Parents of Murdered Child Call for Ban on "Manhunt"

Dorsk 81 · Post by **Dorsk 81** » 2004-07-29 01:47pm

BBC News wrote:Experts have warned against a knee-jerk reaction after the parents of a murdered teenager blamed his killer's obsession with a violent video game.

The parents of Stefan Pakeerah, 14, who was stabbed in Leicester, have called for the game Manhunt to be banned.

Giselle Pakeerah said her son's confessed killer, Warren Leblanc, 17, had mimicked behaviour in Manhunt.

Industry bodies have said it is wrong to blame the game - which has an 18 certificate - but retailer Dixons has already taken it off the shelves.

Teenage killers

It is not the first time "shoot-em-up" video games have been blamed for triggering a violent response.

Relatives of Columbine High School victims filed a lawsuit against game makers after it was claimed teenage killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were influenced by games including Doom.

And German teenager Robert Steinhaeuser, who shot dead 13 teachers and two fellow pupils before turning the gun on himself, was reportedly an avid fan of the game Counter-Strike.

Links: Above story found here and link to stores that have banned the game here.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2004-07-29 01:53pm

oh please. . . if someone does something like this and goes to say it was "because the game told me to" there's obviously something alot more fucked up with that person than simply playing the game.

Tribun · Post by **Tribun** » 2004-07-29 01:54pm

The usual shit.

-In the old times the burned books, because thier content was "bad".
-When the film-idustry became big, there were already the ones who wanted to censor them.
-When television became popular, some already screamed that it was the cause of violence.
-And today they fire thier salvos against computer and video games.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2004-07-29 01:54pm

Load. Of. Horseshit.

They'd better not pull that goddamned game, I'm waiting for it to drop under 49.99 to buy it, I've wanted it for awhile now. goddammit. Why can't people nowadays take mother fucking responsibility for their dipshitted pea-brained moronic selves?

Mimicked behavior...a 17 year old. I'm sorry, but that kid is goddamned well old enough to know when he's being a homicidal fuckwad. Officials should mimic a game called "The Suffering" with that LeBlanc kid.

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2004-07-29 01:55pm

How is it that when some moron kills someone and a violent videogame is found in his possession it gets banned, yet all those people who kill because they think God told them to or because they read a passage in the Bible inspiring it don't get the Bible banned?

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2004-07-29 01:58pm

Cao Cao wrote:How is it that when some moron kills someone and a violent videogame is found in his possession it gets banned, yet all those people who kill because they think God told them to or because they read a passage in the Bible inspiring it don't get the Bible banned?

Damn, you beat me to it. Personally I think mondays should be banned, cookie or beer or whatever for the refrence.

HemlockGrey · Post by **HemlockGrey** » 2004-07-29 02:03pm

Isn't that a plank of the Monster Raving Loony Party?

That said, this is all true. WarCraft 3 has driven me to raise an undead army and march on the capital. It's only a matter of time before this world burns!

Dorsk 81 · Post by **Dorsk 81** » 2004-07-29 02:07pm

Did anyone happen to catch the caption under the kids pic in the first link?

Stefan was repeatedly battered and stabbed by his older friend

I was 17 when I played Manhunt (I never got round to finishing it, but that's neither here nor there), do you see me going out killing people? How many other 17 year olds have played it I wonder? How many of them have killed people? All cos of one unbalanced little fucker....

Does anyone remember that kid in america who was going to go on a killing spree because of the Matrix? Did they try to ban the Matrix?

And then ofcourse as Cao Cao said, the big one, the Bible tells you to kill people! I don't recall it ever saying in any game or movie that you should kill people.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2004-07-29 02:10pm

Dorsk 81 wrote:Did anyone happen to catch the caption under the kids pic in the first link?
Stefan was repeatedly battered and stabbed by his older friend
I was 17 when I played Manhunt (I never got round to finishing it, but that's neither here nor there), do you see me going out killing people? How many other 17 year olds have played it I wonder? How many of them have killed people? All cos of one unbalanced little fucker....

The Wright Show on BBC 1 had a guest today saying that even if only 1 in 50 million killed, that's a good enough reason to ban the game.

I swear, these people get worse.

Zac Naloen · Post by **Zac Naloen** » 2004-07-29 02:12pm

How many people have played this game?

How many have claimed it made them want to kill...?

I rest my case.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2004-07-29 02:28pm

HemlockGrey wrote:Isn't that a plank of the Monster Raving Loony Party?

Nope that's wedensdays.

That said, this is all true. WarCraft 3 has driven me to raise an undead army and march on the capital. It's only a matter of time before this world burns!

Thanks to Fallout I now live in a wasteland filled with mutants and other strange creatures with no sign of civilization beyond the place I call home. Or as it's otherwise known, Scotland.

