With E3 and the promise of dozens of news breaks around the corner, the 1UP team decided to take a moment to look back at the industry's history. In particular, they chose to remind us of the 11-year-old boy (not pictured right) whose criminal syndicate helped fund his arcade game addiction.
Police arrested the boy, who remains unnamed in the media, 28 years ago in Lake Wales, Florida for truancy. Upon further investigation, the arresting detective, Sergeant Melvin Waldron, found that the boy had several priors including charges for battery and petty theft. But it doesn't end there! Apparently he had spent several months stealing and reselling neighborhood bicycles with the explicit aim of funding his video game addiction.
Hit the jump for the admission and explanation of his crimes.
Explaining his addiction, the boy claimed, "I play the games every chance I get. I skip school so I can play the games. There's so much action. They're fun. I love them."
"I know it's not right to steal, but when you get hooked on something you don't stop," he told the Associated Press in an interview.
Although he often worked alone, the boy allegedly enlisted the help of other local juveniles. His crime ring included petty thieves, burglars, and KGB assassins (just kidding about the last one).
Most interesting is the fact that this young criminal — nearly 40 years old by now — may have presented the industry with its first case of video game-fueled violence [via 1UP]!