I think htis time games are at fault as he did pretty much die from his addiction didn't he.

When someone dies form drugs we never go ohh i blame the parents for giving birth and not parenting them away from drugs.

 

Poshkidney

Sorry, man, I'd say crystal meth, crack and heroin are a little more dangerously addictive than video games, and until several scientific studies prove otherwise, and force us to put addiction warnings on game packages, I'll have to disagree with you. And while I'm ready to admit that many parents do all they can for their children and some kids still end up addicted or dead from drug abuse, I do still think many parents don't do a good enough job ensuring their kids are leading a balanced life, watching how their time's spent, who they're hanging out with, etc. and, like another commentator has said, using proper positive reinforcement.

But again, maybe this kid was especially susceptible to addiction, and if he didn't have video games, perhaps he would've gotten addicted to drugs, or other more dangerous habits. Even if this was the case, you can't blame the games, they're just a means to an end - giving him a high he needs. If he didn't have games, we'd be blaming household cleaners, or porn, or innumerable other things identified as addictions. 

Call Target - it really depends on the store. My drum kit doesn't work either - I called the store (Future Shop in my case - for you Americans, they're owned by Best Buy) and, while they would normally just swap out a drum kit for me from another game, because this is in such high demand, they're always sold out. So I have to return the entire thing and put my name on a waiting list.

Did you know that Activision is offering a drum tuning kit for players to download to their PCs and use to tweak their drums? Go to http://www.activision.com/support

They're offering warranty returns through RedOctane as well as this drum tuner - you just need a MIDI-USB cable, though they might supply one.

Glad to see I'm old, but not the oldest here. =)

Mine was probably Impossible Mission for the Commodore 64. "Destroy him, my robots!"

Classic.

I agree with AtomicTangerine - how old does one have to be to have responsibility?

I remember being his age and getting pissed if my parents took away my...SNES, I guess? But I never ran away, especially into a farmer's field in winter. Even if I had, I figure after a few hours or so, I would've realized I made a huge mistake, sucked it up, and returned home, not wander a few miles and climb a tree. I hate to sound insensitive, but the kid was stupid enough to get himself killed, and his parents weren't able to handle the situation well enough to prevent it. But then again, I don't have an addictive personality (and to be honest, I don't really buy into the whole dangerous and scary video game addiction), so I can't say I know how the kid or his parents felt or acted.

On a different note, I was annoyed to hear that the kid's father was sure Brandon had been lured away by someone he met online while playing COD4. I never really imagined a FPS would draw getting-to-know you chats with creeps and pedophiles - I always though they stuck to teen chatrooms and the like. I'm glad this didn't start a frenzy of paranoia about online gamers.