Is "video game rage" real? Apparently, it is on Long Island, New York. A 45-year-old man is charged with threatening an 11-year-old boy after losing at the game Fortnite.

Police say Michael Aliperti got so upset after losing to the middle schooler in a battle royale he threatened to come to the boy's house and kill him.

The message he sent through x-box read "I am going to find you with a gun. You dead. I will come to your house tonight and "f" your world up."

Aliperti's family says he's going through a nasty divorce. Police say that doesn't matter. He's been charged with second degree aggravated harassment and threatening a child.

After hearing what happened, the school the boy attends on Long Island has decided to bring in extra security because they consider the threat to be "very real."

Stories like this make me scratch my head.

Not being a gamer, it's hard for me to comprehend how someone can get so worked up over an online video game to where they'll actually threaten someone with bodily harm.

Granted, when I was growing up, video games were still several years away. Still, I never remember anyone threatening anyone else over a game of kickball or dodgeball.

As my grandpa used to say when he'd hear a story as outrageous as this, "Oh, how times have changed - times ain't what they used to be."

Source: ABC Radio News


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