dad

Xiao Yi - Case Study

Young Addict's Suicide Sounds Stark Warning


A recent case of suicide by a boy addicted to Internet games has increased the public's concern over the issue of Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD)


Xiao Yi, a 13-year-old from Tianjin, committed suicide thinking that he would meet his friends from cyber space after he died.


He jumped from the top of a 24-storey building, Beijing Youth Daily reported yesterday.


He left four notes behind before he committed suicide. In the letters, Xiao, playing the role of a character from a video game, said he wanted to meet three friends who also played the game in paradise.


He did not mention his parents in the letters.


His father is reported to have said that his child had been a good student until he became addicted to computer games. The boy was studying at a key junior high school, and before he became interested in computer games, he scored high marks in all his exams.

But afterwards, he hardly ever passed a test.

"My kid was like someone taking drugs who could not control himself," said his father.  

"His mother and I were very worried about him. But we knew little about the Internet and we did not know how to save him."

His father also recalled that his son would sometimes stay out for one or two nights, spending all his time playing computer games in Internet bars.

The last time his parents found him in a cyber cafe, Xiao Yi had not had any food for two days. He is said to have made a tearful confession to his father, saying that he had been poisoned by the games and could not control himself.

Experts say that attention should be raised about the issue among young people, who are vulnerable to IDA.

According to a survey conducted by Beijing Normal University in 2002, among 600 students at secondary schools in Beijing's nine districts, 88 percent had played electronic games and 24 percent had played Internet games.

About 23 percent of respondents admitted that they spent three to six hours playing games every day. And 7 percent of those surveyed said that they had played continuously for more than 20 hours, Beijing Youth Daily said.

People diagnosed as IAD find it hard to stop playing computer games.

Liu Min, an official from the China Software Industry Association, told Beijing Youth Daily that many students are burdened with their studies. Because of a lack of ways to relax, most of them turn to computer games.

In the hypothetical world created by such games, they become confident and gain satisfaction, which they cannot get in the real world, he said.

Shen Qiyun, a professor at Beijing Normal University, who has studied the influence on teenagers of such games since 2001, said that currently 80 percent of computer games are imported from abroad, half of which are related to a "demon world," martial arts and violence, which are not healthy influences on teenagers.

Qian Niping, aged 15 and studying at a junior second school in Beijing, said, "It is interesting and exciting to play the games together with other people online. Sometimes we spend a lot of time playing the games to get better. Then we can show off our achievements to our classmates."

The country has strengthened its supervision and management of computer games. A special committee was set up last year by the Ministry of Culture to examine computer games from abroad.

(China Daily May 31, 2005)

Bowling for Columbine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Vh_Cq7h_gI

This is the link to a youtube clip of a documentary about the Columbine High School shootings. The 2 boys involved- Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a shooting spree at the high school killing 12 students and a teacher and injured 21 others.
They have said that they took inspiration for some of their killings from video games that inspired there actions. They made videos before they went on the spree round the high school documenting shooting practise and how they got hold of the guns they used. They used inspiration from games to provoke anger in themselves to motivate them to do what they finally did. They also used game footage to show methods to kill people which they then copied.

BUG

As part of our poster research we deconstructed a film poster from the same genre as our teaser. Our findings are labelled above.

Top 10 negative effects of video games on children

By Addiction Blog

Many parents worry, no doubt, about the effect video games have on their children. We list the ten most common problems recently investigated by researchers from 2006-present.

1. An increase in emotional disorder symptoms
2. An increase in and behavioral disorder symptoms
3. Declines in verbal memory performance
4. Somatic complaints
5. Attention problems such as hyperactivity, ADD or ADHD
6. Detrimental school performance (as video game usage increases, GPA and SAT scores decrease)
7. Family interaction problems such as less positive parental relations
8. Significant reduced amounts of slow-wave (REM) sleep
9. Modifications in visual selective attention
10. Playing violent video games is a significant risk factor for later physically aggressive behavior

CONSIDERATIONS:

Males are more attracted to, and more likely to become “hooked” on video games than females which has been found to generalize across very different cultures. So being male significantly predicts computer gaming.  It’s also possible that aggression and narcissistic personality traits can predict game addiction, whereas self-control is negatively correlated with game addiction.

Scandal

ITV admits it passed off clip from a VIDEO GAME as footage of IRA attack on British helicopter in new flagship news show

ITV was this evening forced to apologise after faking footage on a brand-new flagship show – using clips from a violent video game.

Network chiefs were left embarrassed after admitting that new prime-time show Exposure had used clips from Arma II, purportedly showing the IRA shooting down a British Army helicopter.

Footage of the 1988 'attack' was shown to viewers on Monday night's premiere show on ITV1, which exposed the former Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi's links with the IRA.

The helicopter was seen being blasted by soldiers on a hillside, before spiralling down to earth as a voiceover stated: ‘Gaddafi weapons had upped the ante.’

But hours after Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA was broadcast, angry viewers took to the Internet and claimed that in fact, the footage had actually been taken from video game Arma II.



Fake This image was taken from a video
ITVused to illustrated an IRA attack
on a British helicopter



ITV admitted the ‘human error’, as a spokesman told the  Mail: ‘The events featured in Exposure: Gaddafi and the IRA were genuine.

'But it would appear that during the editing process the correct clip of the 1988 incident was not selected and other footage was mistakenly included in the film by producers.  

‘This was an unfortunate case of human error for which we apologise.’ 

General Sir John Wilsey, general officer commanding for Northern Ireland from 1990-93, was interviewed on the programme about the attack, saying: ‘We were forced off the roads which then slowed down our progress which is why we had to travel by helicopter.

