Ps2 Kills Child!!!! Death By Playstation!!

[Aoln]

I've never heard of Manhunt before this but now im considering buying it :|

 

[Bodhi]

You should it's a great game. I've never heard so many people cackle with glee as another grunt is gutted like a pig as when they play that game. Cos let's face it everyone has an inate desire to stab somebody they really don't like in the face as brutally as possible - the difference between the normal person and the psychopath, is that the normal person doesn't think it's a particularly good idea to carry out that urge, so it gets shelved along with the one to bend the foxy receptionist at work over the photocopier.

This reminds me actually, I thought I'd show me dad Manhunt when it first came out, showing him a simple execution with a knife I think. I explained to him the different levels of execution and the different weapons. Some memorable quotes from me dad include:-

"That was the white one? What's the red one like then?"
"A baseball bat? Ooooh lemme see."

He was clearly disturbed by me playing these ultra-violent computer games, and thought I was going to become a raving homicidal maniac. Which is why he wanted a go........


Don't blame games, blame the nutter with a screw loose.

 

[nath]

Bodhi and nath in agreement shocker!

Though I wouldn't put it quite like that, it's spot on.

 

[Whipped]

The most shocking thing I saw last night was the poll on Ch 5 news about wether all violent video games should be banned. 89% said yes. 89 %!!!!!

Now, this shows one of to things. 1) The influence the media has over the general public. 2) The level of intelligence you need to be willing to part with £1 to vote in a Ch 5 news poll

Also, looking at eBay, Manhunt was going for around £20. The top ones selling now are up to £30-40 already. If you have a copy, may be worth a sale.

 

[JBP|]

there was a poll on radio 1 also and 78% said no

 

[TdC]

Now, this shows one of to things. 1) The influence the media has over the general public. 2) The level of intelligence you need to be willing to part with £1 to vote in a Ch 5 news poll

indeed. this is what disturbes me the most. not the lone psychopath who decides on a whim to act out his/her fantasy, but the masses who let themselves be spoonfed whatever angle the media makers take. the magic box in the livingroom is placing pre-packaged thoughts in the mind of the mob, and the more sensationalist the news is the more detrimental the outcome will be.

 

[old.Tohtori]

Did you know that back ni the early 1900, books were blamed for causing violent murders. IT's always the media(any form) that gets the blame.

But since this is the trend....



*leaves dance dance revolution II on PS running, The Sims on PC, sets his VCR to loop teletubbies, his stereo to loop N'Sync and grabs a chainsaw*

Hopefully i'll do the world a great great service...

*WROOOOOM!*

 

[DaGaffer]

Ban Full Spectrum Warrior! Its shows US troops killing Iraqis in a number of violent scenarios! Oh, no, wait...

 

[Ch3tan]

Woolworths removed the game from sale to. There is to much negative publicity surrounding it, not worth the hassel from parents especially over the school holidays.

Why are his parents blaming the game and its makers when they let their son play a game rated 18. The game is not ELSPA rated, its BBFC rated 18. So it is not even a voluntary rating, its illegal to sell that game to anyone under 18. I find the parents lack of responsibility as usuall, shocking, but it's also exactly what I expect from parenting in this country.

A film or game alone does not make a normal person go and kill. THere are obviously other issues with this boy, and something would have set him off eventually. I wish the press would for once report impartialy and accuretly. If the parents were blamed for once it might actually start increasing the quality of parenting in this country.

 

[Will]

I thought everyone on here was a leftie. It's almost eOT round here tonight :/

Have you read any of the debates around here? It seems like a left-wing paradise until crime and punishment comes up, and once that topic comes up, it sounds like the Republican Party Convention.

 

[old.user4556]

The software house will be rubbing their hands with glee.

Remember when they banned that Alice Cooper song? It made his music sales go through the roof.

I'd never heard of the game before, but (as mentioned) it sounds like a real blast and may invest in a copy.... if i can find it.

G

 

[nath]

Honestly, I wouldn't imagine they'll be that gleeful about this. Regardless of how bullshit it all is, if I created something that was then accused of being involved in a murder somehow - I'd be pretty devistated. Someone died.

