Anti-Game Activists Help Promote Violent Video Games

from the nice-work dept

Mon, Jun 25th 2007 12:14am — Mike Masnick

Last week, we witnessed various attempts to ban the game Manhunt 2 through various country censors. This campaign also resulted in the ESRB giving the game its "AO" or "Adults Only" rating -- which makes it quite difficult to sell. Following this, Take-Two Interactive announced it's going to delay the launch of the game in order to respond. This led to cheers from the activists fighting against the video game -- but they may be cheering too soon. Various analysts all believe that the hype is only going to increase sales of the game once it finally launches. In other words, in attempting to make the game disappear, these activists may have helped the game succeed. Nice work. Update: In the meantime, a NY Times reviewer plays the game and watches a few horror movies and notes how much more gruesome the movies are compared to the game (though, the reviewer still believes the game deserves an "adults only" rating).

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

19 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

dorpus, 25 Jun 2007 @ 12:55am

Games you'll never see
Despite all the whining about "freedom" and "games have no effect on violence", there are games that mainstream gaming companies will never make.

Domestic Violence: Beat the Bitch
Baby Boiler
Grand Theft Auschwitz: Round Them Up
MLK Assassination
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
PaulT, 25 Jun 2007 @ 1:24am

To resident troll dorpus: yep, you said it - *mainstream* game companies would never make those games because they want to sell them, and no retailer would ever stock them. That doesn't stop independent/non-commercials from making them though - that's where the "freedom" part comes in..

Anyway, I just wanted to stop by and make the following comment: I grew up in the UK during the "video nasties" scare, and all that this news is doing is giving me a case of deja vu. Games fans (myself included) just need to ride out the storm until the media finds a new scapegoat.

With the video nasties, all that controversy really did was make cult classics out of banned movies like Driller Killer and I Spit On Your Grave, that were largely forgotten in non-censored terriories. Eventually, all the banned and censored movies have been released uncut without incident, and the tabloids found something else to bitch about.

Manhunt 2 will be a very popular game, be it as a legal release or as a torrent. More people will play it than if the whiners had kept their mouths shut, and in 6 months, it will be forgotten as the next controversy starts (most likely with GTA4). I'll certainly be playing it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
citizenj, 25 Jun 2007 @ 5:26am

man...
I can't wait to get my hands on this one. The first was so enjoyable, what with digging out bad guys' eyes with shards of glass. Frankly, it was a wonderful stress release. And anyone who says games lead to violence, show me the studies, with PROPER methodology. correlation != causation. EOF
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The infamous Joe, 25 Jun 2007 @ 5:44am

Meh.
It's can't possibly be any worse than Postal 2-- where you can douse someone with gas, light them on fire and then piss on them to put their slowly crawling charred body out. (Well, they initially run around screaming, but eventually end up crawling slowly muttering "It hurts, it hurts.")

I've played the crap out of that game and still have yet to kill anyone.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
DCX2, 25 Jun 2007 @ 6:31am

ugh
AO is supposed to be reserved for titles with pornographic content. Way to butcher it's purpose.

Oh, Dorpus...I suppose you never saw the games about the JFK assassination, or Super Columbine Massacre RPG.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Casper, 25 Jun 2007 @ 7:51am

Our culture is working against it's self. On one hand you have these simple minded people fighting against the video games because they portray something they believe to be to graphic for the public. Note, they do not believe they are too graphic for children, they believe they are too graphic for everyone. They wanted the game BANNED entirely. As if this would solve anything when movies like Saw I & II,Hostel I & II,Turistas, etc, are grossing such huge profits and people are turning out in droves to see how many ways there are to kill a person. On the other hand you have sadistic people who are already off the other side of the spectrum and only want to see the worst side of human nature.

The problem is a lack of understanding. These people are too intellectually challenged to understand the basics of human nature. At this point in history we do not deal with violence and conflict on a daily basis in most modern countries. We don't feel loss, we don't feel terror, we don't feel anger or rage, we don't feel any of the primal feelings. We spend so much time trying to remove them from the person that what we are left with are the making of a psychopath. People have the primal urges of fighting, killing, hunting, etc, but no where to let them out and no healthy suggestions. How about we figure out why people feel the need to seek these forms of entertainment and accept our natures. Maybe that way, whatever we do, may actually benefit the succeeding generations rather then fulfilling our current egotistical morality quests.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Chuck Norris' Enemy (deceased), 25 Jun 2007 @ 9:51am

Does anyone remember...
2 Live Crew? The rap band that was deep in controversy. My friends and I didn't really listen to rap, but since they we heard about it we made sure to get us a copy even though we were 14-years-old. I am sure any internet savvy young adult could get a copy of this game and now that there is a big fuss a lot more kids will try to get a copy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ColeTheMan, 25 Jun 2007 @ 10:16am

violence in games
Games make people kill? Damn, I should've killed someone by now.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
ColeTheMan, 25 Jun 2007 @ 10:23am

more violence
Here's how to determine if it's violence in games or in movies that makes people try new and exciting things. Have you ever cried from watching a movie? Okay, now. Have you ever cried from playing a video game? Are people obsessed with movie stars and tv personalities? OR Are they obsessed with fictional game characters? All I'm trying to say is that people get attached to actors and think that what tv tells them is gospel. I mean.....COME ON.......COME ON.........c'mon
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
rEdEyEz, 25 Jun 2007 @ 10:49am

Looking forward to this one....
...soon to be one of my Favs.

