Dr. Phil talks Manhunt, but Steinberg steals the show

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 1st 2007 at 4:20PM }

We're totally enjoying CBS' coverage of Manhunt 2. After Katie Couric's eye-roll inducing Notebook entry two days ago, the odiously designed CBS.com site bubbles up a clip of Dr. Phil with Early Show host Harry Smith and journalist Scott Steinberg. We're sorry, but just try not to laugh as Smith introduces Dr. Phil to the show and Steinberg starts flailing the Wiimote trying to execute the guy on screen. Of course, you'll have to go to CBS.com to watch it. We're sorry, but the networks haven't discovered the basics of embeddable code.

Dr. Phil is far more careful here then the last time he talked about video game violence's effect on children during the Virginia Tech massacre -- probably because his hypothesis was dead wrong last time and he looked like a total (insult of choice goes here). Dr. Phil says about Manhunt 2, "Now the truth is, if somebody plays this game and then they go and do this in their life, there was something seriously wrong with them before they got the game. But it's modeling." We'd prefer if the mainstream media did a simple PSA and told parents not to let their children play M-rated games instead of all this fear mongering.

[Via GamePolitics]

Tags: abc, cbs, drphil, harrysmith, mainstream, manhunt2, scottsteinberg, smith, steinberg

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

XanthouS @ Nov 1st 2007 4:29PM

What's media without a healthy dose of fear-mongering? They've got to compete with the Internet somehow.

Zoidberg Jesus (a.k.a. Jebo) @ Nov 1st 2007 4:38PM

FOX would need to become a hardcore sex channel like in "Lisa's Wedding".

Zach S @ Nov 1st 2007 5:33PM

I don't really think this was "fear-mongering" at all, considering other news programs on the subject that I've seen.

FOR ONCE someone (surprisingly, Dr. Phil, who I really don't like all that much) in the media acknoledges that A) Parents need to be "vigilant" in keeping their younger kids from getting ahold of this stuff and B) Video games aren't going to make you go out and kill someone. They didn't put all of the blame on the company, FOR ONCE, and just talk about how horrible it is. I think, even though it obviously had a stong lean towards "Why would someone make this game?" (which, by the way, is a question that maybe we should think about), overall they were actually pretty fair overall, giving an overview of this game without being overly harsh on it and even asking hom much of a difference this is with a film in the theater (such as Saw, Hostel, etc.).

Anticrawl @ Nov 1st 2007 5:46PM

You guys hear about Jack Thompsan "sueing to keep Manhunt 2 out of childrens hands"? That's how the headlines read earlier this morning on one of the news channels(don't remember which, girlfriend was channel surfing and I told her to turn it back cause I saw "Manhunt" in big bold letters). Seems the media has a new whore to pimp out for ratings.

Dan @ Nov 1st 2007 6:39PM

"Now the truth is, if somebody plays this game and then they go and do this in their life, there was something seriously wrong with them before they got the game."

Holy crap, stop the presses!! call noam chomsky the nature of life has been laid bare!!

Such as wise man should be revered, How may we serve you oh lord of the obvious?

eugene @ Nov 1st 2007 4:30PM

FEAR MONGERING??? Everybody knows that there was no violence in the world prior to Doom and that Doom was the cause of all evil, vile and most heinous acts perpetrated by humans. Why, without Doom and the violent progeny it spawned, the world would still be a paradise where we skipped about in fig leaves, braiding each other's hair and singing loving praises to our god or goddess of choice, because as well all know, religious intolerance was started by games such as Populace.

Oh woe be on to those vile game designers who destroyed our beautiful paradise, our utopian shangri-la!!!

LaughingTarget @ Nov 1st 2007 4:36PM

Its a shame those same people up and arrested me for skipping around in only fig leaves today. Video games caused us to wear clothing!

arrrgh @ Nov 1st 2007 4:47PM

populous was amazing

Zoidberg Jesus (a.k.a. Jebo) @ Nov 1st 2007 4:30PM

Steinberg sucks.

HDE @ Nov 1st 2007 4:35PM

" I don't want to take the Wii out of you hand.."