Sales will go up though, probably.

 

[tris-]

like the guy who invented knives. he must be crying every day!

i will sell my xbox copy for £70 if anyone wants to buy it

 

[nath]

Knives are just sharp implents designed to cut, Manhunt is a horrifically violent computer game.

 

[Whipped]

btw, just to clarify. It's the mother of the dead boy that is calling for the ban and called the other kid "inherintly evil".

 

[DaGaffer]

Honestly, I wouldn't imagine they'll be that gleeful about this. Regardless of how bullshit it all is, if I created something that was then accused of being involved in a murder somehow - I'd be pretty devistated. Someone died.

Sales will go up though, probably.

Check Amazon's sales chart - Guess what's in at Number 2

 

[Gray]

like the guy who invented knives. he must be crying every day!

i will sell my xbox copy for £70 if anyone wants to buy it

Thats its tho isnt it... When i seen that image of the paper yesterday, saying it was Playstation, i didnt relise that Xbox also supported the game as well...

Dont see em slaggin off Microsoft?

 

[Yaka]

Manhunt sold more copies on ps2 than either the xbox or pc versions both of which were released a few months later, think it hit 100,000 units in its first 2 weeks or somat then sales diead off.


one thing i have noticed in our newsagents, seen a few kids ask if the ps2 mags had any Manhunt cheats.

 

[MYstIC G]

tbh if it stops them constantly posting shit about Diana all the better

 

[Bodhi]

Manhunt sold more copies on ps2 than either the xbox or pc versions both of which were released a few months later,

Sounds familiar.......

 

[Will]

Clicky. An interesting article about the death, debunks the "Killer Playstation" theory well.

 

[Stazbumpa]

Life is 30 years. For good behaviour, and if he shows remorse, he'll get out in about 15 years.

Which is how it should be. There is no point putting people in jail and throwing away the key. Jail is about rehabilitation, as well as punishment.

First bit: Not strictly true, as there is/was a trial with a "natural life" sentence which does what it says on the tin. A typical life sentence is precisely that, and the Judge will set a tariff or minimum number of years that the con will serve before he is CONSIDERED for parole. Life sentence for murder, tariff typically 12-15 years. Life sentence for arson (s'true), tariff 3-5 years.
When/if they get released, they are on license for life ie: they have to remain in constant contact with probation and their arse can get hauled back to jail for pretty much anything. If they do get recalled, the fact they were a previous lifer normally adds years to any new sentence.

Second bit: Agree in part. Some people can and are rehab'd, but others seriously need locking up forever.

On topic bit: Killer PS2 story is another classic case of the blame shifting, "its not his fault", pick an easy target bullshit that sweeps this country every day. The boy was a nutcase and would've done something seriously violent sooner or later anyway.

edit:// Not a bad link at all Will, food for thought for those that will let themselves hear it. But we all know they won't.

 

[Tom]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/mar02/31536.asp

Deja vu?

 

[Shovel]

That's actually quite an interesting read Tom. It's not particularly ott, at least not by newspaper standards. It's also not adverse to pointing out that people are quite capable of playing the game without killing themself/others and seems to make it pretty clear that the victim had other problems in his life as well. To be honest, if all articals on fatalities where games were somewhere involved were written like that then we'd probably be alright.

The centre of the artical is maybe less effective though: Naturally there's still a lawyer in the middle trying to sue a big company, but whether this idea of warning labels would actually work is harder to see.

I don't think anyone would dispute that games are addictive, they're designed that way. But what can you do to stop consenting adults escaping into them? And even if you did, surely they'd then just find something else?


-- As for what the Daily Mail would report if they got hold of this story though, is an entirely different matter.

 

[mank!]

Clearly he killed himself because of Everquest, nothing to do with suffering from depression and having schizoid personality disorder.

 

[Gray]

hmmm altho it seems that article is more than 2yrs old. Now, it states there he has got epilepsy, if i recall on the insides of the manuals on most games it has something about excessive play could cause fits.

He plays the game, he agrees to it. I know games like Everquest are addictive, ive got myself into Diablo2, hard to get away from it , but i cant see the reason why he would want to kill himself.

