Banned In The United States
We take a look at why the gaming industry has its limits, and what happens when a game goes too far.
Published: July 3, 2007
In an effort to provide multiple viewpoints on things, we decided to include some information from a good friend down in Mexico City. José M. Saucedo (by way of translator Rodrigo Márquez) may not share our opinions on freedom of speech, nor do we necessarily agree that Jack Thompson is completely vindicated here, but we do feel it's important to get a counterpoint that isn't necessarily coming from the perspective of the typical American gamer. Hopefully it'll give you a little more perspective.
During the past 10 years I've been surfing on the Web, I've had the chance to see things that more than one good conscience would find hard to assimilate, from games, movies or pictures one can find "censorable" up to things most would think anatomically or psychologically impossible. It is for this reason that, when the scandal surrounding Manhunt II for the Wii started -the newest caprice of Rockstar Games-, I took the path most walked thinking about how those conservative evil minds would have to be exaggerating. Now that I've finally had the chance to see the game in action and talk with members of the English and American press who've actually played the thing, I'm afraid I have to acknowledge I was wrong about this particular game.
Before we continue, we ought to accept that people who are into "alternative" entertainment industries such as games, comics and b-movies -all those types of media the general public is reluctant to recognize as existent- are always going to be trying to defend any criticism or attack made against our favorite pass-time. That is why the controversial accusations against videogame violence and the people who promoted it more like a generic argument or exaggeration quickly came to be forgotten, usually because there was not much ground for said accusations and because the videogame community reacted indifferent to them, although in most cases, it was only because videogames are still considered "toys" by the collective consciousness.
Fanatic priests, so-called lawyers, reporters longing for attention and parents with ample time on their hands were forgotten by the mediatic culture, being remembered only in jokes and funny tales; exactly what happened to Jack Thompson, the delirious american lawyer who accused some games as "murder simulators", earning the true hate of millions of gamers for his "eccentric", abusive and prepotent tone, almost always accompanied by biased, unfounded opinions that ended up as near-impossible to believe.
In spite of all this, the idea of violence in videogames was still present in the mind of many people, backed up smartly by the game developers' campaigns to explain the general audience that these devils are just a part of what is "merely a toy" which contents were rated and classified properly by a board of professionals to suit a specific audience. Unfortunately for all of those who put their best efforts to bring calm to the minds of worried parties, it is precisely now that we've just started to view games as serious media with millionaire earnings and investments, and the Manhunt II scandal with its gameplay videos circulating 'the internets' have only served the purpose of making each and every one of said achievements a complete waste of time.
To me, the first Manhunt game was simply wrog. The idea of sadistically killing other people and survive by all means to merely comply with the "director's" desire to complete his very own sick snuff movie was a very poor excuse of a justification for the game's plot, which is why it never really pulled my attention too hard, and I was not the only one who thought so... although there were some who did find in this title a deeply scary experience to... 'enjoy' Manhunt II, on the other hand, really followed the rule of sequels and one can clearly see [in the bits and pieces that have been shown so far] that Rockstar has forsaken every kind of limit to make of this game a really violent one, way beyond the gore a´la Resident Evil, the emotional pressure you can live in Silent Hill or the shooting-happy show we play in every Grand Theft Auto. Manhunt II leaves behind the element of "game" and creates immersion
so real to a virtual environment that it successfully offers the purest, most sadistic, cruelest
manifestation of human aggression ever.
Yes, I already know that more than one will reckon it actually sounds attractive, but believe me, it's NOT; and the most worrysome aspect of it all is that given the game's production values and work put into it, the censorship scandal looks more like proof of how far they were able to go than just a plain misunderstanding.
Every controversy that has been happening around this title and the "arrangement" made with Jack Thompson by the developer to shut him the hell up are of course, no coincidence, although I do hope that the final result obtained by them when they saw their game banned by so many parties, wasn't something they were expecting.
Surely the game will appear on the 'net in 'apocryphal' form and will become an urban legend among gamers of this generation, because I doubt a product that has already been developed can be just vanished after waking the morbid thoughts of so many, but I don’t think that all of this is over, because the stressful part of its production is not its violence, but the fact that Rockstar could ever think it could launch it as "just another product", without even thinking about the kind of people that could come in touch with it. Even if freedom of expression is to be respected, we should also recognize that there are limits, and it's not funny to acknowledge not only that a person can believe it's entertaining to KILL in such a graphic and realistic way as represented in this game, but that he can think of it as a globally-reaching pass-time.
The scandal of "Murder Simulators" was considered a stretch by everybody, whom at the same time disregarded Jack Thompson as insane for actually believing his claims. Now, when the Manhunt II controversy has served to recognize that the interaction with a videogame is much more profound and transcending than any other media, Jack is laughing his ass off at those who did not believe him, and the proud parents who bought their children a Wii have started to debate whether their offspring's fights among each other are really as healthy and fun as they appear. Real shame that now, every single person who has laughed at Thompson has had to accept their mistake and acknowledge the fact that they were betrayed by the same company they defended during the last 3 years, while they prepare themselves to climb up that same slope hoping for the world's understanding that one violent game does not represent the whole industry that created it... nor the consumer who buys it.
