Should Manhunt/GTA/etc. be banned?

[MalaCloudy Black]

Manhunt on the other hand is just wrong, a horrible idea for a game. Way too dull and boring.

Fixed.

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Go watch Battle Royale for the 907th time and leave the gaming to the real men B)

[Kaney]

After reading Zero's post, I remembered something I read in a PS2 magazine a while back. The editor, writers, everyone involved in the magazine took the day off to make an experiment.

They got a 15 year old kid into the office, and spent hours letting him play GTA, Manhunt, Hitman etc, before taking him outside. Then, they did loads of different things, they gave him a sword and started insulting him to see his reaction, they left him alone in a car park next to an unlocked car with the keys inside, they even resorted to poking him with a stick, and the only reaction they got was awkwardness. The kid just stood there, doing nothing. The only time he got annoyed was when they poked him with the stick.

I know it was only a joke, but it proves to some extent that games don't do anything to normal balanced individuals. The kid had never played a PS2 before, he was always out with his mates or whatever, and they had him play games for about 6 hours. With no conclusive result, other than games do not = violence.

[Sam]

All of you seem to be missing why the games been banned.

The parents of the child that was killed want it banned.

Who cares what you think about the whole thing. What does it matter if you think these parents were stupid enough to let their child have the game. Who the hell are you to say that Manhunt has nothing to do with the death of this child?

The parents of the 17 year old have said they feel Manhunt was directly responsible for him killing a 14 year old boy.

Now if I was that 14 year old boys parents I would want that game burnt and erased form the bloody planet as because of it they have lost their child. They'll never get him back. All due to a fucking stupid computer game.

So the kid is thick and felt he could do what he had seen in the game. Why the fuck are computer games feeling the need to put in such high violence. They dont need it. Games like Zelda, Final Fantasy, Fifas they get huge sales and they dont show people graphically having their heads chopped off. Theres no need for it at all and well I totally think it should be banned. In respect for the kid more than anything else because his lifes been cut short now.

I'm also pretty damn sure if your child had been murdered due to the guy playing a video game you would want it got rid of.

And yes im well aware you would want revenge on the murderer.

Edited July 30, 2004 by Sam

[MalaCloudy Black]

All of you seem to be missing why the games been banned.

The parents of the child that was killed want it banned.

Who cares what you think about the whole thing. What does it matter if you think these parents were stupid enough to let their child have the game. Who the hell are you to say that Manhunt has nothing to do with the death of this child?

The parents of the 17 year old have said they feel Manhunt was directly responsible for him killing a 14 year old boy.

Now if I was that 14 year old boys parents I would want that game burnt and erased form the bloody planet as because of it they have lost their child. They'll never get him back. All due to a fucking stupid computer game.

So the kid is thick and felt he could do what he had seen in the game. Why the fuck are computer games feeling the need to put in such high violence. They dont need it. Games like Zelda, Final Fantasy, Fifas they get huge sales and they dont show people graphically having their heads chopped off. Theres no need for it at all and well I totally think it should be banned. In respect for the kid more than anything else because his lifes been cut short now.

I'm also pretty damn sure if your child had been murdered due to the guy playing a video game you would want it got rid of.

And yes im well aware you would want revenge on the murderer.

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I think you might be missing the point. This 17 year old kid was ALREADY fucked in the head, and if it wasn't Manhunt he would've been playing something else and chances are he STILL would have murdered the kid.

[fineintent]

I play violent video games in the mold of Manhunt and GTA, I watch Kung-Fu movies, I watch horror movies, I listen to metal and rap music. I would never consider killing someone else, and only ever act violently when I have no other choice - ie self defense.

If you're crazy enough to kill someone, no amount of games can influence you. Where were the kids fucking parents to teach him what's right and what's wrong? There are millions of people who, like me, act responsibly despite watching or playing violent movies and games.

The whole Manhunt, Marilyn Manson, Eminem influencing children thing really takes the blame away from the sick fuck who committed the act. It's a way of distancing yourself from what you did - basically it's a complete cop out. I mean people from the UK will remember the whole Jamie Bulger incident, and the kids involved blamed the Child's Play series for their actions. I feel the whole thing is amazingly stupid and beyond belief. The kids who commit these kind of acts can have really shitty homelifes and may have been raised badly but, rather than focus on that, people prefer to blame games and movies.

[zero]

Grand Theft Auto = You're in the mafia/yakuza/whatever, but if you follow the missions ONLY you only kill other mafia members, or people who are doing wrong etc.