Swords of Allah! RTS

- The Muslim Weekly, via HotAir
http://hotair.com/archives/2007/06/25/islamic-rts-game-on-the-way/

Kill the infidel! Allah Akbar!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Baal - LAN Admin, 25 Jun 2007 @ 11:54am

Point the finger at the activists.
I'm a gaming junkie and I run LAN's for other gamers as well. We have some of the most violent games that we play on a regular basis. NOT one of my LAN attendants have ever gone out to steal a car(GTA), Killed someone with a bag(Manhunt), or shot someone from a tree(COD), to name a few. The most violent I ever see these people get are calling each other names or defaming each other's mother. So what. Sad part is they are all exposed to violence on a weekly and some times daily basis.

Now a good friend of my family was murdered in a church not long ago. The guy that did it was never exposed to these games. But that didn't stop him from going into the building and putting 2 bullets in her head and one in his. How do I know, because we know both the killer and the woman.

Every crime I see in my area is either linked to hate crimes from the news, drunk, or desperate for money. These people who want to stop video game violence should focus on other aspects of life to stop violence. Here's a though...go out to the community and try to make a difference with poverty or drunk driving. I have yet to see evidence where music or gaming is linked to all these so called violent crimes. I'd like to see these people blame themselves for not paying attention to their children and teaching them what's real and what's not. The gaming industry is not your babysitter people. That's the parent’s job. I blame those activists for poor parenting and being lazy.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
kezia, 25 Jun 2007 @ 2:54pm

violent games relese stress
dispite being female 30 and pregnant i am an avid gamer. a few nights ago one of the local churches {only 2 blocks from my home} decided it was ok and not inconciderate to anyone in town to hold a all night jesusthon. after being kept awake all night {they didnt quiet down till 5 am} the youg adults involved had the nerve to knock on my door to try to sell me way overpriced magazine subs so they coud go to cancun! i can testify that if it weren't for my silent hill and gta i would have strangled the little bas###ds right there on my porch then hunted down the rest picking them off in true gta style.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Patrick, 25 Jun 2007 @ 11:26pm

I want it!
I am going to buy it now! That was all I needed to hear. Maybe thats how we can shut them up! Games, music, sports etc do not kill people, PEOPLE kill people. I don't need some group trying to be my parent and decide what is 'good for me or not!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Patrick, 25 Jun 2007 @ 11:37pm

Casper
Nice Casper! You right on. WE are ultimately responsible for OUR future. If half these activists would look inside themselves HUMBLY! They should stop thinking about what everyone else is doing that is good or bad and look at themselves. Priests molesting boys, police killing their wives, etc... Were these people watching violent programming, playing violent video games, or listening to dark music? Maybe some but I doubt many of them. Remember the saying? We are all sinners. If we all would just work on making ourselves better people, we can all be a better human-race! Come on, Get on the boat! Blessed Be!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Question, 26 Jun 2007 @ 10:55am

Forget propensity to violence, what about ability? If playing video games doesn't have some effect on a person's ability to engage in whatever kind of behavior is practiced in the game, then why does the US military use a modified version of the Nintendo game system and a modified version of the game, Duck Hunt, to sharpen soldiers' shooting instincts and accuracy?

One more thing - it's a little stupid to compare video games to movies and television. How many people do you know who watch the same movie or television episode over, and over, and over? Compare that to the number of people who play the same video game, the same level, for hours and hours at a time.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Terrain, 4 Oct 2007 @ 5:28pm
  
  Re:
  O WUT EVER ASS/FUCK FACE
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Daniel, 8 Jul 2007 @ 12:39am

I want to buy Manhunt 2 and play it all night long. I look for the day when I will buy it and play it until I fall over asleep. I love violent video games and bellieve in their innocence above everything else. Violent video games don't make people violent and these video games should be sold to everybody and I firmly stand behind violent video games. They are for everybody. The Rockstar Games logo is the most creative logo ever and violent video games are the best invention ever. This is what electricity was created for and LONG LIVE ROCKSTAR GAMES HURAGHH.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Daniel, 8 Jul 2007 @ 12:42am

Another thing, I think that the game Thrill Kill should've come out. I want to play that game. I love violent video games because they are the greatest thing ever.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Terrain, 4 Oct 2007 @ 5:26pm

RE:
I LUV VILONT GAMES FOR THE PEOPLE WHO DONT KISS MY ASS OR U CAN KICK ROCK N SLIP ON STONES
[ link to this | view in chronology ]