GameLife host arrested for VT-style threat

by Alexander Sliwinski { Apr 18th 2007 at 2:57PM }

Andrew Rosenblum, the host of the video game show GameLife, which previously had some content streamed by MTV's online service Overdrive, has been arrested by Boston police for allegedly sending an e-mail to an ex-girlfriend threatening to kill her. According to the Boston Herald, Rosenblum wrote in the e-mail, "(I)'m gonna (expletive) bring a gun to your school and kill you and K (another female student) and everybody you love. It's gonna be VT all over again ... Seriously I'm just that demented ... killing people can change people's lives forever. (T)he best is in the end when I pull the trigger on myself, too."

Rosenblum, a part-time student at Boston University, wrote the letter hours after the VT shooting where over 30 people died. He was arrested at 3:15 AM yesterday morning after police received a 911 call from a girl who went on three dates with Rosenblum and then dumped him. She called police because on the evening of the Virginia Tech killing she received the threatening emails from Rosenblum which she printed. Needham police say they take the threats as "very serious."

Right about now is probably the worst possible time for anything video game related being tied into a Google search for Virginia Tech massacre. It doesn't help that the Boston Herald in this morning's edition incorrectly said Rosenblum's show is currently being streamed by MTV's Overdrive, essentially tying video games, a source of pop culture and a national tragedy all in one neat little package for the mainstream news. This is pure news chum for the network sharks looking to fill 24/7 news coverage of anything VT related.

Update: MTV contacted Joystiq to let us know they do not own GameLife, nor did they produce it, they merely provided the means to distribute some content. An MTV spokesperson said, "Gamelife's Andrew Rosenblum contributed 2 review segments last year to the MTV.com show, The G-Hole, which is actually hosted by Blair Herter. MTV does not own Gamelife nor does MTV have a video game show entitled Gamelife. In addition, Andrew Rosenblum has never hosted a show for MTV. Gamelife is a completely separate entity from MTV."

Tags: andrew rosenblum, AndrewRosenblum, arrested, boston herald, gamelife, mtv

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Kizzle @ Apr 18th 2007 3:01PM

COUNTDOWN TO JACK THOMPSON...5...4...3...2...

Christopher7xii @ Apr 18th 2007 3:02PM

Ya know, despite how sane we all are... And how much we don't want to admit it...

What if there IS a strong link between video games and violence, we just don't want to see it?

JodyAnthony @ Apr 18th 2007 3:03PM

sigh.

Arno @ Apr 18th 2007 3:03PM

What a fucking moron.

How many hours until Jack points out he hosts a show about video games?

Zertoss @ Apr 18th 2007 3:06PM

If there were any kind of link between video games and violence, we'd see a lot more of this.

There is, however, a strong link between mental instability and violence.

So I wonder if this guy really did send that email. Or was an email sent at all? This could be some demented girl's idea of getting even or attaining fame.

Ha! Ha! I'm using the internet! @ Apr 18th 2007 3:10PM

"What if there IS a strong link between video games and violence, we just don't want to see it?"

At this point, nothing would surprise me.

wait in the car @ Apr 18th 2007 3:09PM

If the girl made it up it would be easy to prove, and she'd be in some serious trouble.

Very unlikely.

Grindstone @ Apr 18th 2007 3:13PM

Great job Andrew Rosenblum, thanks for all the help. You're making us all look bad now.

It is odd that the social ills are trying to be pinned down onto one factor -- gaming -- rather than a combination of factors. I mean, when has it ever been just one thing?

MG Midget @ Apr 18th 2007 3:15PM

So the very first thing that popped into my head when I heard about the VT shootings and the sheer numbers was, "Man just like some videogame" That mindless "aim shoot aim shoot" cycle you get into with some games wiping out lower level mobs.

wait in the car @ Apr 18th 2007 3:17PM

I think the only major link between video games and violence is this...

I would assume that most deranged people are loners and/or social outcasts. Video games (and nearly any other form of entertainment) are a great way to cope with being alone.

Just because video games may be one form of escape for someone who doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the world doesn't mean they're the cause.

bgdc @ Apr 18th 2007 3:17PM

What a tool. As for social ills...I mentioned the gaming angle to my fiancee last night. Soon we'll see headlings like, "VT Killer played GTA3 in 2004...psychologists assume this was trigger for massacre."

"VT killer played doom for an entire night in the 90s: results obvious."

"VT killer once masturbated while thinking about Metroid; murder followed."

32_Footsteps @ Apr 18th 2007 3:19PM

"What if there IS a strong link between video games and violence, we just don't want to see it?"

Then Joystiq would be filled with more criminals than Sing Sing.

Seriously, for some reason, people seem awful quick to discount the role of crazy in things like this.

