Video Game Responsible For Murder

[LHC]

Manhunt is shit anyway.

p.s. Round and round and round it goes.........where the causality arrow stops NOBODY KNOWS!

 

[Memnoch]

Games like that are kinda disgusting, on the other hand games like Mortal Kombat, where you can kill people in wacky ways are ok in my opinion.

Mortal combat annoyed me. How comes you could smack the male characters in the family jewels with Johnny Cage but not Sonia? :blink:

Anyway back on topic. Manhunt is by Rockstar isn't it? The fellows who made GTA? I've never actually played it to be honest (Manhunt that is). It got mediocre reviews in the magazines I've read. I agree with thebluenewt in that you'd have to be a psychopath already to want batter one of your friends to death in the manner of the game.

 

[generalnmx]

Mortal combat annoyed me. How comes you could smack the male characters in the family jewels with Johnny Cage but not Sonia?

Because smacking a woman down there doesn't really hurt that much, might even stimulate them a little, making the situation worse for YOU. And when I say it doesn't hurt that much, I mean there are far more places which it would hurt more...*cough* Not that I know about that sort of thing, I'm just speaking medically here. Anyway, I think I've dug a deep enough hole, so I'll jump out of it and go onto a different subject: Blame.

Yes yes, we all like to blame something, don't we? The problem with blaming people in this type of situation is that it's not really just one thing. Yet people feel the need to blame someone or something, so they start lashing out rather randomly. In this case, the Video Game Entertainment Industry has made themselves a pretty prime target. But really, they aren't to blame. It really is society.

But, what is gained by blaming society? Society isn't just one thing, it's a mesh of a whole bunch of things. Society is what kids are exposed to, and it's more then just video games. It's parents, school, friends, culture, etc. - all of those may have a lesser or greater impact on their lives. Yet it is things like this that make us step back and take a long look at the faults in our own world. After a lot of finger-pointing, name-calling, and general chaos, if we can at least make one improvement that's good, then it's all worth it. Usually the negative things are harmless and eventually get reversed, but the good things will last. There can be evolution through chaos - the application of darwinism. The strong will survive. That sounds rather cold, doesn't it? Yet, it's the way of the world. Things like this happen, and I for one wish they wouldn't, but they do. The only thing we can do is hope that there will at least be SOME good out of it, so, one day, we do not need to worry about this stuff happening ever again. Unless these bad things can make good things happen, we as a society will never truly grow.

Pointing fingers at one thing instead of the whole is useless. You might as well point a finger at yourself, because you can cause bad things to happen too. It's called Chaos Theory. The world, our society, is a big iterative model as well. Even the simpliest of your actions can have dire consequences. It's a force you really can't control. The only way we can get better results is by improving as a society. I hope to live to see the day of greater peace and stability

"If you must blame someone, go ahead and blame God."

 

[Skop]

Just saw it on the news blaming Manhunt.

Sales will ROCKET.

 

[pubjoe]

The manhunt game was really going all out for shock and controversy. The gameplay is absolute shit. This game is just making sales on negative publicity.

The shamefull thing is, this will increase sales better than any PR stunt.

I don't blame violence in video games generally, there are some excellent violent games out there, but this game WAS just asking for trouble.

Yeah, I blame the guy who thought "hmm... violent games seem to be doing well with the youth today, I know... lets think of the sickest shit we can and wrap it all up in a game for fast cash! That way, we don't have to waste time thinking of original gameplay".

...You could argue that they are just supplying a demand, but this demand has ALWAYS been there. Does anyone think it's OK to allow paedophile websites just because they're supplying demand???

This kinda crap gives the entire industry a bad reputation. I can just imagine, on Doom 3's release, the daily mail etc overlooking a groundbreaking game as another violent game thats been allowed on the shelves.

 

[generalnmx]

Ever hear about the youths that laughed at Shindler's List? Really, the kids today are so desensitized to violence it's not funny, and it's not always video games, because the majority of teenagers don't have regular access to them, except maybe arcade games.

In fact, creating games like this is a way to show what's wrong with our society. When there IS such a good demand for games like this, we know that our kids are getting screwed up, and it's NOT by games like this...since how can our kids cause a demand for more violent games based solely on the games if the games they already have are not as violent as the games coming out?

 

[Ringo]

Just saw it on the news blaming Manhunt.

Sales will ROCKET.

I just love this kind of shit...

I generally love blaming news-media for bringing attention too a "problem".

If indeed this game is evil, then the media certainly is responsible for spreading it (through the publicity it gets) - And suddenly we have a lot of similar incidents, because ALL of the kids buying this game will go out killing people...

Now I don't really believe that this game is the real cause to this incident, allthough it may have been the "trigger" - but it pisses me of when the media takes a non-existing problem and making it a problem.

I still remember seing a news-story about how easy it is to aquire burgler-tools with instructions over the net - and it might have been a small problem, but I'm guessing showing a fucking "how-to"-guide on national TV made the problem somewhat bigger.

