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"Well, the inevitable headlines are flooding in..."

Another year, another knee-jerk reaction from the media. "Evil Game", and "Murder By Playstation" are two of the headlines I've seen this morning, on TV and in a paper (can you guess which one?) - both have given inaccurate descriptions of the plot and manner of the game. For crying out loud, when are these people going to realise that violence in computer games is nothing in comparison to the realistic violence we see portrayed on TV? Whilst you're banning violent games, you'll have to ban films, books, the Internet, television, news, the Armed Forces, etc. The psychologist ITV interviewed even said it takes someone who is already mentally unstable to react to these images. In the same newspaper were images of a burnt-out car used to kill 70+ Iraqis - can I acuse the Daily Mail of inciting someone to use a car bomb the next time it happens?

Ironically, it sickens and outrages me that we have to defend the industry we love, and part our culture, for no reason other than there are a few parents ignorantly lashing out at something they don't understand, and allowing themselves to be stage-managed by elements of the media who can turn it into an attention-grabbing money-spinner. Maybe it's the parents that should be persecuted for allowing their child access to material unsuitable for his age range? I'm sure they wouldn't buy him hardcore Dutch porn, so how does that differ to a computer game? Of course he nearly 18, and may have looked old enough to buy the game from a shop, but stay up after 9 and you're exposed to the same level of violence and swearing on TV, so the rating system is practically useless in this case.

One of the examples of hypocrisy being touted around today is that New Zealand banned the game. The same New Zealand that happily promotes itself as a tourist destination on the back of the violent hack 'n' slash Lord of the Rings movies. Enjoyable films, no doubt, but the amount of gruesome death on screen was surprising and graphic for the ratings they received.

But the most worrying aspect of this whole debacle, is how much control the media do have over the public. Not once in the Daily Mail article were there any official Police statements - it was all quotes from the parents, who are understandably upset and feel the urge to find someone, or something to blame for the loss of their son. Now in the next few days we're going to experience the fallout from a lazy example of sensationalist journalism. The fact that it took two people to write an article that covered less than a page, once pieced together from an overlap and a huge picture, shows just how little effort went into it.

Expect to see more of the outraged parents, outraged Government representatives, and celebrity TV-psychcologists, giving a one-sided view of this isolated incident in the next few weeks, until David Beckham get a new haircut. Rockstar have already expressed sadness and offered their condolences to the family, but removal of the game (or games of this nature - there are far worse games out there) should never be considered. They say we live in a 'nanny state', but maybe it's just us being a 'pushover nation'?

Yep, I heard the same here. I dearly wish one the major retailers would have the balls to issue a statement that they will NOT be removing it, and that they would point out this idiocy. And whilst they are doing so call on gamers to boycott the stores which do remove it because these places are clearly not true gaming stores.

Hey, I can dream....

EDIT: GAME has withdrawn it from their online catalogue - it's disappeared on all formats.

This is ridiculous, taken from Sky News:

High street store Dixons has withdrawn the video game Manhunt after a mother said the computer images drove a teenager to murder her son.

- - - - -

However, they do go on to say that he was initially going to mug his friend to pay off a drugs debt. Which is more than other places...

By the by, I'm not blaming the parents for this whole mess, I think when you've had someone taken away from in such a manner then you're bound to try and pin the blame on something (usually the murdered, but there you go).

But it's the cackhandedness of the tabloids that really riles me. If you're on such a crusade to protect the public from 'evil videogames' such as these, then why didn't you protest to have Manhunt banned when it was released last November? It couldn't possibly be you're sensationalising the smallest detail in order to whip up a public panic and sell a few papers on the back of this murder, could it?

It reminds me of the Bill Hicks bit about Judas Priest wanting to kill their audience.

I know this comment is in bad taste...but when you see that Play.com has sold out of the game on PS2, that Gamplay has it on a 3-7 days availability, and that the lower priced copies are going on Amazon Marketplace, etc then it's almost like a marketing scheme.

I think it is fair to say this game was largely ignored on release, despite good reviews (even EDGE!) but I'd bet good money that the next week at least sees many many copies of this bought. Following the tabloid logic the nation should come to an end in several weeks as thousands of killers roam the country...

Stranger In Paradise wrote:

>
> Not a 100% sure on this, but for a defamation claim isn't the onus on
> the accusing party to prove their claims - as in if Sony did go for
> it (or Rockstar) then the paper making the claim would have to prove
> beyond reasonable doubt that the game was the cause of the murder?

Pretty close, yeah. It's for the party who assert a fact to prove the truth of that fact. So one could say that the Daily Mail would have to prove the misleading claim, whilst Sony would have to prove that the headline adversely affected their reputation. However, the Daily Mail coul rely on the defence of Fair Comment (if the game was played on Playstation for example).
>
> If their is a case to be made I don't know why Sony or Rockstar don't
> go for it and try and seriously stop this being repeated by
> any media again.

Because all the Mail need to do is print an apology at the bottom of page 9 in tomorrow's edition. Sony need to calculate whether the cost of an action outweigh's the financial loss suffered as a result of the headline.

The people wrote that article should be killed. Actually, anyone seen my water pistol...?

too much Mario Susnhine

Mr Snuggly wrote:
> Surely Sony could sue for defamation for a headline like? Sony had
> nothing to do with Manhunt whatsoever, and that headline suggest that
> they're directly responsible for this poor sod's death, no?

Not a 100% sure on this, but for a defamation claim isn't the onus on the accusing party to prove their claims - as in if Sony did go for it (or Rockstar) then the paper making the claim would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the game was the cause of the murder?

If their is a case to be made I don't know why Sony or Rockstar don't go for it and try and seriously stop this being repeated by any media again.

I looked at the BBC article. They are wrong. DEFINETLY wrong...I love the game and I dont' fell the urge to kill anyone.

Check ITV now, they are showing the stupid report on Manhunt.

Meh, it's The Sun, I despair just seeing the logo.

It's a good point though, most of the time people, on these forums at least, don't give a toss about what crap the Sun/Mirror/Express/Mail are spouting, but when they start on videogames people take it seriously. Ironically, and predictably, I did a search for the game on eBay and the prices are much higher than they used to be, at one point you could buy the game brand new 19.99 from most retailers.

Your Honour wrote:
> Someone at work has a copy of The Daily Mail, I think.
>
> Anyhoo, it has the headline Death by Playstation. Nice.


Surely Sony could sue for defamation for a headline like? Sony had nothing to do with Manhunt whatsoever, and that headline suggest that they're directly responsible for this poor sod's death, no?