‘As always with counter-terrorism, there are technical changes which take place and you have to go through that technical business, each side trying to out-do the other technically.’

The documentary then cut to footage which appeared to show IRA members shooting down a helicopter.

Interviewed General Sir John
Wilsey appeared on the show
 to talk about his time as
commanding general officer
for Northern Ireland from
1990-93

The voiceover was heard to say: ‘With Gaddafi’s heavy machine guns, it was possible to shoot down a helicopter as the terrorist’s own footage of 1988 shows.

‘This was what the security forces feared most. It may have been a lucky hit but for the army and crew once was enough. No-one died in this attack, but there were many more arm

s to fear.’ 

However, viewers were quick to spot the indiscretion, while Marek Spanel , the CEO of Bohema Interactive, the Czech company behind Arma II, said the firm had not been approached by ITV for permission to use the footage.

Arma II is a tactical shooter computer game, with a plot that follows an army's attempt to exert control on a war-ravaged country.

And Mr Spanel told website PC Gamer: ‘We are going to try to get some explanation from ITV how this could have happened.

 ‘Sometimes creativity and realism in our games lead into crazy results and this is one such example. I just briefly watched the entire documentary and I still cannot believe it, as it is overall a very serious and lengthy feature.

 ‘We are surprised our games apparently may look real enough to some users already that they cannot tell it is not real life footage.’

An ITV source said they had not yet received any complaints, insisting: ‘We did have the original footage of this incident, which broadcast back in 1989.

‘There was obviously a mix-up in the edit and wrong material was selected.’

The insider said the actual computer game footage did reflect what was in the original footage, but added it was no excuse for the error.

This evening the documentary was taken off ITV Player, the online service, and was being re-edited.

The IRA attack, in South Armagh, on June 23, 1988 is one of four such incidents where helicopters were shot down by the terrorists.

Fighters used DShK heavy machine guns and improvised mortars - supposedly supplied by the former Libyan leader - to blast the British Army chopper out of the sky.

A Provisional IRA unit of the South Armagh Brigade was said to be responsible for the attack.

ITV heralded the launch of Exposure as the ‘spiritual successor'’ to ground-breaking investigative show World In Action, which ended 13 years ago.

The Gaddafi special, which pulled in more than 1 million viewers at 10.35pm on Monday night, was the first in a run of six single documentary investigative shows.

The programme synopsis promised to examine Colonel Gaddafi's support for the Republican terrorists and investigate the continuing danger of his legacy.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2042568/ITV-fake-footage-row-new-documentary-passes-game-IRA-gun-attack-British-helicopter.html#ixzz1ZowFBsQo

Evidence of violent behaviour as a result of playing video games

When PlayStation turns nasty: Father, 46, tracks down and throttles schoolboy, 13, in revenge attack for 'killing' him on Call Of Duty

• 'I'd been playing the whole day and he was baiting me and baiting me and just would not shut up. He went on and on and I just lost it'
• Boy's mother: 'If you can’t handle losing to a child then you shouldn’t be playing games'

A middle-aged man charged round to the house of a schoolboy and throttled him after his online character was killed during a game of Call Of Duty, a court heard.

Mark Bradford, 46, was furious when he was gunned down in the war simulation by the 13-year-old, and 'lost it' when the youngster goaded him over his online death.

Unemployed father of three Bradford stormed from his bedsit in Plymouth, Devon, and confronted the youngster at the boy's friend's house by placing his hands round the schoolboy's neck.

The pair had been playing Call Of Duty: Black Ops against each other online and talking using microphones.

The attack ended when the teenager's horrified mother pulled Bradford off the boy, who was left scratched and with reddening to the neck.

Plymouth Magistrates heard that Bradford then simply walked away without saying a word.

The boy, who cannot be identified, said: 'I was just sat playing. We’d had a bit of a joke and then he stormed in and grabbed me.

'I didn’t know what was going on.'

Gareth Warden, prosecuting, said the teenager was playing the game at a friend's house when he called Bradford a name after he 'killed' him.

He added that Bradford went to a nearby house where the boy was playing, walked into the front room and grabbed him around the throat with both hands.
 

The teenager's mother, 33, said: 'It’s pathetic that a grown man would attack a defenceless child like this.

'If you can’t handle losing to a child then you shouldn’t be playing games.'

Tracey Baker, mitigating, said Bradford, who had mental health issues, 'just lost it'. He told the court the attack was not planned and was provoked by the name-calling.

Magistrates ordered a probation officer to prepare a full report on his background before he is sentenced.

Bradford was released on unconditional bail to return to court on October 24.

'Call Of Duty' features a variety of war scenes and carries an 18 guidance certificate.

Participants combat each other online in real time and can communicate with each other throughout the war game scenarios.

Bradford admitted the attack was 'moment of madness' as the child 'would not shut up'.

He said: 'I'd been playing the whole day and he was baiting me and baiting me and just would not shut up.'He went on and on and I just lost it. I hold my hands up, I lost the plot. In a moment of madness I went round to his house. I didn't know what I was going to do.

'It wasn't malice. I just grabbed him. I've seen him since and apologised. We've played online too. He's actually a decent kid.'

Bradford admitted one count of assault by beating at Plymouth Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.

Bradford is thought to be a loosely-connected friend of the boy's family.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2043589/PlayStation-gamer-Mark-Bradford-46-throttles-schoolboy-Call-Of-Duty-revenge-attack.html#ixzz1Znk9In5b