School massacre families to sue creators of violent games

11.30 am - By CHARLES ARTHUR

The parents of children murdered during the Columbine High School shootings in the United States have launched a multibillion dollar lawsuit against the makers of violent computer games, blamed for inspiring the massacre.

Eidos, a computer games company, has been named as a co-defendant in a $US5000 billion lawsuit filed by parents of the victims shot dead by two students who went on the rampage with guns at the school near Denver, Colorado, in April 1999.

Eidos, which distributes the popular Tomb Raider game, has been named alongside companies that include ID Software, Paramount, Sega, Sony and Virgin Interactive, whose games are all alleged to have caused the shootings in which 15 people died.

The parents allege that games, such as Eidos' Final Fantasy VII, led to the massacre, and that the creators of those games "knew or should have known that copycat violence would result from the use of their products and materials".

It is the second such case brought against computer games companies. In April last year, a judge dismissed a claim in Kentucky, over another school shooting in December 1997, in which three people died. He ruled that the games companies "owed no legal duty of care ..." because the killer's actions were "unforeseeable", and also that to restrain the content of games would violate the United States' First Amendment - which guarantees freedom of speech.

The games most obviously on trial include two of the most popular "shoot-em-ups", namely Doom and Quake. In both the player is behind a gun or rifle and attempts to kill opponents. Other games under scrutiny include Mortal Kombat, Redneck Revenge and Resident Evil.

"The wording of the Columbine claim is virtually identical to the Paducah one," said one insider on the defendants' side. "We think that will mean it will get thrown out in short order."

Eidos has not set aside any funds against the possibility of losing the case, because it cannot quantify how much might be awarded if it lost. The lawsuit could mark an important watershed in attitudes towards the violent computer games on sale in the US.

During the US presidential debates last year, George Bush said: "Columbine spoke to a larger issue, and it's really a matter of culture. "It's a culture that somewhere along the line we begun to disrespect life, where a child can walk in and have their heart turn dark as a result of being on the internet, and walk in and decide to take somebody else's life."

Eidos - and the other games companies defending the lawsuit - are still waiting to hear when any trial might start. The writ was only filed last month, and is likely to take some time to come to court.

An Eidos spokesman said the company had been named as a defendant in the Paducah case, but was released from that because the game cited was not released when the Kentucky shooting happened.

- INDEPENDENT