I mean seriously, how fucking dumb are these bastards? Cars kill more than 1 in 50 million people, are they up for banning? What about booze and cigarettes? How's about poultry? Maybe breathing? Every single murderer in history has breathed, that's the common thread! Outlaw oxygen, save lives!

Dorsk 81 · Post by **Dorsk 81** » 2004-07-29 02:38pm

Keevan_Colton wrote:I mean seriously, how fucking dumb are these bastards? Cars kill more than 1 in 50 million people, are they up for banning? What about booze and cigarettes? How's about poultry? Maybe breathing? Every single murderer in history has breathed, that's the common thread! Outlaw oxygen, save lives!

You're forgetting the deal maker, every murderer has killed! Lets ban killing! Oh wait...

What seems weird to me is that on Channel 4 news just now, they gave the impression that the guy who killed the kid didn't try and use Manhunt as an excuse, it was the kids mum who found out the guy played it alot and is now trying to get it banned... weird no? Ofcourse that could just be the way it was or wasn't reported.

neoolong · Post by **neoolong** » 2004-07-29 03:05pm

So was his friend trying to kill him? Because if you're trying to imitate Manhunt, aren't all the guys you kill people trying to kill you too?

Of course, I haven't actually played Manhunt.

Spice Runner · Post by **Spice Runner** » 2004-07-29 03:11pm

Another case of parents refusing to take responsibility for their children. They'd rather leave it up to the state.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2004-07-29 03:48pm

Because the kid has mental problems, it's the games fault?

Uh-huh, sure.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2004-07-29 03:49pm

Could it be a parenting problem? NO!

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-07-29 03:51pm

Beeb wrote:And German teenager Robert Steinhaeuser, who shot dead 13 teachers and two fellow pupils before turning the gun on himself, was reportedly an avid fan of the game Counter-Strike.

Of course he was, he liked shooting things! This does not in any way establish a causal relationship, only shows the mind-boggling tendancy for people who like to kill IRL to also like to kill in video games. Holy shit.

Keevan_Colton wrote:Damn, you beat me to it. Personally I think mondays should be banned, cookie or beer or whatever for the refrence.

Sounds like Garfield. I'll take the beer.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2004-07-29 04:22pm

Howedar wrote:
Keevan_Colton wrote:Damn, you beat me to it. Personally I think mondays should be banned, cookie or beer or whatever for the refrence.
Sounds like Garfield. I'll take the beer.

Nope, not garfield. I was thinking more of this.

Illuminatus Primus · Post by **Illuminatus Primus** » 2004-07-29 04:29pm

Too bad the game's sold millions of copies and guess what? Only one is a total psycho and killed someone.

This isn't even correlation without causation. There's not even a real correlation.

Lord Pounder · Post by **Lord Pounder** » 2004-07-29 04:38pm

Parents are tying to find any excuse to take the light of the fact their son killed someone. Games and music and tv do not make murderers, parents the medial just makes these fucked up cretins more inventive.

Xenophobe3691 · Post by **Xenophobe3691** » 2004-07-29 04:41pm

Illuminatus Primus wrote:Too bad the game's sold millions of copies and guess what? Only one is a total psycho and killed someone.

This isn't even correlation without causation. There's not even a real correlation.

Remember, these are the dipshits that don't vaccinate their children because there's a "chance" that they can get autism (Which was disproved a long time ago...idiots). Causation goes out the door when faced with the possibility that they just might be fucked up in the head...

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2004-07-29 04:41pm

Keevan_Colton wrote:
HemlockGrey wrote:Thanks to Fallout I now live in a wasteland filled with mutants and other strange creatures with no sign of civilization beyond the place I call home. Or as it's otherwise known, Scotland.

As a fellow Scot, I can testify that this man speaks the truth.

You know, I've played as the Predator in AVP2, I've suddenly got the urge to rip someones head and spinal cord off.

God knows what they'd make of Postal 2.

Cao Cao · Post by **Cao Cao** » 2004-07-29 04:41pm

Some people just have this wonderful capacity to blame something, anything for a horrible act.

Because it just can't POSSIBLY be that innocent little Johnny is messed up in the head. Nope, it's a videogame's fault.
That's why I beat people to death with a crowbar after playing Half Life, try to scrunch up into a little ball and lay explosives after playing Metroid Prime and jump on people's heads after playing Super Mario.

Post by **Darth Wong** » 2004-07-29 04:44pm

You can't blame grieving parents for finding scapegoats. They are not being rational, nor can we expect them to be. You can, however, blame legislators who use them to further their agendas.

Howedar · Post by **Howedar** » 2004-07-29 04:50pm

I don't think anyone here is blaming the parents (though I could be wrong), I think people are instead just ripping up their claims.