Though I have to say, if you ever want to talk about a punch in the gut... I'm a video gamer and alumnus of Boston University (CAS, class of 2001). I'm also on the email list for several related BU organizations, including BU DDR and the Boston University Video Game Society. I will stand up for myself and my fellow Terriers, because someone needs to at this time. This is an aberration, and we don't condone such actions.

jenbug @ Apr 18th 2007 3:32PM

There is no proven link between video games of ANY kind and violence. People used to blame this on demonic possession, then the evils of alcohol, or lack of 'moral teachings.'

Jack Thompson and his batman watch can go gently caress themselves.

Shagittarius @ Apr 18th 2007 3:24PM

The only games that make me violent are the bad ones. And the violence usually stops at the idea of inserting the game rectally into the publisher.

Wouldn't it be awesome if there was a game link, that Cho was an avid Barbie Horse Adventures player?

MG Midget @ Apr 18th 2007 3:26PM

"Seriously, for some reason, people seem awful quick to discount the role of crazy in things like this."

Not discounting the role of crazy at all. But the thing is, what if shooters are the thing that the crazy mind can nicely wrap itself around in a way us normal people don't? Not that the game makes the killer, but that the killer finds the game a very powerful stimulus that can fit their own twisted mindset? Again not that the game makes the mindset or is made for the mindset, but that there's a draw the game has to the killer's mind?

Gromit @ Apr 18th 2007 3:28PM

I've never seen the show, but that guy has a face for radio.

sheppy @ Apr 18th 2007 3:27PM

"If the girl made it up it would be easy to prove, and she'd be in some serious trouble."

Actually, not really. Some more moronic people tend to share passwords with their lovers. Likewise, girlffriend would probably have access to apartment. She could have sent it from his partment when he was in the shower or something. Whoever did it though, and the boyfriend seems drastically more likely, is a fucking moron.

tituspullo @ Apr 18th 2007 3:29PM

look at those eyes! i doubt he could have hit anyone anyway.

Dustin" Encicra" Parker @ Apr 18th 2007 3:31PM

I'm not believing it until there is proof that he admits to it. I talked to him quite often on his forums. He seemed normal. There is a history of his things being hacked aswell from the guy that tried to take over gamelife.

Revolution @ Apr 18th 2007 3:32PM

What a jackalope. I hope this guy thinks about his actions while getting copius amounts of buttsecks from large, uncircumsized black men.

Not saying "black" to be racist. The mental picture is just that much more funny with a black man as opposed to, say, an irishman. It was a toss up between back and samoan

samfish @ Apr 18th 2007 3:32PM

I said it on Kotaku and I'll say it here: this dude is one fucked up little creep.

"Seriously, for some reason, people seem awful quick to discount the role of crazy in things like this."

True, but these kinds of things HAVE been happening with a sort of alarming regularity in the past decade or so...so, not that I'm blaming video games, but it seems that SOMETHING has changed in American culture that is putting it into people's heads that this is ok.

Maybe I'm just ignorant, but this didn't happen in the 60's, 70's or 80's, with the exception of the Texas Clock Tower massacre back in the 60's. I'm sure people brought guns to school, but these kind of horrible mass killings?

I think it's worth having an HONEST, national conversation about what changed and how we can fix it.

Striderhayasa @ Apr 18th 2007 3:32PM

Look, the guy's a douche but lets be real. We all have those moments where someone does something to us that's so ill or awful that we think "I could kill that rat-bastard" But then we dismiss the thought for the obvious reasons. The problem with Cho and others like him is that they don't dismiss the thought. "I could that rat-bastard" becomes "I WILL kill that rat-bastard." All Cho did was inspire other lunatic, trigger happy, assholes to bear arms. Awesome...this peace loving era we live in.

Neal @ Apr 18th 2007 3:32PM

As stated above, people with no friends will often play video games because they have nothing to do. 2 of the most unstable weird people that I think have the best opportunity of shooting up a place are both hardcore gameers... if they hsot up a school, I wouln't blame it on videogames, I would blame it on them having no frinds, and society being dicks to them. Playing Doom didn't make some shoot a school, what a stupid arguement people make...

wait in the car @ Apr 18th 2007 3:34PM

sheppy,

Odds of them sharing apartment keys and/or passwords after 3 dates are insanely slim. Assuming that actually did happen though, a simple dusting for prints would reveal the truth.

ANt @ Apr 18th 2007 3:35PM

He looks like a meat-packer to me.....

TWEEDHEAD @ Apr 18th 2007 3:38PM

omg! look at that picture!.. typical looking nerdville central!

that geeky looking fat boy is giving us gamers a bad name!!

