One of Norway's most notorious killers is threatening a hunger strike if his PS2 is not upgraded to a PS3 according to a report by Kotaku.
In 2011 Anders Behring Breivik killed eight people in a bombing in Oslo, then went on to end 69 more lives when he attacked a Workers' Youth League (AUF) camp with a .223-caliber Ruger Mini-14 semi-automatic carbine and a Glock, legally obtained in Norway with extended magazines for the rifle purchased from a United States supplier. The massacre was prompted by Breivik's deep-seated Islamophobia, a fear of Marxism and communism, hatred of feminism, and a desire to market his far-right manifesto. Under Norway's laws he received the maximum sentence of 21 years in prison with a possibility of additional five year sentences renewed if deemed a danger to society.
Norway's correctional system is extremely progressive, based more on the idea of rehabilitation than retribution. Loss of freedom is the only punishment, and cells have televisions, computers, showers and sanitation. Inmates have access to first class medical care, counseling, and job training in order to reintegrate them better into Norwegian society. It works, too. The recidivism rate in Norway is just 20 percent, a third of that of America.
The inmates apparently also have access to video games, but Breivik claims that his limited selection as opposed to that of the other inmates constitutes torture and is an attempt to push him into suicide. Other inmates, whom Breivik is kept away from, are allowed more adult games and seventh generations systems, while he is restricted to PS2 and titles like Rayman 2: Revolution.
After his arrest Breivik said he trained for his killings with Call of Duty.
I for one think that Breivik should get his PS3. Partly because of economics. There is no way that a used PS3 and a few games would cost more than a lawyer and a feeding tube. The second is ideological. If the Norwegian prison system is determined to try and teach Breivik something then I think the PS3 offers some very good titles that he might benefit from.
Journey: Breivik was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, a condition that preoccupies the subject with their own power, prestige, and vanity. You can see the extremity of his case in the fact that he killed 71 people to boost the popularity of his writings. Nothing can possibly be a better way around that fixation than a round of Journey. The whole purpose of the calm, uplifting experience is to contemplate your own smallness in the huge, towering mountain world filled with people questing towards enlightenment just like you. It's quite possibly the most Zen video game ever made, and the cyclical nature might do something to soothe the mind of the killer.
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