Boy's murder linked to Rockstar's Manhunt, retailer drops title
by James Ransom-Wiley 
{ Jul 29th 2004 at 4:32PM }
Leave it to the media (this time British) to spark another
frenzy over videogames causing real-life violence. To make it clear, I am in no way undermining the tragedy that
has occurred here, but for Dixons (the British electronics retailer) to drop Manhunt from their shelves is only further
obscuring the real problem. In truth, what we're dealing with here is extremely abnormal/antisocial behavior
(perhaps a diagnosable mental illness), and/or neglect on the part of any authority figures to identify these signs of
abnormality. Undoubtedly, a game like Manhunt raises questions about how far certain taboo fantasies should be
carried into entertainment. But let's face it, these sorts of games/videos/books are there to be
accessed, and I doubt they'll be going away any time soon. What we should be focusing on is how to educate people
to use/view these materials safely (by forming a proper context and separation between fantasy and reality), while at
the same time watching carefully for signs of abuse (i.e. evidence of a deeper, psychological issue). On top
of that, we should make more of an effort to keep these kinds of games out of the hands of children.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
John Beeler @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
Ok, so here's a better idea. Instead of disavowing any and all responsibilty to society, maybe Rockstar ought to stop pushing the envelope for the sake of pushing the envelope. Maybe, call me crazy, violence in games ought to have a purpose rather than being as nihilistic as Rockstart has continually portrayed it.
Don't get me wrong, I'll all for a good hit up of violence. I just think Miyamoto is more right than wrong in saying that violence is the easy emotional string to pull when there's more effective and artistic ways of doing it.
And when has this "education" thing ever worked? Did it ever work for DARE? Nope. Education does squat.
And access? I worked at EB for three years, and you have no idea how many parents bought GTA3 for their 5-10 year olds, knowing full well what's in the game. "They see worse on TV." I heard. "They'll play it at a friend's house." If the parents are sucking at their job, we can't just disavow responsibility, or ignore the fact that society itself connects each of us to each other. Rockstar is taking financial advantage of crummy parenting, and that ought to bother us more than it has.
Alex @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
Ooooh Boy, what did the Limeys do now? Maybe if they had DARE over there in sunny old England, the kids would be doing more drugs and less violence.
just a thought.
Zeb & Nancy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
"they'll defend themselves violently if necessary" -- Jurassic Park (I).
I think that is wise advice.
What did we learn from that movie? No, we didn't learn to keep our hands away from the T-Rex. We learn that T-Rex on the big/small screen makes entertainment (...and money).
I second some sort of preventative measure to make sure violence stays inside the game and not on the streets. Think of all the good that would have come with Dinosaur-Abuse-Resitance-Education during the craze of "Dino Crisis". I think that is the most effective way to assert our first amendment rights.
Popabawa @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
Dixon's removing the game from the shelves will only lead to more interest in the game, it's been out for a while and must be quite a way into the downward sales curve by now.
I'm pretty intrigued (but not enough to buy it!) to see how extreme the vioence is in Manhunt, but hey, I'm well adjusted and can draw the line between fantasy and reality.
Those that CAN'T make that distinction already have a problem, it's not CAUSED by video games / books / film / art / comics / TV / cinema / internet etc. etc.
These people have always been around (and always will be) and someday, something might trigger another tragedy like this, as much as some people don't like it, you can't legislate against this type of thing happening.
Just my 2p's worth....
Laurens Holst @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
Who says that the guy wouldn't have committed a murder without Manhunt? Not everyone becomes a murderer out of the blue, ye know... Perhaps he would even have sooner, had Manhunt not been some kind of outlet for him.
Anyways, there are tens of thousands of people enjoying such a game - and then to ban it because one psycho bitch murderer liked to play it too... Nonsense. Fortunately Dixons isn't the only game shop around (though I wonder if the Dutch Dixons has takes the same measure... perhaps not).
In any case, I couldn't care less about the game itself... totally not my genre.
~Grauw "this makes me think of Mortal Kombat"
Dave M. @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
America's Army is also one of those games that we should keep our kids away from. I mean, after all, it has people shooting people in it.
This is the same old thing we have heard over and over again in the past. This movie made someone kill someone else, that hiphop song made a kid kill a cop, D&D made some kid kill another kid with a sword...
Why can't we just take responsibility for our own actions instead of blaming it on anything other than ourselves!
David @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
In the past I think my attitude was more
like Laurens' than it is today. This
article on child porn and sexual assault
affected my attitude
http://www.digitaldefence.ca/html/article_569.shtml
endothermal @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
It turns out the victim not the killer was the owner and player of the Manhunt game. The game had nothing to do with the murder. The motive for this murder was robbery to pay off some bad depts here is the real report http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?section_name=pub&aid=3918
This just another example of the right wing media trying to use their hand to control and censor what we see, hear and play.
bwana @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
More to the point, the robbery/murder was over a drug-related debt. There is so much more to this than what is being hyped, it's unconscionable that the press is dealing with this so irresponsibly.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/leicestershire/3538066.stm
Jason @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM
From our sister site http://www.bloggingbaby.com
Video games dont mess children up, their parents do.
http://www.bloggingbaby.com/entry/8412964753128497/
good read.