New Zealand Censor Bans Manhunt Outright

rh2600 writes "The New Zealand censors have banned Rockstar Games' controversial stealth action PlayStation 2 game Manhunt, making it the 'first [ever] video game banned by the Office of Film and Literature Classification.' The New Zealand Herald has a story about it, including some pretty interesting comments from a usually liberal Censor's Office: 'Unlike the Grand Theft Auto series, which... had an element of humor in its depiction of police chases, Manhunt has none of that whatsoever.'" The censor concludes by saying: "You have to at least acquiesce in these [in-game] murders and possibly tolerate, or even move towards enjoying them, which is injurious to the public good."

Comments

Amen!

[Recoil_42]

I'm a hugely against people who say violence in games is "evil", etc. I've was playing doom since i was 7, (and other games as time goes on, of couse) and i can honestly say i am not affected by it at all in a violent way.

I think violence in games affecting kids is a function of parenting. Your parents must teach you right and wrong, and once you understand it, its fine to play games. Kids like those two that took a shotgun on the highway and blamed it on GTA obviously don't have very good parents... where were the parents when that happened? Why were the kids left alone with a shotgun? and someone for the love of god please explain to me why a 13 and 14 year old THAT immature should have access to a mature rated game AT ALL. (ok, i know the answer, and so do you -- the parents are ignorant... and thats the point im trying to make.)

but Rockstar went way too far with Manhunt, and the ESRB most definetly did not go far enough.

I absolutely 100% agree with the NZ censor. GTA has an element of humor in everything it does.. (for example, it doesnt discriminate against hatians, it discriminates against everyone.. therefore, everything is taken down a notch and you are supposed to just laugh at how everything is against everything else in the game)

The police chases are akin to some really arcadey racing games, some of the game is like a platformer, and some of it is like a shooting gallery. And you have control of your actons -- the game doesnt encourage you to hire a hooker, then beat her up with a baseball bat -- it allows you to.

In contrast, manhunt not only encourages you to kill people, it rewards you greatly for doing so, (in GTA, there is a risk the police will see you; or that a bystander is a good samaritan who will aid your victim by beating the crap out of you), and even gives bonuses depending on how gruesome the death is. (GTA gives some points for killing people, but its really very little in the scheme of things.. more of a bonus for causing chaos, as if you chain reaction things, the points add up.)

Manhunt really is a sick game. If it were up to me, it would be banned outright.

About time.

[ex_ottoyuhr]

Good. It's past time that someone catch on and ban that game. Rockstar has obviously trolled the ESRB, and I wish that they'd reacted a bit more vehemently -- we're left with New Zealand banning the game while it's being sold in American Wal-Marts.

*sigh*