Hitman series = Yes, you are death for hire, but you're also killing men who are doing wrong. It's up to you whether or not to kill innocents, which I admit is good for stress sometimes 

Manhunt = You kill. On film. The story shows that you're forced to, but still. The way of killing are sadistic etc.

GTA - What about the mission "Waste The Wife?" Only thing the wife did wrong was cheat on her husband and now you have to go kill her. Not to mention it's virtually impossible to not kill any innocents in the game.

Manhunt - There is not a single innocent in this game. Everyone is a sick and twisted individual taking part in a sadistic game.

I'm also pretty damn sure if your child had been murdered due to the guy playing a video game you would want it got rid of.

No, I wouldn't because I have enough sense to blame the person for their actions. And I know no amount of fictional violence is going to make someone do something like this. MANHUNT IS NOT REAL. The murderer is 17 years old, that's pretty damn close to a legal adult, he knows Manhunt is real, he's just a sick bastard. When are we going to stop letting Lawyers use the video game/entertainment defense? The only reason they use it is to build their career, because if they win they'll go down as the lawyer who single-handedly dismantled video games. Say bye bye to your PS2, your XBox, say bye bye to violent movies, no more Marilyn Manson or Eminem in your record stores. We cannot let these assholes take our entertainment away based off of what ONE person does wrong.

[Emperor Fuckshit]

All of you seem to be missing why the games been banned.

The parents of the child that was killed want it banned.

Who cares what you think about the whole thing. What does it matter if you think these parents were stupid enough to let their child have the game. Who the hell are you to say that Manhunt has nothing to do with the death of this child?

The parents of the 17 year old have said they feel Manhunt was directly responsible for him killing a 14 year old boy.

Now if I was that 14 year old boys parents I would want that game burnt and erased form the bloody planet as because of it they have lost their child. They'll never get him back. All due to a fucking stupid computer game.

So the kid is thick and felt he could do what he had seen in the game. Why the fuck are computer games feeling the need to put in such high violence. They dont need it. Games like Zelda, Final Fantasy, Fifas they get huge sales and they dont show people graphically having their heads chopped off. Theres no need for it at all and well I totally think it should be banned. In respect for the kid more than anything else because his lifes been cut short now.

I'm also pretty damn sure if your child had been murdered due to the guy playing a video game you would want it got rid of.

And yes im well aware you would want revenge on the murderer.

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1) There's no direct correlation that can be proven between the game and the murder. Maybe the killer mimicked what he had seen in the game, but for someone to do that, they'd already have to be pretty fucked in the head.

Banning the game won't solve that.

2) If you're the parents of the victim then you're biased. Sorry their son died and everything, but it really isn't up to them. Of course they want the game banned -- in their minds it was directly responsible for the death of their son.

But I don't believe that to be the case.

3) Zelda and FIFA sell well without decapitation, huh? Well, one's an RPG and one's a football game. What the hell do you expect?

4)

What does it matter if you think these parents were stupid enough to let their child have the game.

It's an important point. Of course it matters.

[lanky316]

The stupidest part of this whole story is that the murderer was a drug addict who was aiming to mug his "friend" when things started to go wrong it became like a scene from the game Manhunt. The murderers own words for god sake (albeit paraphrased slightly as I don't have the paper with me...)

[Xand]

Okay, how many people here have played/watched films that have been over your age rating?

How many parents believe that you are mature enough to not go and massacre somebody?

How many people here WILL go and massacre someone?

[apsham]

GTA - What about the mission "Waste The Wife?"  Only thing the wife did wrong was cheat on her husband and now you have to go kill her.  Not to mention it's virtually impossible to not kill any innocents in the game.

Granted there's a couple of missions in there like that, but the one you mentioned is an optional mission, a series on contract killings that you don't have to accept to further the main story. I know it's hard not to kill innocents, but still, fact is you don't HAVE to.

Manhunt - There is not a single innocent in this game.  Everyone is a sick and twisted individual taking part in a sadistic game.

You kill. And the more violent the kill, the more points you get.

[zero]

You kill. And the more violent the kill, the more points you get.

Yes, the more violent kill on the sick twisted bastards toying with a man's life. These people are much worse than what you kill in GTA. But more important... it's not real.

[apsham]

Yes, the more violent kill on the sick twisted bastards toying with a man's life.  These people are much worse than what you kill in GTA.  But more important... it's not real.