During the past 10 years I've been surfing on the Web, I've had the chance to see things that more than one good conscience would find hard to assimilate, from games, movies or pictures one can find "censorable" up to things most would think anatomically or psychologically impossible. It is for this reason that, when the scandal surrounding Manhunt II for the Wii started -the newest caprice of Rockstar Games-, I took the path most walked thinking about how those conservative evil minds would have to be exaggerating. Now that I've finally had the chance to see the game in action and talk with members of the English and American press who've actually played the thing, I'm afraid I have to acknowledge I was wrong about this particular game.
Before we continue, we ought to accept that people who are into "alternative" entertainment industries such as games, comics and b-movies -all those types of media the general public is reluctant to recognize as existent- are always going to be trying to defend any criticism or attack made against our favorite pass-time. That is why the controversial accusations against videogame violence and the people who promoted it more like a generic argument or exaggeration quickly came to be forgotten, usually because there was not much ground for said accusations and because the videogame community reacted indifferent to them, although in most cases, it was only because videogames are still considered "toys" by the collective consciousness.
Fanatic priests, so-called lawyers, reporters longing for attention and parents with ample time on their hands were forgotten by the mediatic culture, being remembered only in jokes and funny tales; exactly what happened to Jack Thompson, the delirious american lawyer who accused some games as "murder simulators", earning the true hate of millions of gamers for his "eccentric", abusive and prepotent tone, almost always accompanied by biased, unfounded opinions that ended up as near-impossible to believe.
In spite of all this, the idea of violence in videogames was still present in the mind of many people, backed up smartly by the game developers' campaigns to explain the general audience that these devils are just a part of what is "merely a toy" which contents were rated and classified properly by a board of professionals to suit a specific audience. Unfortunately for all of those who put their best efforts to bring calm to the minds of worried parties, it is precisely now that we've just started to view games as serious media with millionaire earnings and investments, and the Manhunt II scandal with its gameplay videos circulating 'the internets' have only served the purpose of making each and every one of said achievements a complete waste of time.
To me, the first Manhunt game was simply wrog. The idea of sadistically killing other people and survive by all means to merely comply with the "director's" desire to complete his very own sick snuff movie was a very poor excuse of a justification for the game's plot, which is why it never really pulled my attention too hard, and I was not the only one who thought so... although there were some who did find in this title a deeply scary experience to... 'enjoy' Manhunt II, on the other hand, really followed the rule of sequels and one can clearly see [in the bits and pieces that have been shown so far] that Rockstar has forsaken every kind of limit to make of this game a really violent one, way beyond the gore a´la Resident Evil, the emotional pressure you can live in Silent Hill or the shooting-happy show we play in every Grand Theft Auto. Manhunt II leaves behind the element of "game" and creates immersion
so real to a virtual environment that it successfully offers the purest, most sadistic, cruelest
manifestation of human aggression ever.
Yes, I already know that more than one will reckon it actually sounds attractive, but believe me, it's NOT; and the most worrysome aspect of it all is that given the game's production values and work put into it, the censorship scandal looks more like proof of how far they were able to go than just a plain misunderstanding.
Every controversy that has been happening around this title and the "arrangement" made with Jack Thompson by the developer to shut him the hell up are of course, no coincidence, although I do hope that the final result obtained by them when they saw their game banned by so many parties, wasn't something they were expecting.
Surely the game will appear on the 'net in 'apocryphal' form and will become an urban legend among gamers of this generation, because I doubt a product that has already been developed can be just vanished after waking the morbid thoughts of so many, but I don’t think that all of this is over, because the stressful part of its production is not its violence, but the fact that Rockstar could ever think it could launch it as "just another product", without even thinking about the kind of people that could come in touch with it. Even if freedom of expression is to be respected, we should also recognize that there are limits, and it's not funny to acknowledge not only that a person can believe it's entertaining to KILL in such a graphic and realistic way as represented in this game, but that he can think of it as a globally-reaching pass-time.
The scandal of "Murder Simulators" was considered a stretch by everybody, whom at the same time disregarded Jack Thompson as insane for actually believing his claims. Now, when the Manhunt II controversy has served to recognize that the interaction with a videogame is much more profound and transcending than any other media, Jack is laughing his ass off at those who did not believe him, and the proud parents who bought their children a Wii have started to debate whether their offspring's fights among each other are really as healthy and fun as they appear. Real shame that now, every single person who has laughed at Thompson has had to accept their mistake and acknowledge the fact that they were betrayed by the same company they defended during the last 3 years, while they prepare themselves to climb up that same slope hoping for the world's understanding that one violent game does not represent the whole industry that created it... nor the consumer who buys it.