So anyone bothered getting and playing Man Hunt 2, the dodgy release that got leaked? It's the original one, before they did the re-submission with blurred violence and blood etc...
So anyone bothered getting and playing Man Hunt 2, the dodgy release that got leaked? It's the original one, before they did the re-submission with blurred violence and blood etc...
I don't really play video games. From what I've seen of Manhunt it seems to be just violence for the sake of violence, and that I don't really agree with. The sort of violent content I would argue to defend is from things like Natural Born Killers, etc... where there is an intellectual and artistic reason for it. For instance, one game that I have played is Grand Theft Auto, and I'd defend that from the point of view that it is a very clever, tongue-in-cheek reflection of social and criminal stereotypes and it is a lot of fun.
Incidentally, I've just seen a trailer for the film George was talking about - Eastern Promises. It doesn't look particularly interesting but I might have to try and get hold of a copy just to see what all the fuss is about.
This argument has been going on for years. When I was in my early teens, my friends and I would congregate at a schoolmates house to watch all of those so called Video nasties, before legislation was brought in to ban them. I grew up to become a vegan, and the other members of our film club became a solicitor, a sociology lecturer, a social worker and a doctor. If you are seriously unbalanced, then pretty much anything could set you off. It doesn't have to be a graphically violent film. The man who shot John Lennon was obsessed with "the Catcher In The Rye" a wonderful book which I had to read at school. The man who tried to kill Reagan was obsessed with Jodie Foster. And how come this is always aimed at films and video games? Go into any branch of Waterstones and browse the Classics section. For a few quid you can read some of the most amazingly graphic and sadistic sexual violence in books by de Sade and Leautremont. Why does nobody ever campaign to get these removed from the shelves?
Oh and as far as I'm aware, no member of the British Board of Film Classification has ever gone nuts with a gun in central London. With all the violent films they are exposed to, day in, day out, you'd think they would have all gone postal by now.
Oh and as far as I'm aware, no member of the British Board of Film Classification has ever gone nuts with a gun in central London. With all the violent films they are exposed to, day in, day out, you'd think they would have all gone postal by now.
Oh and as far as I'm aware, no member of the British Board of Film Classification has ever gone nuts with a gun in central London. With all the violent films they are exposed to, day in, day out, you'd think they would have all gone postal by now.
I assume they voted (and intend to vote) new Labour or Conservatives. How sane can they be ?
I listened to this show last night (yes, I'm behind again) and was pretty surprised to hear GG's stance on this. Even sane, non-violent people enjoy films/games with some level of violence. And just because there's a chance someone would attempt to repeat the violence s/he witnesses in the fictional world, it's a poor excuse to ban it entirely. Anyone that susceptible is just as likely to be set off by something seemingly innocuous.
If you want to see what causes people to become desensitized to violence, take a look at the real violence on the news everyday. It'd be slightly hypocritical for a governmental agency to ban films for being too violent while another agency (the war department) is dropping bombs on innocent civilians.
The best way to decrease violence is to stop conducting it.
That said, I don't watch ultra-violent movies or play ultra-violent games. But if I wanted to, that should be my right without someone looking over my shoulder saying that's too violent.
There is a scene on the sleeve of the CD showing a murder by hitting someone with a hammer from behind. I am sorry, but that is just shocking ....
Just a bit of fun though...twisted ain't all bad...
though the youtube vids of the death sequences in Manhunt ranged from over the top silly like cattle prod to the face, to the cheesy shoot some in the face to the mundane but very chilling wrapping a plastic bag over someones head.....though I give you the stamping on the shovel to lop of the cops head was a bit eek
Oh and as far as I'm aware, no member of the British Board of Film Classification has ever gone nuts with a gun in central London. With all the violent films they are exposed to, day in, day out, you'd think they would have all gone postal by now.
Thing is, they only do a short stint on actual viewing before being replaced, think it's only a year or 6 month contracts...still, some twisted stuff there.
Though the amusing thing is, Rock* could just release the game with a direct download and they wouldn't be breaking the law as direct digital download content doesn't need to be certified....oh, and the only reason it isn't available in the US is because although an AO rating is allowed, well MS will release on the xbox, Sony and Nintendo won't release an AO rated game, and the large games stores in the US won't sell AO rated games.
COMPUTER GAMES FACE CURBS December 2,2007
By Jason Groves
VIOLENT computer games and films could face new curbs under plans to be put forward by a cross-party group of MPs this week. Legislation would give Parliament and the public a much greater say in the work of the censors, including a power to ban games blamed for causing copycat violence. The new laws are aimed at violent games like Manhunt and the controversial new film Eastern Promise, which depicts child prostitution, throat-slitting and eye-gouging.
The plans come amid mounting public concern about the level of violence allowed through by the British Board of Film Classification and its impact on society. Tory MP Julian Brazier, who is piloting the move, said the existing system was too lax. Mr Brazier said a “sizeable” number of unsuitable games and films were being allowed through. He added: “We are facing social breakdown today on a scale which is unparalleled in modern times. We have had the UN declare Britain as the worst place in the world to bring up children and we have surveys showing a third of adults are afraid to leave their homes at night. We have to take steps to tackle the cultural changes which are driving so much of this. The system has become more lax as time has gone on – the failure rate has fallen to around one per cent and there are some extremely nasty games getting through.”
