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GTA Creators Push Limits With Manhunt

Posted by simoniker on from the a-real-state-of-emergency dept.

Thanks to IGN PS2 for a new, screenshot-toting preview of Manhunt, the forthcoming "brutal urban videogame" produced by the developers of the Grand Theft Auto series. This previously secretive, potentially controversial title starts you, completely defenseless in Carcer City, where 'the Director' has sprung you from Death Row and "...populated [the city] with psychopathic gangs hired for the sole purpose of finding and slaughtering" the player. The piece muses that this "third-person perspective stealth game" seems to be "...much darker, more disturbing... than Grand Theft Auto, which offered seasoned comic humor and parody to counter the bloodshed and chaos."

6 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Controversy... by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 5, Insightful
    It's already apparent that this, much like GTA3 and Mortal Kombat before it, is going to make overprotective parents and bored Congressmen wig out and try to ban video games as a whole. Just remeber: the rating system is there for a reason. A lot of people I know could care less about the ratings, but games like this aren't meant for seven year olds. If people ignore the ratings and buy the game for their kid themselves (as most parents would have to do, considering its rating), they can only get mad at themselves for being irresponsible and not checking the game out prior to purchasing it. In any case, the bottom line should be:

    You should be monitoring what your kid does in their free time. If you're offended by the game, don't buy it for your kid. It's that simple.

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
    1. Re:Controversy... by clambake · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You should be monitoring what your kid does in their free time.

      Spoken like somebody who doesn't have kids.

      Likewise, spoken by someone who SHOULDN'T have kids.

    2. Re:Controversy... by gumpish · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Just remeber: ...the rating system is there for a reason.
      Not to mention the name of the game.

      Manhunt.

      Not to be confused with "Fluffy Bunny in Magical Kingdom" or "Mario Party 8".

      Parents who buy their kid Manhunt and then complain about the content should be bitchslapped.
    3. Re:Controversy... by Lord_Dweomer · · Score: 2, Insightful
      "You should be monitoring what your kid does in their free time. If you're offended by the game, don't buy it for your kid. It's that simple."

      Just out of curiosity, what do you consider then to be an appropriate age for a kid to make their own decision about what games they buy? Because not all parents buy games for their kids, many kids buy them for themselves. And you can't always control your kid, particularly in the latter half of their teens.

      --
      Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
  2. Re:this really sounds like a dumb idea. by Babbster · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Sure, and Nintendo should stick to Mario sequels, Sega should only put out Sonic games and Konami should never release a game without "Metal Gear" in the title.

    It's always amazing to me that with all the calls for fewer sequels and more original games, there are people out there actually clamoring for developers to do the same thing over and over and over again.

  3. Re:Rockstar v. Miyamoto by superultra · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Your post is what I'm talking about. It's as naive as "the media" to merely accept GTA and Manhunt at face value as being not wrong as it is to accept it at face value as being wrong. "The media," or more apt general society overall, refuses to look beyond the surface at video games for their true potential.

    Meanwhile though, 99% of all gamers are so ignorantly defensive of games like GTA and Manhunt, throwing around words like free speech and the like, that they refuse to examine the potential effects of those games on general overall society.

    I suggest there's a middle ground. There is a place and room for games like GTA3, but to merely say that they don't affect the way we think or view the world is just plain ignorant. If it is an art form, as you suggest, then it also has the potential to change the way people think. Shouldn't we then also be concerned if there is an 8 year old playing Manhunt? Yes, yes, the parents. So if the parents don't feed their children, or they neglect their children, to whom does the responsiblity fall? General society. Likewise, if a parent doesn't give a damn that their 10 year old kid is playing a game with prison rape and sexual brutality, shouldn't the rest of us care?

    What can we do, as a society, to prevent that kind of thing from happening? I worked in an EB, and 4 out of 5 parents didn't give a damn what their 6-16 year old kid played. You can't tell me that thousands of 10 year old children playing games like Manhunt and GTA3/VC won't have a general effect on society. If you can tell me that, then this isn't art. It's mere shallow entertainment, and in that case who cares about a stupid little game is legislated?

    I can hear it in your head; you're already coming up with those brisk gamer arguments against censorship etc etc. What I expect of the game industry and enthusiasts is to start thinking - not even doing anything, just thinking - about the effect that their creations have on people and society in general.