Mad World violence anemic compared to Manhunt 2

by Jason Dobson { Aug 25th 2008 at 9:00AM }

Mad World, with its inky wellspring of monochrome gore, will likely give those opposed to virtual violence another round of ammunition, replacing Manhunt 2 as the industry whipping boy of choice. An unfair comparison, at least according to seasoned game journo Beth Dillon, who cites the controversy magnet's realistic take on violence as much more disturbing than Mad World's "contrasting and beautiful" approach.

There's no question that Mad World will stand out like a bludgeoned thumb among the Wii's more family-friendly library, but Dillon writes that where Platinum Games' upcoming action opus separates itself from Manhunt 2 is in its sense of style. The bigger issue, as she she sees it, is the effect motion-sensitive controls have on players playing violent games -- regardless if they're realistic or more over-the-top -- something we fully expect to have society's ills pinned on the game industry's already swollen posterior for years to come.

Tags: controversy, mad-world, manhunt-2, platinum-games, rockstar, sega, take-two, violence

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Jack of No Trades 85 @ Aug 25th 2008 9:09AM

Well the Wii is aimed at younger kids and families thats why people get all bent out of shape when games like this hit the Wii.

Noshino @ Aug 25th 2008 9:49AM

Well, I somewhat agree with you, this is all Nintendo's fault, they haven't done much to show the public that the Wii is not just Teen rated games, it also caters to other audiences...and because of that, since this game is one of the very few violent games, it stands above the bunch...and most likely the developer will get blamed for it...

Red_Robot @ Aug 25th 2008 10:00AM

No... I'm kinda thinking the majority of the people who get bent out of shape about violent games think every video game is intended for kids.
Their image of videogames hasn't changed since Teddy Ruxpin was hot.

simcha @ Aug 25th 2008 9:34AM

Please, it's not going to matter what console it's on, what the graphics look like, or any such thing. Hell if graphics were a main issue to video game violence then games like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" for the Atari 2600 would have been over looked. IMO it seems people just don't want other people experiencing acts of violence whither it's through an artificially created and relatively safe environment (All testing concludes that video games don't have an actual negative effect on the developmental growth of children), or if people are out on the streets trying to kill another person.

Jack of No Trades 85 @ Aug 25th 2008 9:43AM

Yes it does matter! The Wii is marketed towards family and younger people. People buy the Wii knowing Nintendo will provide their family with non-violent fun. When parents see this on the Wii shelves they get upset because they thought the Wii was a little kiddo console.

Michael @ Aug 25th 2008 10:45AM

@Jack of No Trades 85, just because its there does NOT mean that a parent has to buy it, just because it appears to be marketed towards children and families doesn't mean that the system is a children/family only console, as a parent..it is your responsibility to do the research on games, and if your children or you are that hypersensitive, that you get upset just by seeing a violent game amongst all the kiddie games, then you need to step back and think, maybe your doing more harm to your kids than these video games ever will...over protection and censorship is NOT the answer...teaching your kids right from wrong is, the television isn't a babysitter..

simcha @ Aug 25th 2008 10:08AM

As opposed to people saying that violent titles on the PS3 and 360 are ok? Console matters not. If there is a violent title out there, parents and politicians will be attracted to it like a moth to flame. Tell me that GTA4 was under the radar simply because it was on ps3 and 360?

Noshino @ Aug 25th 2008 11:22AM

no, GTA4 wasn't under the radar, but the difference is that unlike the Wii and Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony do back up more mature titles as well for both the 360 and PS3...

So like I mentioned above, people will most likely get upset because they believe the Wii is family friendly, and guess what? Nintendo has supported that idea, so when a title that is as violent (Im not hating the game, I love Clover as much if not more than samfish!) they will be defensive, Nintendo should have thought of that by supported more mature games...it has been over a year and we still don't see any support for more mature games, Disaster and Sadness are nowhere to be found, and Fatal Frame is still far...(iirc NA is rumored for early 2009)

samfish @ Aug 25th 2008 12:00PM

I don't think it's fair to say Nintendo didn't support mature games, though. They stood behind Manhunt II, they let No More Heroes and Bully through...but really, there aren't too many mature games WORTH Nintendo stepping in and supporting the way, say, Sony supported MGS4 or MS supported Bioshock.
It's only in the last 4-6 months we've started seeing mature games that are worthy of Nintendo stepping in and helping get the word out...and even then, there really still aren't that many :\

God damn this crappy comment system. I hope this isn't a double post.

House @ Aug 25th 2008 1:20PM

Just a minor point, but Bully is rated teen, not mature.

Sidepocket @ Aug 27th 2008 2:09AM

@ Noshino

GTA4 was NOT under the radar?

...

I bet that rock was really cozy, huh?

LordChimp @ Aug 25th 2008 10:44AM

I was so looking forward to Manhunt 2 because I loved the first but the second was terrible. I was severly disappointed. Hopefully this game is better then that waste of a game.

samfish @ Aug 25th 2008 10:46AM

simcha speaks the truth.

Mad World simply being on the Wii won't be much of a factor. The "family friendly" image won't be much part of the equation. It was an insignificant part of the story during Man Sprunt II and it will be this time, too.

They'll sure as shit raise a stink over motion controls and 'murder simulators', though.

shivr @ Aug 25th 2008 10:48AM

well I dunno about you guys, but I'd rather a system have content for diverse demographics than be catering to only one. It's about time video games upgraded to TV and movie status where there is content for all on one box, and its up to the user to pick which is most appropriate for him/herself and any kids they may be responsible for.

In fact video games would be easier to do this for than TV, because you have to specifically purchase every piece of software and even the laziest of research would tell you basically whats on the disk.

Nintendo has marketed their machine as family friendly, and all of their games have followed this trend, but if a third party wants to bring a game to the system for a different kind of gamer (which has already been done many times before with no more heros, okami, bully, manhunt, etc.), I'm all for it

CJLopez @ Aug 25th 2008 12:42PM

May I recall you all that BS that was about the sex scene on Mass Effect??? For what console was that game???

Yeah, Nintendo has forged on themselves a family like ambient around its console since the N64, but its not nintendo's fault they lost 3rd party support on it and had to accept every piece of crap they got to get their library even bigger, If Nintendo turned into a family friendly console because of their games, its cuz it lost 3rd party suuport.

Also, as stated before, every violent game won't be safe from the media or the parents, but its a parent duty to see what game their kids are palying, its part of their parenting job. If kids kill on school, it's not fault of tv or videogames, it their parents fault for raising em soooo baaaad, and from the goberment to let kids have weapons, they only care about getting more money, even if it cost killing more fo their people (just look whats happening on the mid west, how many persons have died just for your pres and some other people get more money)

The day when there is peace all around the world, there won't be more violent tv shows or games, sadly, that day will never come

kojo87 @ Aug 25th 2008 1:02PM

it really is a Mad World

Wiinterfang @ Aug 25th 2008 5:32PM

That pun was terrible and you should feel ashamed.

Foetoid @ Aug 25th 2008 8:13PM

You have discraced your family kojo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

Mr Khan @ Aug 25th 2008 2:18PM

The Nintendo as a family-friendly thing just sort of became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Starting as a lie that evolved into truth, a lie formulated by Sega of America marketing in the early '90s

Sega said "cool kids have Genesis, nerds and babies have SNES," which did PR damage in the eyes of America's youth from which Nintendo never recovered until Wii, and even then they can't shake that image with the teen crowd

But it's a moot point. Early 2009 is looking kickass, from a purely 3rd party perspective even