Manhunt

[moko]

A 17 year-old in the U.K. was convicted of the gruesome cold-bloodedmurder of a 14 year Stefan Pakerah using a hammer and a knife.The boy was virtually addicted to Manhunt,the computer game banned in N.Z.So what are your views,anyone thinking the N.Z. govt were guilty of over-reacting changed there mind.Who`s to blame,the game company,the boy`s parents for letting him play a game clearly marked "18",or is it a clear case of someone trying to shift personal responsibility when they`d probably have killed someone at some point in their life game or no game given their personality?Most shops here now have pulled it of their own accord,no doubt there are those now who "must have" what the controversy is all about and it`ll be sold at a premium on Ebay e.t.c.
I think someone like that will eventually kill anyway,bear in mind he lured Stefan deliberately to his death,and if the game hadn`t triggered him off something else eventually would have(my opinion for what it`s worth).So has the emphasis on violent films,games,t.v. gone too far?

[Devil]

Its the 17 year olds fault for being a class A nutjob.
Anyone at 17 (barring mental handicaps) knows whats right and wrong.
He should be strung up by the balls.
A few questions would need to be asked of the parents about his behaviour beforehand.

[Darryboy]

I've actually got the game.
It is quite gruesome but it wouldn't make you want to go kill someone.

It's hard to say without knowing the kid or his upbringing but if I had to have an opinion I would say it was a case of poor upbringing/surroundings.

My little bro played the game heaps when he was 17 and he's fine

[toads]

I have to agree with devil on this one, my kids all play and watch rated stuff, I know they don't equate what they play on computer with real life, in fact my triplets aged 10 all play grand theft auto 3 which is really gross at times, in a quirky sort of way, I asked my kids what their thoughts were about it, and here's what William said, " get real Mum, this is a computer game, it's not real life, and what's great about it is I can cheat, and get lots of money and clock the game".
He sees it as a game only, my kids all have pets which they cherish and care for, they have lots of other things they do as well as watch tv and play computer games and I feel this is the key, gratuitous violence is quite another thing, this 17 year old is definately mentally disturbed for whatever reason.

[Drunken Monkey]

I think someone like that will eventually kill anyway,bear in mind he lured Stefan deliberately to his death,and if the game hadn`t triggered him off something else eventually would have(my opinion for what it`s worth).So has the emphasis on violent films,games,t.v. gone too far?

Not so much gone too far, I think there's always been a 'blame something in popular teen culture'. It was rock'n'roll in the 50's/60's that was the root of all evil, metal in the 70'/early 80's and violence on TV in the late 80's/early 90's (might be a bit off with my time periods, but you get the gist) and violent games today. Disturbed teens are disturbed teens, no matter what the popular culture is at the time. Conservatives react to these media as they're easily labelled and identified. Plus it serves their own goals of being able to live quietly in a disgustingly sanitised and conformist nuclear family society. Little do they realise it is that regimented 'coporate slave' lifestyle that the disturbed teen doesn't cope well with fitting in to.

[James Deuce]

I've done a far bit of research in this particular field and if you want to link a killing to a computer game, it has been fairly easy for the last decade to take a look at a juvenile killer's hobbies and link it to an all consuming computer game addiction. The horror.

Devil is totally right. It's that personal and parental responsibility thing again.

[Drunken Monkey]

PS - Is the game actually banned here? Can anyone confirm? I'm not into the game scene as much as I used to be, but we always got the uncensored versions of games like Carmageddon, GTA, etc..., I'd be surprised if a game was banned outright here. I think we can even get that game 'soccer hooligan' off the shelf here too... I thought games like that were only banned, censored in Australia (in this region of world, anyway).

Doom 3 is out next week. Can't wait...

[Devil]

PS - Is the game actually banned here? Can anyone confirm? I'm not into the game scene as much as I used to be, but we always got the uncensored versions of games like Carmageddon, GTA, etc..., I'd be surprised if a game was banned outright here. I think we can even get that game 'soccer hooligan' off the shelf here too... I thought games like that were only banned, censored in Australia (in this region of world, anyway).

Doom 3 is out next week. Can't wait...

As far as I was aware it's banned from sale in shops yes.

and yay for doom 3! although ill probably have to play it somewhere else because I think our GFX card will choke

[SpankMe]

Downloaded and played Manhunt, but got bored with it after about 3 levels as it just got repetitive. People are always looking to blame someone else for their own actions.

[riffer]

Downloaded and played Manhunt, but got bored with it after about 3 levels as it just got repetitive. People are always looking to blame someone else for their own actions.

Exactly. If it wasn't video games, it would be rock and roll, or Harry Potter books.

Another example of people refusing to take responsibility for their own actions.

Any psychiatric reviews of this maladjusted teenager?

Certain forms of mental illness ie schizophrenia start to manifest themselves in quite ugly ways around this age but msotly around 18-19.

[moko]

PS - Is the game actually banned here? Can anyone confirm? I'm not into the game scene as much as I used to be, but we always got the uncensored versions of games like Carmageddon, GTA, etc..., I'd be surprised if a game was banned outright here. I think we can even get that game 'soccer hooligan' off the shelf here too...

Our media reported that it was banned in N.Z. which bought back memories of seeing it on the news at the time it came out,checked Google and found a govt spokesman saying that even owning it was breaking the law.I had "Hooligans" and must admit I found it funny and no worse than stuff like Command and Conquer which is also about killing people.
We had a similar thing years ago when Jamie Bulger was killed by 2 animals who reckoned they`d been influenced by one of the Chucky films.As a couple of you have mentioned it boils down to someone who`s obviously dangerous in the first place,we had another kid sentenced this week for murder,just walked into school,walked up to another kid and stabbed him,no influences there at all,everyone who knows him,including his mother and sister,say he`s just a bad bastard.

[FzerozeroT]

the reason manhunt was banned is because the more gruesome the killing teh higher the score, encouraging youfs togo around strangling people with plastic shopping bags, compare to postal2, same points for any death weapons, bonus for pissing on the corpse, sounds right to me :/

[wkid_one]

Typical fucken system - blame everything but the perpetrator themselves. US blames everything from lax gun laws, to video games, to softdrink, to drugs etc - yet, seldom do the parents or child get blamed. At the end of the day - none of those things pulled the trigger.

NZ is getting the same......following the US and the UK - where the accused becomes a victim. Whether it be of peer pressure, drug use, mental torment, abuse as a child, neglect as a child, not enuf love as a child, too much love as a child, stress at school, stress in the workplace, stress at home, poor parenting - fuck there are a million more excuses that can be adequately used as 'defences/reasons'.

I am sorry - but I never think - poor widdle murderer, your daddy touched your pee pee as a wee boy....it is okay, doesn't matter you shot Mr Smith down the road while he got his milk out of his letter box - coz it was all your daddy's fault.

What a load of crap - fry the bastards. Now, being abused is real however, the next step is blaming your crime on a video game?? FUCK OFF.......

Should I kill someone, I think I will blame it in the paper cut I got in 4th form while trying to tear a page out of a book in the library!