ROFL

NintendoFanbot @ Apr 18th 2007 3:38PM

I blame society.

Seriously, look at the comments towards the guy's show, especially when it premiered.

NintendoFanbot @ Apr 18th 2007 3:39PM

Forgot to add that I'm not being THAT serious, but at the same time trying to be practical.

Prof_Chaos @ Apr 18th 2007 3:41PM

This is pretty disturbing news and brutally timed. I've said it before there is no link between violent games and real world violence. What there is is a link between socially outcast people with violent tendencies and the types of games they are likely to play. If his first reaction to being dumped after 3 dates is to kill people, he's a fucking psycho. Would it surprise you if a violent sociopath enjoyed games where he could enact violent tendencies without consequences? Of course not. But that doesn't mean that a well-balanced gamer can't sit down with GTA or whatever and not be affected at all.

Let's just face it, some people are just scary and dangerous and it has nothing to do with what they read, play or listen to.

Mrfreezie @ Apr 18th 2007 3:44PM

Great, just great. Good ****ing job, andrew. You just gave JT and the rest of the media the bridge to link Virginia Tech to video games.

When the media gets a hold of this, that's it. We're finished. That's it.

JodyAnthony @ Apr 18th 2007 3:46PM

my favorite line about violent video games has always been "Video games don't make me a violent person, and I'll kill anyone that says otherwise"

TWEEDHEAD @ Apr 18th 2007 3:48PM

"Rosenblum was picked up by Needham police officers at his parents’ Wildwood Drive home "

police snagged him in the basement of his parents house..

suspicious of his computer the police have already searched through and found that he is also the ever so annoying "1st" poster on every videogame website and also he has a fetish for mcdonald dollar value meal goodies as 1000's of pictures of him were found with select mcdonald doller value menu goods in "erotic" poses.

dvdguy @ Apr 18th 2007 3:51PM

Games aren't the problem.

What's the common thread in all these kinds of incidents?

Women.

But no one is trying to ban women now are they?

It's mental instability combined with not being able to interact properly with the opposite sex.

Zoot Suit Jedi @ Apr 18th 2007 3:54PM

Normal folks don't act this way. There is obviously something wrong with the individual before they go postal. Whether or not v-games are a mental trigger is irrelevant; as hamsters could be just as much of a trigger for such violence. Are we to demand restrictions on the distribution of furry animals to people?

Maybe this kid was just an A-hole.

The history of the world is plagued with numerous acts of senseless violence and long before the era of videogames was even a twinkle in Ralph Baer's eye.

James @ Apr 18th 2007 5:35PM

What does the media think anti-social crazed wackos do? They have no life outside of work so they play video games. A lot of people play video games and I'm sure the number of people that have no social life that play video games is higher than average. There is no real science here just common sense.

The media are completely ignorant and only report news from an uneducated standpoint and people lap it up. It doesn't take a genius to realize that certain lifestyles are attracted to certain things. Career criminals are attracted to guns, drugs, adrenalin etc. Some guy just didn't pick up a gun one day and decide he wanted to be a criminal. I'm not saying games/movies have no effect on people but they aren't the root of the problem.

hyzer @ Apr 18th 2007 4:00PM

"Maybe I'm just ignorant, but this didn't happen in the 60's, 70's or 80's, with the exception of the Texas Clock Tower massacre back in the 60's. I'm sure people brought guns to school, but these kind of horrible mass killings?"

Yes, you are just ignorant. The form of violence has simply changed, as you would expect in any evolving society.

1921 - Tulsa Race Riots. A 2,000 strong white mob, when unable to lynch a black man in jail, went on a rampage burning down black owned businesses and homes, and killing anywhere from 39-300 black residents (depending on the source you use).

That's just one example, but killing happened all the time. Spanish Inquisition for example. Violence and crime in America is actually down, but the type of violence that occurs is definitely sensationalized, and it can be so shocking to us that it only seems like things have changed.

Everyone thinks kids were nicer and toys were better when they were younger. Its just not the case.

32_Footsteps @ Apr 18th 2007 3:57PM

"But no one is trying to ban women now are they?"

They already tried that when they wrote the Constitution, but the 19th Amendment finally reversed that.

All jokes aside, the more general point stands importantly - often, romance leads to these kinds of crazy actions. But nobody wants to address that.