Kassu @ Nov 1st 2007 4:36PM

Man, they really got it wrong with the AO raiting :/

gonk @ Nov 1st 2007 4:49PM

i know, it should be allowed only for people under 30

Kassu @ Nov 1st 2007 4:55PM

No, i mean when they said "So Wal-Mart won't sell this if its AO? They can't sell this game at bigger retailers?"

Like, Sony and Nintendo won't let the frigging game to come out on their system, at what point did Wal-Mart have anything to do with it...

John @ Nov 1st 2007 4:43PM

its sad to see that they critisize but get so much enjoyment out of it....

heres hopeing steinberg kills some one then they will at least have some facts

Shockgamer @ Nov 1st 2007 4:41PM

Nothing like watching bald and balding old men try to comprehend something beyond their generation's reach.

d-pad @ Nov 1st 2007 4:51PM

Discussing a game where the player can interactively remove a pair of testicles with pliers is one of those things that transcends generations.

Perhaps instead of discussing the effects of Manhunt 2 on Johnny, the MSM should be discussing why this stupid game was ever created in the first place.

Edog Lost @ Nov 1st 2007 5:11PM

2 very good points. (above)

Would games like this sell if we weren't already a society saturated in hyper sexual hyper violent imagery and lifestyles?

Mage @ Nov 1st 2007 4:44PM

So they constantly bring up the part about pliers and testicles and how gruesome that is. Has no one seen Hostel II? She rips a guys dick off with pliers in one of the scenes. And, unlike how Manhunt 2, they show most of the gruesome parts of it. Bah.

Zoidberg Jesus (a.k.a. Jebo) @ Nov 1st 2007 4:47PM

I am still of the belief that all penis/plier interaction should be banned in all formats.

arrrgh @ Nov 1st 2007 4:52PM

agreed.

gdog @ Nov 3rd 2007 5:13PM

I think that to be fair, they were nowhere near as bad as other articles I have read and tv shows I have seen.

At least they raised the subject of horror movies and compared the effects of movies like SAW.

And they commented on the FACT that if someone played this game and then went and did something heinous, then something was seriously wrong with them in the first place.

dsub @ Nov 1st 2007 4:54PM

Is anyone else notcing the irony here?

Remember when Dr. Phil gave out a Nintendo Wii to everyone in his audience?

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/12/12/dr-phil-prescribes-wii/

d-pad @ Nov 1st 2007 4:57PM

Yeah, but Nintendo didn't develop Manhunt 2.

That's like giving the audience free movie tickets and calling it ironic when they go and watch Jackass 2.

fester @ Nov 1st 2007 5:03PM

Poor Dr. Phil! Because he's tops in his field, people keep putting him in the most uncomfortable situations. You could tell he was trying desperately to light his hair on fire in a final act of insane protest; but then he remembered-well....he aint got any! lol.

Rubang B (BRUSH WITH FAME) @ Nov 1st 2007 5:02PM

I can't wait until people half our age have some wacky new technology that has wacky new art forms we don't understand. That's gonna be so rad.

Hopefully by then one of us has a talkshow so we can all go on and talk shit about the stupid kids and how their wacky gadgets are ruining family values or whatever the catch phrase of fear is at the time.

Edog Lost @ Nov 1st 2007 5:19PM

Is this THE famous "RUBANG B!?!" From the Joystiq PodCast?!?!

OMGZ.

Bucket @ Nov 1st 2007 5:08PM

Interesting... you use a guy's severed head to get past a security door. And people say games don't teach you problem-solving skills.

8Balling @ Nov 2nd 2007 12:09AM

People do say that.

It's that games teach those skills in context that's not so useful in real life, but in something that suggests hyper violence or sexually suggestive theme.

I mean, c'mon, when will you actually use that kind of "problem-solving skills"?

8Balling @ Nov 2nd 2007 12:08AM

Dr.Phill does say somethiing that makes sense tho, saying how being exposed to such violent "modeling" makes people less sensitive to real violence around them.
Although the degree of this will vary widely among individuals, but don't you think it's still true?

dsub @ Nov 1st 2007 5:12PM

I understand that, but if you read the articles here and listen to the stories, everyone keeps attacking the Wii in general because it's based on life-like motions. They keep attacking Nintendo, and asking "How could Nintendo allow a game like this too be made on their kid-friendly console" the idea that they have this "video games are okay as long as people don't make mature content for them" is just hypocritical.

