Batten down the Hatches lads …here comes a S$%^storm

Manhunt game withdrawn by stores

A number of high street retailers have taken the violent computer game Manhunt off their shelves.

The move comes after the parents of a schoolboy murdered by a friend blamed the game for their son\'s death.

Warren Leblanc, 17, of Braunstone Frith, Leicester, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the murder of 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah in February 2004

Stefan\'s parent\'s claimed Leblanc had been obsessed by the game but standards bodies have rejected the link.

Patrick Pakeerah, Stefan\'s father, welcomed the decision to withdraw the game from sale.

He said: "It\'s a video instruction on how to murder somebody, it just shows how you kill people and what weapons you use.

"If we can stop another family having to go through what we\'re going through now, by taking this games and games of this nature off the shelves, then we would have achieved something and Stefan wouldn\'t have died in vain."

Leblanc had savagely beaten his victim with a claw hammer and stabbed him repeatedly after luring him to a local park.

Leicester Crown Court heard the defendant had planned to rob Stefan.
However, Stefan\'s mother, Giselle, claimed Leblanc had been obsessed by the game, which awards points for savage killings.

"When one looks at what Warren did to Stephan and looks at the brutality and viciousness of the game one can see links," she said
She said teenagers, who lack the psychological maturity of adults, play the games, even though they are aimed at over-18s.

And she said she was "ecstatic" about Dixon\'s decision to stop selling the game.
A spokeswoman for Dixons said on Thursday: "We are taking it off the shelves with immediate effect."
In addition to the Dixons Group Plc, which includes PC World and Currys, video game specialist Game announced that it had taken Manhunt off its shelves as a mark of respect.

Other stores including WH Smith are debating whether to stop selling the game.

A statement from the game\'s publishers Rockstar North said: "We extend our deepest sympathies to those affected by these tragic events.

"Rockstar Games is a leading publisher of interactive entertainment geared towards mature audiences and markets its games responsibly, targeting advertising and marketing only to adult consumers ages 18 and older.

"Rockstar Games submits every game for certification to the BBFC - British Board of Film Certification and clearly marks the game with the BBFC-approved rating."

A spokesperson for the British Board of Film Classification said the game had been given an 18 certificate.
It was also the board\'s opinion that there were no issues of harm attached to the game and there was no evidence directly linking the playing of games with violent behaviour.

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers\' Association, the voluntary standards body for the video game industry, said: "We sympathise enormously with the family and parents of Stefan Pakeerah.

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

Professor Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University, a psychology expert, said more research was needed into how violent video games can influence the behaviour of adolescents.

He said: "Research has shown those aged eight years or below do in the short-term re-enact or copy what they see on the screen.

"He said: "It\'s a video instruction on how to murder somebody, it just shows how you kill people and what weapons you use."

Yes because no one has ever heard of murder untill manhunt came out!!

DAMN YOU ROCKSTARRRRRRR!

It\'s true though. I remember back in 85 when kids learned how to hunt ducks.

And dogs learned how to giggle.

*la la la*

-Dan

Pathetic...

There is so much beneath the surface than the game itself... Think of the thousands of other kids who play this yet do not go out and actually kill somebody... If anything the parents should take themselves off of the shelves by sterilizing themselves. This is a prime example of horrible parenting.

Wonders what games Ted Bundy played when he was a kid? Amoung many other serial killers.

New developments may stir things up in the recent allegations that Manhunt had inspired the murder of a 14-year-old boy in the UK. Local police announced today that they had indeed found a copy of the action game, but it was found in the victim\'s bedroom.

:rolleyes:



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Oh shit he let his friend borrow the game?


He\'s lucky he got hypnotized by the games evil powers first!

[Titan]

Kids blame the games so it looks like they are more innocent and they did not think of this on their own. Its the kids fault he did this, not a game.

Originally posted by Deadly Hamster
"He said: "It\'s a video instruction on how to murder somebody, it just shows how you kill people and what weapons you use."

Yes because no one has ever heard of murder untill manhunt came out!!

DAMN YOU ROCKSTARRRRRRR!

exactly what i thought when i read that