Manhunt 2 is banned in the UK

For the first time in the past decade, UK censors have banned a video game. The British Board of Film Classification banned Manhunt 2 for its “unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying.”

The ban was celebrated by some including the family of a 14 year old who was killed by a 17 year old in February, 2004. The parents believed that the 17 year old was inspired to kill their son by the first Manhunt title. Police hold that robbery was actually the motive behind the murder and not the video game itself.

Personally speaking, I disagree with most any form of censorship and am glad we haven’t come to these measures here in the US. What happened to personal accountability? Are games not rated like movies? Is it not the parent’s job to monitor what their child plays?

Why are so many quick to judge video games while there are countless movies that display scenes of rape, torture, murder and so on all the time? Why does film seem to receive little negative attention of this nature? Is that simply because the same people romping around fighting to ban games actually enjoy watching these movies? If they enjoyed video games as much film would we see this charade continue?

Read more about is on the BBC

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