Manhunt game withdrawn from UK Store

[-Ash- 0]

From BBC News:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/3936597.stm

[Ironsight 1]

Blame the game!

What has the game to do with it, normal people know the difference between a game and reality.

Instead of just saying the kid is a psycho, blame the game.

[red oct 2]

and that's why we have the ESRB. seriously though, what ever happened to parental respibility?

[DracoPaladore 0]

It went out with baby sitting. Now all you need is a computer or console, and you don't have to worry about a thing!

But for real, I'm not overall surprised. Its a brutal game from what I saw playing on a TV in the store.

Wasn't on the TV long when a ten year old choked a man to death with a plastic bag or something like that.

[theavonlady 2]

Blame the game!

What has the game to do with it, normal people know the difference between a game and reality.

Instead of just saying the kid is a psycho, blame the game.

If you'll read the article, you'll see that some experts say there is a connection.

Furthermore, just as you don't approve of a game's censorship, you should also be no less tollerant of a store to decide on their onw whether they want to continue selling such products or not.

[-Ash- 0]

The thing is... We've had this since the days of Doom...

I play Operation Flashpoint regularly but it doesn't mean I'm going to go out and kill loads of Russians does it?

I watch a lot of military films does that mean I want to kill Germans,etc?

I watch the news.. Do I want to go and become a suicide bomber?

Of course not... It's down to the individual..

[red oct 2]

i agree that children will mimic what they see or hear in the media, but its not the media's responsibility in making sure children don't bring a gun to school nor is it the governments. my parents never let me watch any violent movies when i was little. sometimes i could watch something if they were there w/ to cover my eyes or ears when ever something bad would happen as i was growing up, if a kid commited a crime, the parents would be held responisble for their kids behaviour. but i guess today anybody can blame the next person.

[Ironsight 1]

@ July 29 2004,16:35)]The thing is... We've had this since the days of Doom...

I play Operation Flashpoint regularly but it doesn't mean I'm going to go out and kill loads of Russians does it?

I watch a lot of military films does that mean I want to kill Germans,etc?

I watch the news.. Do I want to go and become a suicide bomber?

Of course not...   It's down to the individual..

Agree with Ash:

It's down to the individual

[theavonlady 2]

@ July 29 2004,16:35)]The thing is... We've had this since the days of Doom...

I play Operation Flashpoint regularly but it doesn't mean I'm going to go out and kill loads of Russians does it?

I watch a lot of military films does that mean I want to kill Germans,etc?

I watch the news.. Do I want to go and become a suicide bomber?

Of course not...   It's down to the individual..

Agree with Ash:

It's down to the individual

Let's take an extreme example.

Why not remove the minimum age limits on alchoholic consumption?

The answer is simple. People, children in particular, are not necessarily mature enough to make a decision on the subject and, if allowed, may endanger themselves and others by being allowed to do so.

This is also true about violent content media. Though the dangers and the risks are nowhere near that of alchohol consuption by minors, there is a potential negative effect here that most likely increases as ages decreases.

Where to draw the lines and how those lines should be put into effect is very important but there are lines. Simply saying it's up to the individual without any limitations is grossly irresponsible, no less than the point brought up earlier about whatever happened to parental responsibility.

[Gollum1 0]

How players UNDER the minimum age react to this game should have absolutely nothing to do with selling it or not selling it.

Quote[/b] ]Immediately after the hearing she said: "I can't believe that this sort of material is allowed in a society where anarchy is not that far removed.

Still from Manhunt

Manhunt should only be sold to people aged 18 and over

"It should not be available and it should not be available to young people."

What your underage son plays is YOUR responsibility.

[EiZei 0]

Well, if the kid was pretty fucked up already he might have bought the game because of his fucked-upnedness, not vice versa.

[red oct 2]

on one hand i dont want have a system as crazy as what Germany as, but i also agree w/ avon that its irresponsible for anybody to let a young kid play a game like Manhunt. believe me i've played Manhunt and its currently the most violent game out there. who would let there kid play that kind of game w/out at least some kind of supervision is beyond me. retail stores in the U.S. are getting into the habbit of not selling such games to minors unless theres a parent w/ them. when it comes to the mind of some kid who hasn't matured, the whole free speech no censorship thing doesn't hold much ground.

