Nerd Mentality

Britain's biggest electronics chain, Dixons, pulled violent video game Manhunt from its shops yesterday after parents of a teenage murder victim blamed the game for their son's death.

The game, in which the player takes on the role of a convicted murderer ordered by a demented film director to kill people in as gruesome a fashion as possible, has stirred controversy even among fans of violent videos.

It awards extra points to players for carrying out murders in a particularly extreme and bloody way, while victims plead to be spared on behalf of their wives and children.

The parents of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, called this week for Manhunt to be banned after a 17-year-old admitted inviting their son into a park and murdering him.

Warren Le Blanc, a fan of the game, admitted he beat the younger teen to death with a claw hammer and stabbed him repeatedly with a knife. He could face life in prison.

"I didn't intend to kill him at first, but when I saw the blood I just let go and hit more times," he told police.
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Stefan's father Patrick, 41, said: "Stefan's murder compares to how the game is set out, using weapons like hammers and knives. If games like this influence kids, they should be taken off the shelves."

The game is published by Rockstar Games, a division of New York's Take-Two Interactive Software known for its line-up of violent games including the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto series, in which players run wild in high-speed crime sprees.

No comment from the company was available.

A spokeswoman for Dixons said it was taking the game off the shelves of all 1000 stores in the group with immediate effect due to the uproar.

The game has an "18" rating from Britain's film board, which means it should not be sold to minors.

In a generally favourable review on the website totalvideogames.com, the reviewer wrote: "it has to be the most violent yet realistic videogame we've played" and described its "ability to unhinge the player and make you feel disturbed".

Another website, Game Zone Online, gave it an 8 out of 10 score for "solid gameplay" but wrote: "Kids under 17 should not be allowed anywhere around this game, and it contains some of the most disgusting killings that I have seen either in movies or in a game."

From http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/29/1091080384648.html?oneclick=true

This is all over the UK papers today...I picked up the Mirror a few minutes ago and it's plastered on the front page. I know the mother must be heart broken and all, but her son should not have been playing a game for 18 year olds, nor should the other boy have been. Dixons is huge so I can see some other retailers following suit and taking the game off shelves.

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if this game now actually made decent sales. It didn't do too well over here in the UK.

Can I come over your house? We can play Doom.-*lil Link*

Originally posted by sonicblue
Why don't they take some initiative and ban violence instead of videogames? You gotta nip these things in the butt.

It's "nip it in the bud."
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Quote of the Month:

Dragon164z

Someday you're going to have to break it to those girls that she's only friends with them to insure that she will always be the cutest girl in the picture.

Originally posted by octorok and roll
It's "nip it in the bud."

Fantastic. Now what am I suppose to do with all of these nipped butts?

Originally posted by MetroidHunter
Oh come on! The murderer was 17 do you really think if he had one more year on his life it would have made a difference? That is the stupidest thing I've heard. "He was too young he shouldn't have played it." Oh coming from all of you I am sure have played Grand Theft Auto. And who knows maybe he turned 18 in 3 months, do you think it would have mattered then? Of course the game influenced him, the game makes killing fun.

There is no evidence that the 17 year old even played the game.
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Quote of the Month:

Dragon164z

Someday you're going to have to break it to those girls that she's only friends with them to insure that she will always be the cutest girl in the picture.

Warren Le Blanc, a fan of the game, admitted he beat the younger teen to death with a claw hammer and stabbed him repeatedly with a knife. He could face life in prison.

Originally posted by MetroidHunter
Oh come on! The murderer was 17 do you really think if he had one more year on his life it would have made a difference? That is the stupidest thing I've heard. "He was too young he shouldn't have played it." Oh coming from all of you I am sure have played Grand Theft Auto. And who knows maybe he turned 18 in 3 months, do you think it would have mattered then? Of course the game influenced him, the game makes killing fun.

Yes, it makes a huge difference. A legal difference, and legal is what we're talking about here. Someone who is a day short of 18 and an 18 year-old are practically years apart in terms of legal responsibility.
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Originally posted by MetroidHunter
Oh come on! The murderer was 17 do you really think if he had one more year on his life it would have made a difference? That is the stupidest thing I've heard. "He was too young he shouldn't have played it." Oh coming from all of you I am sure have played Grand Theft Auto. And who knows maybe he turned 18 in 3 months, do you think it would have mattered then? Of course the game influenced him, the game makes killing fun.

no one knows if the game influenced him. the only way someone would be able to know is if they would have seen him in the same situation if he had not played manhunt. so no one know i fit influenced him or not, you can't just make assumptions like that.
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Strange days indeed.