- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I'm guessing this thread has been made as a result of the recent UK murder? The murder was supposidly copied from a 'PS2' game called 'Manhunt' where the more brutal you kill the more points you get.
Now some people are trying to get violent games banned in the UK and they're starting with 'Manhunt'.
Well I see it as this:
* If they banned violent games altogether, then there will still be enough violence from films and media to effectively have as much violence as if violent games are allowed. It was inevitable that a murder was going to be copied from a game, film or media; it was just a matter of time and a pick of the source to make it happen.
* We do have age restrictions on violent games and films. Although the underage person might not be able to purchase the game or DVD over the counter or see the film at his local cinema, he could quite easily get someone older looking (or old enough) to buy the DVD or game. People that are classed as 'under age' for something are bound to get their hands on the material somehow.
* Restricting people from a product will always make them more determined to get it. Imagine if Halo 2 was banned in the UK, I bet there would be more online orders and record numbers of flights to the USA as a result.
* People that murder because of what they have seen in a computer game or film are one in a million. They are pretty much 'tapped in the head' in some shape or form. Banning violent games would do nothing.
* Games only appear more violent because of the advances in computer graphics and realism. In my opinion (probably some of you also agree), I see violent films (and sometimes what is showed on the news) more violent than the games out there. I think its mainly because with films and media, it is real life people, not trillions of zeros and ones. Even though the graphics of games are good, they cannot beat real life footage. I bet we could make a cinematic of the exact same (brutal) situation in a game (computerised) and in a film (real footage) and people would go "That's so god damn cool!" at the game and "Ewww!" at the film. The fact that the game would probably not be able to create the same atmosphere and realism as real footage would be the only reason why.
[color=white] Games probably are more violent when compared to the very beginning, but who can blame it? How can 'Pong' and 'Space Invaders' be violent when the graphics are so bad? It was only natural for games to get more violent as the graphics of games grew better. Maybe Manhunt took it a little too far with the concept (the more brutal the kill, the more points scored), but I don't think that there's a need to pull it off the shelves because of the actions of one (probably seriously disturbed) person. [/color]