Scott @ Nov 1st 2007 5:13PM

Parents shouldn't let their kids play Manhunt 2. They should take them to see Saw IV instead.

Seriously media, grow the hell up.

sly_madman @ Nov 1st 2007 5:38PM

Actually, I think Dr. Phil handled it well. They didn't go blindly blaming the game for violent behavior. They were basically saying "Parents, if you have an 11 year old boy in the house, Manhunt 2 on the Wii probably isn't they best thing to let him play". When stated that way, the entire segment seems kind of arbitrary, seeing as that's exactly what the rating did. But, it helped CBS on a slow news day and it will undoubtedly sell a few copies of Manhunt.

BooKahKee @ Nov 1st 2007 5:42PM

I totally agree

Edog Lost @ Nov 1st 2007 5:18PM

I have to say, Dr. Phil is really doing his best to defend here. It's true that the game is "modeling". Compared to Harry Smith who seems to be only giving one side of this problem.

"A 17 year old kid can buy this"
Does he know what 17 year old kids can buy these days?

T2 @ Nov 1st 2007 5:19PM

I still don't understand how Nintendo approved this for release on the Wii.

gonk @ Nov 1st 2007 5:33PM

anyone else up for a little of the old ultraviolence?

Korova @ Nov 1st 2007 5:34PM

I saw this on TV and what beats me up is that they say that this game is only for 17 year olds and up and then in the same breath they start talking about how kids should not be playing these games!!!

17 year olds are not kids in my book. They are not tried in court as kids, they do drugs, have kids and, in some cases, get married, work etc. They have modeled plenty by the time they get to Manhunt 2.

Assuming that everyone and their dog already knows that games have age-appropriate ratings, this is just a way of promoting the Wii for two whole minutes in prime time.

Weinberg does say that there are some adults who get off on this kind of stuff, just like some people get off on scary movies. That is a normal statement.

But the host kept skipping to kids, kids, kids. Bullshit.

caramelzappa @ Nov 1st 2007 5:49PM

I think it's ridiculous that the game had to be censured. The violence wasn't that bad, and certainly not gory. It's not very realistic due to the low -poly models and other effects of what looks like a primitive engine. Violence is glorified on a level much greater than this every day in TV and Movies that everyone has access to. I'm sick of people always looking for something to blame and blindly pointing without looking around first.

BooKahKee @ Nov 1st 2007 5:41PM

I'm actually surprised Dr.Phil brought up the point that just because people play this game doesn't mean they're going to go out and kill someone. I think the bottom line is parent's need to be the ones who make sure their kids aren't playing hyper violent games. It really isn't that hard of a concept.

Featherhammer @ Nov 1st 2007 5:45PM

"If you have any young children around, go make them lunch......" That's how dude started the interview. Leave the room so your kids can watch this.

Po0py @ Nov 1st 2007 5:54PM

TBH, I kinda agree that the mimicking of the violence isn't good and I personally know a couple of 17 year olds who would take this game to heart. It's a shitty game and it shouldn't sell as much as it is going to. I think the media coverage is to blame for this. They are giving Rockstar free publicity and now the game is going to sell bucket loads. The media act all concerned about it but really they are making the situation worse.

Dale @ Nov 1st 2007 5:57PM

Think how much better this world would be had Adolf Hitler not been "modelled" by endless hours of Grand Theft Auto Third Reich.

rj @ Nov 1st 2007 6:07PM

wouldnt this just make the game more popular if its on the news and tv and stuff

Deozaan @ Nov 1st 2007 6:17PM

I like it when he touches Steinberg on the shoulder at the end, and Steinberg looks at him like he's about to choke him with the nunchuck. :-)

Deozaan @ Nov 1st 2007 6:20PM

Also, I think this was a decent angle from the media to take. I didn't consider it fearmongering. They calmly discussed the issue and raised some valid points. Bravo to CBS and Dr. Phil for the approach. Good thing JT wasn't invited.

Jason B @ Nov 1st 2007 7:07PM

I totally agree Deozaan. I saw absolutely nothing wrong with how this was covered. And though I don't think any game should be banned (which it wasn't) I do think parents should be aware of what this game contains. I mean lets be real here, this game is disturbingly violent. I'm sure some of you "kids" don't want to hear that but you know it is true.