Gruesome killings for ‘adults only’

PARENTS try as much as possible to stop their children watching inappropriate television programmes or films.

It is natural that they do not want their child corrupted by material which they are not fully equipped to understand. Some might argue that is the only course of action, others that children cannot be wrapped in cotton wool.

But what about a game that actually gives the child the power to chase after and attack an innocent woman on screen, or to massacre hundreds of people without reason?

Is it fitting that such a game be available to children? Is there a distinction between the television programme and the computer game? According to the film censor, John Kelleher, who this week banned the new game Manhunt 2 from sale here, there is a big difference.

“You cannot compare them,” he said. “With the game you are actually physically in the experience. You are part of something. At the cinema you are a third party watching something happening to someone else on the screen.”

Manhunt 2 was the first game to be banned in Ireland by Mr Kelleher’s organisation, the Irish Film Censor’s Office (IFCO).

The office said it recognised that in certain films, DVDs and video games, strong graphic violence might be a justifiable element within the overall context of the work.

“However, in the case of Manhunt 2, IFCO believes that there is no such context, and the level of gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence is unacceptable,” it said.

For the record, players of Manhunt 2 would have assumed the role of a scientist with amnesia who escapes from an asylum and then goes on a bloody killing spree as he tries to remember his past.

If truth be told, that is roughly the same scenario as hundreds of other gory games available on PlayStation and Nintendo computer consoles.

However, IFCO’s British counterpart, the British Board of Film Classification said the game was distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone and said there was sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way the killings were committed, and encouraged, in the game.

Mr Kelleher agrees: “Why does there have to be a graphic level of violence like this in a game? Surely the game designers are capable of creating a game that has the same amount of gory elements that there always was without having to gruesomely kill people,” he said.

Manhunt 2 was always going to have a harder time than other games in getting past the censor. Its likely pedigree was hinted by its predecessor Manhunt which hit the headlines in Britain when it was blamed for inspiring the murder of schoolboy Stefan Pakeerah. The 14-year-old was stabbed and beaten to death in Leicester in February 2004 and his parents believe the killer, Warren LeBlanc, 17, was inspired by the game to which it was alleged he was addicted. The game’s makers rejected that, saying there was a clear certification structure in place.

On the new release, Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take Two which was to distribute Manhunt 2 in the US, said the game had his full support and that consumers should decide for themselves.

“The Rockstar team has come up with a game that fits squarely within the horror genre and was intended to do so,” Mr Zelnick said in a statement.

“It brings a unique, formerly unheard of cinematic quality to interactive entertainment, and is also a fine piece of art. We continue to stand behind this extraordinary game. We believe in freedom of creative expression, as well as responsible marketing, both of which are essential to our business of making great entertainment.”

Silent in much of the coverage this week, has been the companies who stood to make millions out of Manhunt 2.

Sony and Nintendo have said they will not allow a game classed as ‘adults only’ in the United States to be played on their consoles there. However, this game was due to roll out in Europe and the US within the next two weeks and it had been specifically developed for the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 2 consoles. Both companies could not have failed therefore to be aware of what its contents were and conversely they must have been prepared to let it be put on release to their customers.

PlayStation already has two games rated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board as ‘adults only’, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas and Thrill Kill.