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[Dekajelly]

Tha Dixons group, which includes Dixons, Currys and PC World took the product off their shelves, as did chain store Game.

Stefan Pakeerah, 14, was repeatedly battered with a claw hammer and stabbed to death after being lured to a local park....

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30000-1145259,00.html

 

[Gattsu25]

didn't walmart ban the game as well?

 

[DSN2K]

haha...

knew this shit would start happening.

 

[pcostabel]

I guess now it will actually start selling. Good going, Rockstar!

 

[luxsol]

I love this part.

The prosecution said Leblanc had planned to rob his younger friend to help repay a drugs debt. But following the hearing, Stefan's parents said Leblanc had mimicked Manhunt, an horrific game in which the players score points for violent killings

So it wasn't for the money and drugs, but because he was role-playing as his favorite character!

 

[Gattsu25]

I love this part.

So it wasn't for the money and drugs, but because he was role-playing as his favorite character!

It all makes sense now...Manhunt really is to blame because he would never have committed a crime had he not played it

 

[Deg]

Dixons and GAME. No surprise. Both are very similar companies and evil.

The guy shouldnt have killed period. Sounded like a messed up person.

 

[DCharlie]

I bet they ban the new GTA as well - the last thing they want is millions of copies being sold from their store!

it's soooo fucking easy to take the moral highground on a product that's past it's sell by date... if any of these places actually belive in this, they WILL NOT stock GTA:SA when it launches - but we all know they will. Fucking hypocrits.

 

[Deg]

I like how they are trying to avoid real problems by just blaming games.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3936237.stm

According tot he BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)

There is no evidence playing video games results in violent behaviour. There is evidence that violent people are attracted to violent material.

Very true.

 

[Deg]

Apparently the game is still on the shelves in Dixons and GAME. Offical lineis they have pulled it off the shelves but noone online has seen evidence. Their online shops sold out. and the game has seen a boost in sales.

 

[Vennt]

Manager: "Can you take Manhunt of the shelves? - We don't want to catch any flak"

Salesperson: "We don't need to, the kids are doing it for us, and paying us."

Manager: "Ooooh, $$$$ Bling! - Isn't free publicity great!"

 

[Sysgen]

I really liked Manhunt. I would love to see Manhunt 2 on Xenon/PS3 becuase the only thing that detracted from the game were the shitty graphics. I mean they were going for murder/death/kill realism and then you get crap graphics. It just "killed" the realism. Give me more realism and new murder animations / scenarios / weapons and I'm in.

 

[Jonnyboy117]

Their online shops sold out. and the game has seen a boost in sales.

At least that guy didn't die in vain.

 

[Ghost]

Manager: "Can you take Manhunt of the shelves? - We don't want to catch any flak"

Salesperson: "We don't need to, the kids are doing it for us, and paying us."

Manager: "Ooooh, $$$$ Bling! - Isn't free publicity great!"

Its more like

Manager:

"Take Manhunt off the shelves, some kid got killed"

Dixons Employee:

duh...cant right now, gotta tell these naive people how great Hewlett Packard PCs are!

 

[Alcibiades]

Its more like

Manager:

"Take Manhunt off the shelves, some kid got killed"

Dixons Employee:

duh...cant right now, gotta tell these naive people how great Hewlett Packard PCs are!

lmao...

 

[Newduck]

Maybe someone should actually confront the stores about the fact that they have no problems selling these games to underage people at launch to make money, full well knowing the content. Then they take the game off the shelves to appeal to all the ignorant mothers who blame the games for their maladjusted children, game and dixons are gonna get praised for taking it off the shelves, all while probably taking a good amount of money from the original sales of it over here.

 

[DSN2K]

Its more like

Manager:

"Take Manhunt off the shelves, some kid got killed"

Dixons Employee:

duh...cant right now, gotta tell these naive people how great Hewlett Packard PCs are!

 

[gofreak]

Wow, this is getting top billing here.. lead story on sky news. Kinda surprising.

 

[Deg]

Sky News is Fox news Europe (News corp)

 

[bunkum]

GAMES INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION REJECTS CLAIMS OVER MANHUNT
The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association

Wednesday 28th July 19.30hrs, London, UK

A STATEMENT

We sympathise enormously with the family and parents of Stefan Pakeerah.

However, we reject any suggestion or association between the tragic events in the Midlands and the sale of the video game Manhunt.

The game in question is classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification and therefore should not be in the possession of a juvenile. We would also add that simply being in someone's possession does not and should not lead to the conclusion that a game is responsible for these tragic events.

Games are played by all ages of people, from 8 to 80, and all are subjected to strict regulation. There is no evidence to suggest a link with events carried out in everyday life, as many eminent experts have continually concluded.

We would emphasise the need for all parents to be aware of the guidelines and ratings which apply to all games. Whilst we cannot comment on behalf of the publisher of the game in question, the procedures that it adopted were entirely responsible and in line with legal and industry codes of practise.

In conclusion we would add that for the most recent records available, less than one per cent of games sold in the UK are rated 18 plus by the BBFC.

-Ends-

 

[golem]

i like glenn reynolds' theory.. porn + violent games = good for society
http://www.techcentralstation.com/072804C.html

After all, one of the great changes in teenagers' social environments over the past decade or so has been far greater exposure to explicit pornography, via the Internet, and violence, via videogames. Where twenty or thirty years ago teenagers had to go to some effort to see pictures of people having sex, now those things are as close as a Google query. (In fact, on the Internet it takes some small effort to avoid such pictures.) Meanwhile videogames have gotten more violent, with efforts to limit their content failing on First Amendment grounds.

But -- despite continued warnings from concerned mothers' groups -- teenagers are less violent, and they're having less sex, notwithstanding the predictions of many concerned people that such exposure would have the opposite effect. More virtual sex and violence would seem to go along with less real sex and violence.

 

[Deg]

GAME still selling Manhunt...

http://shop.game.net/ViewProduct.aspx?mid=323529

http://shop.game.net/ViewProduct.aspx?mid=323455

http://shop.game.net/ViewProduct.aspx?mid=321944

Guess they didnt want to miss out on the sales

 

[hooo]

it's soooo fucking easy to take the moral highground on a product that's past it's sell by date... if any of these places actually belive in this, they WILL NOT stock GTA:SA when it launches - but we all know they will. Fucking hypocrits.

They aren't hypocritical at all. They've decided not to stock it because of the bad press. I imagine they're #1 priority is to make money and associating themselves with a game accused of inspiring murder isn't going to help them with their customer base. If they can sell GTA:SA without anyone objecting, I'm sure they will, it's just they aren't going to stock a product that's going to cause them to lose other business. I don't expect a for-profit company to have ethics built in its core, but I do expect it to follow the whims of the customer base that supports it.

 

[Gek54]

Becuase people are going to boycott all the stores that sell the game???