The plans also have the backing of Keith Vaz, Labour chairman of the Commons home affairs committee. Mr Vaz launched a campaign for tighter curbs on violent games following a murder in his Leicester constituency in 2004. Warren Leblanc admitted murdering his friend Stefan Pakeerah, 14, with a claw hammer. Stefan’s mother blamed the killing on Leblanc’s obsession with the game Manhunt, which glorifies killings with knives, guns, baseball bats and other weapons.
Mr Vaz said: “There are some games on sale today that should not be on the shelves. Video games are getting more violent and, particularly now in the run-up to Christmas, there is a tendency for parents to buy the games their children want without checking their content. It is important to tighten up the regulations and I very much hope this attempt succeeds.”
The BBFC is funded by the industries it regulates and politicians have little control over its activities. Under existing rules there is no way to appeal against a film or game being granted a certificate, even if there are concerns that it may spark copycat violence or sexual assaults. Only two computer games have been banned in the past decade – Manhunt 2 and Carmaggeddon. The latter was later released following an appeal by the game’s producers.
I can't believe Carmageddon was ever banned - it's complete shite. You drive into zombies that explode into pixellated red dust as soon as you touch them.
These regulations aren't going to stop people getting hold of the games, though. If a game gets banned in the UK, it will immediately be a thousand times more saught after by kids, and they'll go to eBay, have it imported from the USA or Japan and play it far more than they normally would have due to its forbidden fruit nature.
Apparently, Fox News had an on air game review for the game Mass Effect. One of the reviewers, a psychologist named Cooper Lawrence, never having played the game, started to bash it. Calling it sexist and violent, and on and on.
Geoff Keighley, a somewhat big name game reviewer, was also on the panel and kept "correcting". She would say that game is oppressive and against women, he mentions that you can actually play a woman and do all the things the man would do. She mentions full of nudity, he points to a 30 sec total time of half boob shot in a 30 hour game.
Anyways, the review really sucked. EA is pissed at Fox News for airing the crap.
But the best part of the story is what happened to the psychologist. After hearing of this, gamers went to amazon (and other sites) and left reviews on her book... leaving comments such as:
"I never read the book, don't know who she is, and don't really care what she's writing about."
"If she does have as much "research" as she does for her tv spots you can expect a book full of complete lies at best. Take everything she writes with a huge grain of salt or better yet save your money."
"Trying to encourage sexual acts in a book made available to young children is unacceptable."
Her book was up to 330 reviews, 279 of which were 1 star. Kinda childish, but damn funny.
Many of the quotes have been removed from the amazon site, but someone managed to get a list of some of the better ones
Quote:
I recently saw this book in a used bookstore holding up one end of a broken table. I read as much as I could before my arm got tired of holding up the above mentioned table. After a few chapters I realized the book was indeed best used for furniture support. Don't waste your time.
Quote:
I'm also quite disappointed that Mrs. Lawrence would use sex appeal (the cover) to sell her book. Whether she realizes it or not there are a lot of kids in book stores today that will see this and get the wrong impression.
Image means a lot Mrs. Lawrence, and you are damaging the youth of America.
Quote:
It may be true that I haven't actually read this book, but after watching her bash a really good game. I realized that people don't need to actually play, read, or watch things to review them.
Quote:
If you do purchase the book, I urge you strongly not to leave it idly where little hands can find it. The latest research clearly shows young readers are incalculably and permanently scarred by oversexualized images in books and other media.
Quote:
Kudos Cooper Lawrence, this book was amazing.
Her book taught me that I should stop overachieving and worrying about "the little things". When I'm working on some sort of project or doing an investigation of some sort, I need to stop worrying about things like "facts" and "correctness". When making judgements on things, it's often easier to make things up based on things we've heard or make sweeping generalizations. It's much easier this way and pretty peaceful! It's taken the stress out of my life.
I'm now to be scheduled to appear on a well-known 24-hour news network as a so called "expert"! And I didn't even need a PhD!
Hoodie 'stabbed man' in Grand Theft Auto queue Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Police were today hunting a hooded man who stabbed a passer-by as he waited to buy a new edition of a notoriously violent computer game. Up to 100 people witnessed the knife attack as they queued ahead of the midnight release of Grand Theft Auto IV yesterday.
The 23-year-old victim was attacked as he passed the queue outside Gamestation, in George Street, Croydon, at about 11pm. Police said he did not call for help but a witness informed police who found him a short distance away. He was taken to a south London hospital for treatment to several stab wounds, a spokeswoman said. He has since been discharged.
The creators of the hugely successful Grand Theft Auto series have come under fire for their depiction of casual violence, drug dealing and prostitution. More than 70 million copies in the series have already been sold and the 18 certificate fourth instalment is expected to rake in more than £200 million.
Detective Inspector Liz Baker, of Croydon CID, said: "We are looking at CCTV from the area and believe there were in the region of 50 to 100 people in the queue. We are sure many of them will have seen what happened. I urge them to make contact with police as they may hold vital information to help us track down the suspect. He is described as a light skinned black man aged about 21 years old, 6ft 5ins tall, of medium build wearing a light grey hooded top with his hood up."
---------------
This really shows the power of video-games - the guy's been stabbed more than once and he still stayed in the queue for his game!
I think this is just anti-GTA propaganda. If he'd been in a queue for an 18 certificate DVD they wouldn't even have mentioned it.
And it wasn't the guy queueing for the game who became violent, it was some random hooded nutter, so the link to the game is even more idiotic to point out.
It's not even defendable based on an ironic slant, because people who play the game don't become violent because of it. Annoying!
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum You cannot attach files in this forum You can download files in this forum
