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US doctor says Wii trains kids to kill

According to this, American children's doctor Michael Rich believes that violent Wii games are training the murderers of the future.

"You are learning the muscle memory necessary to do those acts, to stab someone, to chop someone, to shoot someone," he said. "It's one step closer to a virtual reality in which you are actually doing these things to people."

Rich added, "We see the folks that use more violent media tend to be more violent."

Rich has used an MRI to see inside the brains of several children after they were exposed to violent images.

"What we're seeing is that on some level the virtual violence is equated by our brain the same as real violence," he said.

Rich's comments come after a week of barracking from Jack Thompson on the subject of violence in games in the wake of the NIU shooting, after which it turned out the killer has played Counter-Strike as a student.

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Patrick Garratt

Founder & Publisher (Former)

Patrick Garratt is a games media legend - and not just by reputation. He was named as such in the UK's 'Games Media Awards', the equivalent of a lifetime achievement award. After garnering experience on countless gaming magazines, he joined Eurogamer and later split from that brand to create VG247, putting the site on the map with fast, 24-hour a day coverage, and assembling the site's earliest editorial teams. He retired from VG247, and the games industry, in 2017.

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