[Gordy 0]

@ July 29 2004,16:35)]The thing is... We've had this since the days of Doom...

I play Operation Flashpoint regularly but it doesn't mean I'm going to go out and kill loads of Russians does it?

I watch a lot of military films does that mean I want to kill Germans,etc?

I watch the news.. Do I want to go and become a suicide bomber?

Of course not...   It's down to the individual..

Agree with Ash:

It's down to the individual

Let's take an extreme example.

Why not remove the minimum age limits on alchoholic consumption?

The answer is simple. People, children in particular, are not necessarily mature enough to make a decision on the subject and, if allowed, may endanger themselves and others by being allowed to do so.

This is also true about violent content media. Though the dangers and the risks are nowhere near that of alchohol consuption by minors, there is a potential negative effect here that most likely increases as ages decreases.

Where to draw the lines and how those lines should be put into effect is very important but there are lines. Simply saying it's up to the individual without any limitations is grossly irresponsible, no less than the point brought up earlier about whatever happened to parental responsibility.

Come on TheAVonLady,

Who is to decide if you are mature enough? those people who cannot make a mature decisions - Polititians?

There is a significant scientific study on game and movie violence influence on individuals.

It consisted of two groups of children:

1. watched only violent content (movies, games)

2. watched only freindly content (Teletubbies, for example)

The outcome:

The scientists proved that group that watched violent content were less prone to violent behaviour. The content became a agression valve that helped them to release it in non-violent way.

Second group, came quite the opposite.

Explanation:

In every individual there grows a certain amount of anger that needs to released. It is connected to everyday life: work, school, being accepted or rejected by a community - in other words - our emotions. Every individual should have a emergency valve that can safely release this anger. So people, paint, go to gym, go to a pub, drink alcohol, go to the shooting range or just simply watch violent movies and play violent games.

People that have problems to cope with the reality can do unaccepable things. It happened long before we had games and movies and will happen.

I played Manhunt. I found this game extremly boring and unrealistic. I would think that Hitman be more of a violent game. I would like to remind you also that there was many incidents with children killing other people, including parents. There never was a clear explanation of the reason. examples:

- because my mom wouldn't let me to to party.

- they forbid me to watch tv.

- they laughed at me.

Remember that people kill not games, movies, guns. In case of that kid they should make the parents responsible as this is up to them to make a call if the kid's is crazy. They didn't and someone died. It happens everywhere. It used to be a metal music that was supposed to be satanistic. Before that was Punk music. Before that was rock music. Even BEatles were once spit at for being teenage spoilers. Befre that was Tango dance. We can go on with this for ages.

So, please stop this witch hunt, ok. The kid would do that sooner or later. HE WOULD KILL SOMEONE NO MATTER WHAT.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

Gordy's right.

As well as that; if a child plays a game rated too old for him/ her, whose fault is that? The game companies?

NO, its the lazy, irresponsible PARENTS fault.

All this is is an excuse for shitty parenting.

[Frisbee 0]

My kids don't listen to me! I think my kids are doing drugs! My kids hang around with bad friends! My kids shoot people with my husband's .22 rifle!

Is this something you think everyday? Don't think it's your fault? Why you couldn't be more correct! It's all the fault of the videogames your children are playing!

Why should you waste valuable time in front of your TV to accompany your children to see if they buy suitable games?

The stores, or the game makers should be responsible, yeah!

[/sarcasm]

Let's ban Slipknot and Marylin Manson, they're dangerous, they lead our children down a path of godlessness and savagery! Let's ban all violent films, cause, you know, violence doesn't exist in the real world. And thos ghastly videogames, should be banned altogether.

Um...no. Simple solution, go to ye ol' video game shoppe and look what your kid wants to buy, ask info, look at labels, ask to play it a bit and then decide if your child is mature enough.

Seriously, go blame Manchester United when you child knocks out a window while playing soccer why don't you?

My respect and sympathies for the parents of the other kid, that had to suffer because the ill-parenting of others.

[Baron Hurlothrumbo IIX 0]

And the more sensible side of the story, from another BBC source

Experts have warned against a knee-jerk reaction after the parents of a murdered teenager blamed his killer's obsession with a violent video game.