BTW I have a friend who plays this game pretty much.... Should I worry?

 

[Steve-O]

Guns dont kill ppl, ppl kill ppl

No,

Guns Dont kill people, Death kills people

 

[pubjoe]

Guns dont kill ppl, ppl kill ppl

Toasters don't make toast, ppl make toast

 

[CrazyDesi]

I just feel like removing what was once here .

 

[pubjoe]

???

 

[El_Diablo]

I hate when people are so ready to blame art for their own actions. On top of that, if I was a parent I'm not sure I'd be so ready to admit that any form of media has more effect on my childs upbringing and mental state than my own parenting. Isn't that not only passing the blame but admitting you are an inadequate parent...sorry just my two cents, I realise this is a pretty iffy subject

 

[CrazyDesi]

???

Wrote something there but felt like removing it.

 

[pubjoe]

I hate when people are so ready to blame art for their own actions. On top of that, if I was a parent I'm not sure I'd be so ready to admit that any form of media has more effect on my childs upbringing and mental state than my own parenting. Isn't that not only passing the blame but admitting you are an inadequate parent...sorry just my two cents, I realise this is a pretty iffy subject

Well thats just it...

When you do become a parent; you suddenly become aware of the overwhelming responsability, the dangerous world we live in and the fact that we can't watch over our kids 24/7.

Events like this never used to bother me, but now they frighten the shit out of me, because of what they represent.



[edit]Just think of the old days: You could leave your front door open, let your kids play on the street all day, trust your friends to look after them etc etc... Was that bad parenting? Well nowadays, it is.

Same as trusting what your kids gonna be able to get hold of, spend time doing and who there hanging out with.

The parents in this case, I should think are going to feel fucking ashamed of themselves, REALLY fucking ashamed. They are going to feel completely responsable. These days, parents HAVE to be responsable for everything, because you can't trust anyone anymore.

I sound like such an old timer! My son's only 2 btw! But I think about the future a lot.

 

[thecheat]

Toasters don't make toast, ppl make toast

no, toasters don't make toasted bread, ppl make toasted bread.

 

[Mosch]

Ever hear about the youths that laughed at Shindler's List? Really, the kids today are so desensitized to violence it's not funny, and it's not always video games, because the majority of teenagers don't have regular access to them, except maybe arcade games.

Schindler`s List? I have heard people laughing about Faces of Death. That was really..... creepy.

I consider myself desensitized towads violence. I personally could not hurt someone without a reason (well, I hit someone with a baseball bat once, but it was an accident so I should not count ) but I don't really care about violence in games. It's not real. However, Manhunt is boring and repetitive - if it had a shop system, experience points and more possibilities I couldn't care less about the violence - but then I wouldn't be Manhunt, right? On the other hand I do like Mortal Kombat, because I like fighting games. In MK3 you could explode the world as a fatality and I didn't care at all But you have to understand the difference between reality and games. If you don't see that line, games CAN make you do stuff. But then again, Wormwood the sock puppet might tell you to burn turkish children. Violent video games can be.. let's say a catalysator, but it can probably not be the cause.

 

[PinkSpider]

Same here... only one person I want to hurt and I cant because of certain people. ARGH. Night.

 

[Rico]

GTA requires you to do the same thing - random violence. Sure, it feels like a Tarantino movie - but similarly Manhunt feels like a slash flick.

Do you see Dixons taking GTA off the shelves? If San Andreas comes out with points for performing executions, will it be banned? It has "caused" some youths to try out drive by shootings, it's in the same league as Manhunt.

Manhunt flopped in the market for its repetitive gameplay. No wonder Dixons are so ready to take it off their shelves. How many units has GTA sold?

 

[SephirothIce]

If you want to blame the game for anything blame it for sucking.... not causing murders.

 

[generalnmx]

I consider myself desensitized towads violence. I personally could not hurt someone without a reason (well, I hit someone with a baseball bat once, but it was an accident so I should not count ) but I don't really care about violence in games. It's not real. However, Manhunt is boring and repetitive - if it had a shop system, experience points and more possibilities I couldn't care less about the violence - but then I wouldn't be Manhunt, right? On the other hand I do like Mortal Kombat, because I like fighting games. In MK3 you could explode the world as a fatality and I didn't care at all But you have to understand the difference between reality and games. If you don't see that line, games CAN make you do stuff. But then again, Wormwood the sock puppet might tell you to burn turkish children. Violent video games can be.. let's say a catalysator, but it can probably not be the cause.

Example. 7 years ago in High School. Two kids were fighting. They beat themselves up pretty badly, lots of blood. I couldn't stand it, but some people were watching it with a sick smile on their face.

Another example. On one message board with 10,000+ daily viewers, someone posted an image of a woman accidentially falling down some cellar stairs in a grocery store with hitting her head VERY hard as she was going down. So many people thought it was "extremely funny". This is REAL life and these people are detached to it why? Because of the internet? Because they don't show her laying down with a concussion?

...Ugh.