Manhunt is a game that was created and developed by the well known Rockstar Games. Rockstar are responsible for some of the best selling and also most controversial games to date, the best example being the Grand Theft Auto series. Rockstars games often get a lot of attention because of how violent they are, and they are often linked to real life murders.
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| Rockstar games logo. |
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| Manhunt PS2 packaging. |
"Manhunt" is a game about murdering people. You play as James Earl Cash, a prisoner who has supposedly been killed by a lethal injection, however it turns out the injection was only a sedative as he is woken up by a man known as "The Director." The Director promises Cash freedom if he does everything he says. This involves moving stealthily through each level, brutally executing each enemy. The game mainly focuses on these brutal executions, and the player is ranked depending on how well they carry them out. On normal difficulty, the player can only earn earn 4 stars max, one for beating the scene (levels are known as scenes in the game) within a certain a time limit, and the other three depend on how you do the executions. Hardcore difficulty allows the player to earn 5 stars, one for speed, 3 for brutality, and 1 for simply finishing the level.
The game also offered 3 different levels of execution. Level 1, hasty executions are quick and not very violent. Level 2, violent are quite gory, and level 3 are extremely gory over-the-top murders.
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| An execution from Manhunt. The player is suffocating an enemy with a plastic bag. |
Manhunt Controversy
The extreme violence in the game caused a lot of controversy because of how realistic it was. Former Rockstar employee, Jeff Williams even said that the development team didn't like the level of violence. "There was almost a mutiny at the company over that game. It just made us all feel icky. It was all about the violence, and it was realistic violence. We all knew there was no way we could explain away that game. There was no way to rationalize it. We were crossing a line."
Manhunts extreme violence lead to lots of annoying things. Lots of people got involved, including a U.S. representative Joe Baca. Joe Baca was against violent games being sold to people under 17, and he supported the idea of fining those who were caught doing it. Joe Baca saw Manhunt has a training tool, or "weapon of personal destruction." There was no challenge, it just lined up enemies for you and you were able to kill them in the most brutal ways. One of his other concerns was how easy the game was to pick up, and any young child could easily play through the game in one sitting.
Stephan Pakeerah Murder
On July the 28th, 2004, more people started hating the game when it was linked with the murder of a 14 year old boy, Stephan Pakeerah, who was murdered by his friend Warren in Leicestershire, England. The media stated that a copy of the game was found in Warrens room, and people thought that his murder was heavily inspired by the murders in the game. Stephan's parents talked about how according to Warrens friends, he was obsessed with Manhunt. They also said that it isn't a game, it's a psychological experience where the only aim was to kill in the most brutal ways possible. They were convinced that Stephan's murder was linked to the game in some way. However, the Entertainment and Leisure software Publishers Association disagreed, and they stated that "We sympathize enormously with the family and parents of Stefan Pakeerah. However, we reject any suggestion or association between the tragic events and the sale of the video game Manhunt. The game in question is classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification and therefore should not be in the possession of a juvenile. Simply being in someone's possession does not and should not lead to the conclusion that a game is responsible for these tragic events."
Then, shortly after, Jack Thompson got involved. Jack Thompson is an American attorney (who was disbarred later on) who had campaigned against violent video games many times before. Jack Thompson claimed that he had written to Rockstar before the release of the game, telling them to cancel the release because the game could inspire copycat killings. He also referred to violent games as "murder simulators." After Jack Thompson had stepped forward and spoken about the game, Stephan's family hired him, and aimed to sue Sony and Rockstar for £50 million. This however, completely failed, because it was discovered on the same day Thompson was hired that there was no link between the game and the murder, and the game was found in Stephan's bedroom, not Warren's.
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| Jack Thomson. |
Dmitry Vinogradov Rampage
In November 2012, a 30 year old Russian man Dmitry Vinogradov killed six of his colleagues at a Pharmacy because his romantic advances towards a female colleague had failed. Dmitry was apparently completely healthy in terms of his mental state, and was able to work at the Pharmacy and own firearms without anyone being concerned. However, he had been drinking a lot before the attack. Of course, since he was a gamer, they linked the murder to his interest in the game Manhunt, which lead to the game being banned.
The Legal Status of Manhunt
In terms of legal status, some countries took action with Manhunt. In New Zealand, the game was banned on December the 11th 2003. The chief censor, Bill Hastings said that "it's a game where the only thing you do is kill everybody you see [...] You have to at least acquiesce in these murders and possibly tolerate, or even move towards enjoying them, which is injurious to the public good."
In Toronto, Canada on December 22nd 2003, a meeting was held between Bill Hastings and the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services. The result was that Manhunt would be classed as a film and would only be available to adults.
In Germany, the game was banned because people saw it as killing people for fun.
In Australia the game was refused classification.
In Russia the game was banned after a due to the murders that I talked about above.
Manhunt 2
A few years later, the controversy returned when Manhunt 2 was announced. Take-Two interactive talked about the links with the first Manhunt game and the murder of Stephan Pakeerah and said that it was not linked in any way. Stephan's parents disagreed and continued to believe that the game played a huge part in their sons murder. Jack Thompson got involved again and wanted to have the game banned. He also believed that the game played a bit part in the murder and that Take-Two were lying about the incident. He also said that he was going to sue Take-Two and Rockstar in an attempt to ban Manhunt 2 and Grand Theft Auto IV as "public nuisances." This backfired, and Take-Two responded by saying that video games are purchased as private entertainment, and cannot be considered public nuisances. Thompson, believing that Take-Two had made a huge mistake, filed a counter-suit, accusing Take-Two of several violations. Thompson thought that this would destroy Take-Two and Rockstar, however he was wrong. The situation ended fairly quickly, and Thompson wasn't allowed to get involved with Take-Two and Rockstar and the sales of their games. Take-Two also had to drop a suit that involved Thompson's attempt to ban their game "Bully" a few years previous.
Thompson instead went on to contacting the CEO of the fast food chain "Wendy's" and he tried to get them to stop their Nintendo Wii promotion because Manhunt 2 was set to release on it. Others, including the Center for a Commercial-Free Childhood were also concerned about the game being made for the Wii, since the Wii was seen as a platform aimed at younger players. The Wii uses motion controls, so if you were stabbing someone in Manhunt, you would do a stabbing motion. Thompson described it as a "training device."
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