Joystiq

As any crime beat reporter will tell you, police reports aren't always the most precise source of information about a crime. Take this opening paragraph from The Morning Call, which they say was taken directly from police reports, "The boy wanted his father to look at his Xbox 360 video game system. The father didn't want to. An argument ensued. The boy handed his father a rifle. Shoot me, he said. So the father did." ... Yep. That makes perfect sense. The dad wouldn't look at the 360, the 17-year-old (who's now recovering from a head wound) asked dad to shoot him, dad did. Of course.

Now, if the first sentence ended with "which was displaying three flashing red lights," this might be a bit easier to swallow. A despondent kid, a parent knowing they're about to shell out another $350, it adds up. But as it stands, we're just not getting it. In the interest of full disclosure, we should mention that the dad's ex-wife said of the incident, ''he did the shooting but it was an accidental thing that took place.''

Though we're but a humble video game blog, we feel we can pretty confidently hand out some parenting advice here. Parents, we know it seems like a pretty good way to show your kids you mean business, but you probably shouldn't point a gun at their heads. You know, just on principle.