Ive heard of the scams which other people do to get "godly" items from other players, happens a lot in Diablo, and probably in every game. But fact is, what you lose in the game, is always simple to get back, via trading or finding it again.

Or perhaps the character he was "building" up, got accidentally deleted? I know ive deleted a fair few characters by accident, or maybe he was caught cheating and they banned his account?

Its all complete "maybes", "Shawn was playing 12 hours a day, and he wasn't supposed to because he was epileptic, and the game would cause seizures," she said. "Probably the last eight times he had seizures were because of stints on the computer." <- Now, is "probably" good enough to sue? And the family themselves knew it was doing him no good, what was stopping them in the beginning to get him some help asap.

Anyway, on a light note, sure we've all seen C-A-D...:

<linky>

 

[mank!]

hmmm altho it seems that article is more than 2yrs old. Now, it states there he has got epilepsy, if i recall on the insides of the manuals on most games it has something about excessive play could cause fits.

He plays the game, he agrees to it. I know games like Everquest are addictive, ive got myself into Diablo2, hard to get away from it , but i cant see the reason why he would want to kill himself.

Ive heard of the scams which other people do to get "godly" items from other players, happens a lot in Diablo, and probably in every game. But fact is, what you lose in the game, is always simple to get back, via trading or finding it again.

Or perhaps the character he was "building" up, got accidentally deleted? I know ive deleted a fair few characters by accident, or maybe he was caught cheating and they banned his account?

Its all complete "maybes", "Shawn was playing 12 hours a day, and he wasn't supposed to because he was epileptic, and the game would cause seizures," she said. "Probably the last eight times he had seizures were because of stints on the computer." <- Now, is "probably" good enough to sue? And the family themselves knew it was doing him no good, what was stopping them in the beginning to get him some help asap.

Anyway, on a light note, sure we've all seen C-A-D...:

<linky>

Or perhaps more realistically, he killed himself because he was depressed? If I went and hung myself after England got knocked out of Euro2004, would journalists go mad about football being too addictive?

No. It's a case of people not understanding games properly, and why people play them, not what they can do to someone.

 

[Bullitt]

The plot thickens

Shows just how willing the media was to assume the worst and jump on the old game blame bandwagon.

In summary the article says the game was actually found in the victims bedroom, not the murderers.

 

[stormrider]

What a surprise, game sales boom:

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100...saddened--by-game-s-sales-boom-name_page.html

 

[Driwen]

Ive heard of the scams which other people do to get "godly" items from other players, happens a lot in Diablo, and probably in every game. But fact is, what you lose in the game, is always simple to get back, via trading or finding it again.

there are scammers in a game like EQ, but those are probably only 100 on a server and only one or two who are smart enough and actually aiming for the valuable items. A server usually can let 3k people play at one time, atleast thats for daoc and for FFXI its more than 4k. Scamming doesnt happen that often in mmorpgs and most of the time the scammed person gets help from his friends and will have most of the items back in a month.

Or perhaps the character he was "building" up, got accidentally deleted? I know ive deleted a fair few characters by accident, or maybe he was caught cheating and they banned his account?

Doubt the guy was cheating and EQ hasnt deleted a single character since start and if you delete it yourself you might get it restored, atleast thats possible in FFXI and DAOC.

Its all complete "maybes", "Shawn was playing 12 hours a day, and he wasn't supposed to because he was epileptic, and the game would cause seizures," she said. "Probably the last eight times he had seizures were because of stints on the computer." <- Now, is "probably" good enough to sue? And the family themselves knew it was doing him no good, what was stopping them in the beginning to get him some help asap.

Anyway, on a light note, sure we've all seen C-A-D...:

<linky>

Yes games are bad for people with epileptic, but then again the games usually warn you of this and the guy knew it aswell. He either didnt mind it or was so addicted that it didnt matter to him.
Important is that most people playing them are a little addicted to the game, but they usually are living ok. Besides that the guy most likely didnt abondon his live for EQ, he abondoned his live for other reasons and EQ was just a thing to fill the time with, if it hadnt been there it would have been the TV or maybe even books.