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I'm not arguing the game be banned, i'm arguing that GTA is less violent. It doesn't matter that it's not real, i'm talking about the principles behind the games themself.

[Asuka's Gonna Kill You]

Look its simple, you would HAVE to be already mentally ill to kill someone, sorry but its true. I don't sit there and play GTA, then go create my own Mafia and kill people. I don't sit there and play Manhunt and then go suffacate someone with a bag, because I have no mental illness and I know whats right or wrong. If your not mentally ill, you'll know that killing over a game is not right. You simply wouldn't do it. People who kill over video games already have something wrong with them, simple as.

Like banning a game will do any good anyway when three quatres of the people who have a PS2 have it chipped. They can just get the games without going and buying them from video game stores. They have no right to ban any games to be quite honest.

[stokeriño]

What does it matter if you think these parents were stupid enough to let their child have the game.

"A young child was near-fatally wounded after a fellow toddler accidently stabbed him, playing with a kitchen knife that he had found lying around.

Moves have since been made by official bodies to ban sharp knives from residential households.

Arguments that it was the parents' fault for leaving the deadly implement within reach of the child have been disregarded as irrelevant to the case."

[TMM]

I heard about this on the TV the other day and immedietly thought to myself 'sorry that you lost your kid, but quite frankly; it's your own fault'.

If you're STUPID enough to buy your 14-year old kid an 18-rated game, then it's your fault and nobody elses. Basically, I'm gonna echo pretty much everyone elses statements.

[DMN in the House]

Manhunt rocked for like the first few times I played it, but after awhile, it sucked. Just killing got boring.

They should ban it for not having anything but violence, with no story to keep you playing, not because its just violent.

[apsham]

I heard about this on the TV the other day and immedietly thought to myself 'sorry that you lost your kid, but quite frankly; it's your own fault'.

If you're STUPID enough to buy your 14-year old kid an 18-rated game, then it's your fault and nobody elses. Basically, I'm gonna echo pretty much everyone elses statements.

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Well, the kid could've bought it on his own, of course. And as echoed before, the game probably didn't do it. The kid was probably already fucked in the head.

[fineintent]

The kid was probably already fucked in the head.

No, it can't be that. It's stupid.

Blame the evil games companies for warping his poor innocent mind. [/daily mail]

[Benji]

The boy in question, Stefan, was my friend, so I've got a bit more of an involvement in this murder than anyone here I'd assume. He was a cool kid and I hope that fucking cock sucker who killed him is... well you know where I'm going with that.

But I think it's stupid to blame computer games. They have age certificates, it's the parents responsibility to make sure kids don't get their hands on it, I wish they'd take the blame for what they do instead of pointing fingers. Parents are fucking lazy these days, they should look after their kids and entertain them rather than just have them watch TV and play computer games, they should take an interest in what their child does. Basically all parents are a less extreme version of Sheila Broslovski from South Park The Movie.

Edited August 1, 2004 by El Benjito

[Clawson]

All of you seem to be missing why the games been banned.

The parents of the child that was killed want it banned.

Who cares what you think about the whole thing. What does it matter if you think these parents were stupid enough to let their child have the game. Who the hell are you to say that Manhunt has nothing to do with the death of this child?

I think everybody cares what we think about the whole thing since we are the ones that play this and we don't want it banned because of some fucktard.

The parents of the 17 year old have said they feel Manhunt was directly responsible for him killing a 14 year old boy.

That's because they are too big of pussies to admit that they are shitty parents.

Now if I was that 14 year old boys parents I would want that game burnt and erased form the bloody planet as because of it they have lost their child. They'll never get him back. All due to a fucking stupid computer game.

And who are you to say that it was all due to a fucking stupid computer game?

So the kid is thick and felt he could do what he had seen in the game. Why the fuck are computer games feeling the need to put in such high violence. They dont need it. Games like Zelda, Final Fantasy, Fifas they get huge sales and they dont show people graphically having their heads chopped off. Theres no need for it at all and well I totally think it should be banned. In respect for the kid more than anything else because his lifes been cut short now.

You kill in Zelda and Final Fantasy. You tackle people in Fifa. They both have violence so don't you think we should ban them too?

I'm also pretty damn sure if your child had been murdered due to the guy playing a video game you would want it got rid of.

And yes im well aware you would want revenge on the murderer.

No, I wouldn't want to get rid of it, I'd call out the guy's parents and beat the shit out of them for being shitty parents.

Go back to playing Yu-Gi-Oh.