Jason @ Apr 18th 2007 3:59PM

Even if it was a fact that all killers played video games, that doesn't mean all video gamers are killers. Correlation does not equal causation.

kay @ Apr 18th 2007 4:04PM

people that say video games cause this sort of violence don't understand that just because two things occur together doesn't mean you can determine causality.

most serial killers have read the bible. quick, ban the bible?

people like JT that say people train with video games also have a weak argument. i've played lots of games but i dont know a thing about how to load and fire a gun to hit the side of the barn. a more effective training ground would be paintball or *gasp* a shooting gallery!!!

even the argument for desensitization is lacking. these nutjobs are already desensitized by various other real world, life changing events. either daddy didnt love them enough or he loved them too much (if u catch my drift). desensitization also comes from the perception that the world doesn't care about them and they dont matter. it comes from being treated or at least perceiving that they are being treated as less than human. or they may just be plain nuts and desensitized from the word go.

in fact, i would rather a psychotic individual have games to act out his psychotic fantasies rather than bring them to the real world. in the real world, you dont start with 3 lives - you get one (unless, of course, you believe in reincarnation).

If what is alleged by this ex gf is true, this kid is sick. Its one thing to feel the hurt and rage of rejection, its another to type up an email detailing how you would perform multiple homocide and suicide - especially now.

Flit @ Apr 18th 2007 4:03PM

As many have said, Video games aren't the problem, Mental Illness is.

Jason @ Apr 18th 2007 4:04PM

@#38 hyzer:

Public officials will also have you believe that we live in an age of sin with all the teen pregnancy despite the fact that teen pregnancies are half of what they were in 1950.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/teenbrth.pdf

Flit @ Apr 18th 2007 4:07PM

"That's just one example, but killing happened all the time."

No Shit. Really?

It's estimated that 1/3 of the earth's population since the begging of time has been killed by another human.

School shootings, where young kids take guns to school and kill classmates, are New within the last 15-20 years.

GoonieGooGoo @ Apr 18th 2007 4:10PM

@samfish

Society has changed....but IMO the single most significant change that affects the upcoming generations....is the changes in parenting styles (or lack thereof for some) and family structure.

I still think its sad that you have to get a license to drive but don't need to get one to have a child. Let's be honest....there's a reason 50% of the country doesn't know who the vice president is...and a reason the US is falling behind in educational test scores.

It's amazing to watch how many parents flick on the TV to keep their children occupied or have DVD Players in the car, etc. Do these parents even bother to activate their V-Chip?? Do they even bother to follow the ratings guides by the ESRB on video games?? No.

Now don't get me wrong....there are good parents....but walk to any mall and you'll see alot examples of bad than good.

I applaud my parents looking back on the discipline they managed with 4 kids and stressing education, manners, respect for others and the benefit of hard work above everything.....rather than trying to keep up with the Joneses.

With an increase in ADHD, child obesity, etc., I definitely worry for the future.

I hope you have all read about the idea that due to modern technology & medicine....that DARWIN's law in fact is no longer in effect.

In that......its not the superior behavior/intelligence/organism being prosperous due to natural selection weeding out the unsuited....but in fact the inferior behavior/genes/organism/behavior being not only surviving but being more productive and fruitful.

Think about it....just by pure statistical probability.....which is going to have more offspring or impregnate more women......the bookish intelligent Nobel Peace Prize Scientist trying to cure cancer and ingraining himself in his research or the dumb Biff meatball guy whose sole purpose every night is to get laid and doesn't use a condom??

Austin @ Apr 18th 2007 4:14PM

"the worst possible time for anything video game related being tied into a Google search"

And yet you wrote the article?

ill trooper @ Apr 18th 2007 4:15PM

38. "Maybe I'm just ignorant, but this didn't happen in the 60's, 70's or 80's, with the exception of the Texas Clock Tower massacre back in the 60's. I'm sure people brought guns to school, but these kind of horrible mass killings?"

This stuff has been going on since the begining of time, but since you've pinpoint recent decades, please remember:

- 1969 Charles Manson's 'Helter Skelter' killings
- 1978 Jonestown Massacre
- 1984 McDonald's Killing in San Ysidro, San Diego

hyzer @ Apr 18th 2007 4:18PM

#42

Any evidence to support any statement you made? There are more gun deaths in America because we have more guns. What does that have to do with this discussion? The statement I responded to was saying that this kind of thing didn't happen in the past. That's simply not true.

To argue that v-games cause kids to be more violent or more likely to kill people with guns has been proven wrong in multiple studies. The argument that something changed recently in our society is also disproven.

How people kill people has changed over time. The fact that people kill people hasn't changed.

Ken @ Apr 18th 2007 4:17PM

There is NO way someone would be THAT stupid to send an email like that. I don't care how stupid you are!!

It has to be some sort of setup against him. I don't know the guy, but I'm absolutely sure that the email was meant to hurt his reputation.

Who the fuck says: "It's gonna be VT all over again ... "??? Only someone who WANTS to get bad attention. Bad attention for him = fired. So obviously someone doesn't like this kid.