[Pathy 0]

Well to be honest, i also think its a result of bad parenting. A young kid cant walk into a store and buy an 18 rated game. The parents must have known. Certainly MY mum never missed anything

The game sounds pretty moronic anyway, but the principle is the important bit. When a game is rated at a certain level, its the responsibility of the parents to decide whether or not thier kid should have it.

Removing the game from stores is just going to set some stupid precedent which basically undermines the rating system. I mean, whats the point of rating games, if your going to ban them even if they are rated highly, just INCASE it falls into a childs hands? No, instead keep the rating system and direct the blame where it should go, negligent parenting.

As to whether the game influenced this kid or not....Who knows...he could have picked the idea up from a film or another game...

The bottom line is it shouldnt matter. The ratings system, when adhered to, should offer adequate protection, and if its not adhered to, then its the fault of the parents who failed to protect thier child from such material.

Phew, an essay.....

[billybob2002 0]

Bah, that game was not all that good to start with....

[quicksand 0]

As far as I know alot more similar cases existed in United States of America related to Grand Theft Auto and other games.

What occours to me as strange is that in my country there is absolutley no control regarded to highly violent games that are even bought to youths as young as eight years old by their parents.

Though this wound seem as a highly dangerous situation there has never been a similar incident in Romania where children were influenced by video games to comit acts of violence or to that extent in Eastern Europe.

So where lies the difrence?Is it because in Eastern Europe children are confrunted to a brutal reality from a very fragile age and are not easily subjected to superficial influences.

Probably not as until now there are mostly isolated cases in UK and USA but it strikes me odd to hear atleast once a year students entering school blazing guns on a shooting spree in the latter country raising questions about the roots of such acts.

[Pathy 0]

Probably because in Eastern Europe the parents give a shit? Whereas here in the UK and i guess in the USA you see alot of single parents ect, who dont have time or dont make the time to look after thier children properly. As far as i know, this is much less of a problem in Eastern Europe. Unless someone would like to correct me.

Also, we live in a culture where guns and crime are often glorified in film and TV....carrying a gun becomes a STATUS SYMBOL....how ridiculous is that.....living in a country that doesnt speak English as its main language, maybe you get away with it.

I dont know, i havent researched this (you may have guessed), i am just thinking things aloud.

[quicksand 0]

Pathy you are mostly right.Parents here see in children their hope for a better future to make right all that went wrong in their miserable youth so neglection is not as mainstream as it might be in UK,also once again oposed to your country divorce is mostly seen as a privilage for the ritch and the most unwanted resort a familly could go through.

It just struked me that most likely the fact that games are voice acted in your natal language makes the message all the more strong for children subjected to it from both television and games.

[Gordy 0]

Probably because in Eastern Europe the parents give a shit? Whereas here in the UK and i guess in the USA you see alot of single parents ect, who dont have time or dont make the time to look after thier children properly. As far as i know, this is much less of a problem in Eastern Europe. Unless someone would like to correct me.

Also, we live in a culture where guns and crime are often glorified in film and TV....carrying a gun becomes a STATUS SYMBOL....how ridiculous is that.....living in a country that doesnt speak English as its main language, maybe you get away with it.

I dont know, i havent researched this  (you may have guessed), i am just thinking things aloud.

I can correct u about it. There is no difference in way the children are raised here in the western Europe. I know only fu...d up families, rich, poor, divorced, u name it.

Recenlty, here in Poland, two strange guys killed a student girl to celebrate the birthday of one of them. Those guys met at the train station for the first time and voila.

[quicksand 0]

Gordy and in Romania a man woked up and felt his entire familly was posesed by the devil and killed every single one of them admiting the police in disturbing detail and claiming he now feels

released.

But we were talking about violence related to video games and television that it`s viertually inexistent in Eastern Europe as far as I know.

And to my shame I forgot that Eastern Europe and especially my country has an abnormal procent of parents abandoning infants at birth,prostituting their children across states obigating them to a life of begging so forget what I said about parents taking better care of their children I was probably being biased of subjective cases I witnessed.

[DracoPaladore 0]

Well to be honest, i also think its a result of bad parenting. A young kid cant walk into a store and buy an 18 rated game. The parents must have known. Certainly MY mum never missed anything  

Heh...

*cough*

Yeah, well, depending on how old you are, most store clerks don't care. The other day when I bought Terminator 2, guy asked if I was 18.

He let me go.

[Pathy 0]

Well i'm 18 so it doesn't matter to me