Rockstar game blamed for hammer murder

Waltons

I'm not sure of the full story, just caught a mention as my dad was flicking through the NTL channels. ITV news mini screen claimed that someone was murdered as a result of either playing or watching manhunt. Inevitable really. The story was splashed across the front page of the mirror I think.
And the tyrade begins again.

SuprSi

I hate hearing this kind of crap. Anyone who acts on the scenes in a video game shouldn't be playing the thing in the first place. Blaming an act like murder on a video game is just a cop-out. Was it in America?

bush

Nope it was England

SuprSi

Strange. I would've thought that impressionable American kids with easy access to guns would be the culprits. I'll see if I can find the new story

Stephen

Usual bull**** on a slow news day - games are a handy scapegoat these days... it used to be evil rock music and videos.

Placebo

Guys i was just playing Jack and Daxter, i think il go collect eggs now , adios.

SantaHoe

Yeah, I can't walk past a tri-colour now without wanting to capture it.

Waltons

It was really inevitable considering the content. And the fact that it's on a good few formats. I don't think postal or postal 2 ever hit the news, did they?

BrookieD

The parents of a boy who was murdered with a claw hammer by a friend have blamed a violent video game which the teenage killer was "obsessed" with.
Warren Leblanc, 17, repeatedly stabbed 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah to death after luring him to a Leicester park to steal from him on 27 February.

He pleaded guilty to murder at Leicester Crown Court on Wednesday.

Stefan's mother described Leblanc, who confessed to police moments after the assault, as "inherently evil".


Video game 'obsession'

Stefan's mother, Giselle, a research nurse, had to leave court when the evidence in the case became too harrowing.

Following the hearing she said her son's killer had mimicked a game called Manhunt, developed by Edinburgh-based Rockstar North, in which the players score points for violent killings.

Manhunt was banned six months ago in New Zealand by censorship officials.

Mrs Pakeerah said: "I heard some of Warren's friends say that he was obsessed by this game.

"To quote from the website that promotes it, it calls it a psychological experience, not a game, and it encourages brutal killing.

"If he was obsessed by it, it could well be that the boundaries for him became quite hazy."

Mrs Pakeerah, 36, called for violent video games to be banned.

She said: "I can't believe that this sort of material is allowed in a society where anarchy is not that far removed.

"It should not be available and it should not be available to young people."


I don't play these games but if they are influencing kids to go out and kill people then you don't want them on the shelves

Patrick Pakeerah, victim's mother

Leblanc, of Braunstone Frith, Leicester, persuaded his victim to go to nearby Stoke Woods Park, known locally as The Dumps - to meet two girls.

The court heard how he armed himself with a knife and claw hammer to carry out the attack.

He confessed to the killing moments later when he was found covered in blood by two police officers.

Outside court Stefan's father, Patrick, said: "They were playing a game called Manhunt.

"The way Warren committed the murder is how the game is set out - killing people using weapons like hammers and knives.

"There is some connection between the game and what he has done."

Game ban


Echoing his former partner, the civil servant said: "I don't play these games but if they are influencing kids to go out and kill people then you don't want them on the shelves."

When police discovered Stefan, they found he had sustained horrific and fatal injuries.


Giselle Pakeerah has called for a ban on violent video games

The boy had been hit so hard with the hammer he had suffered deep cuts to his head and neck. His head had been fractured in several places.

He had multiple stab wounds, with the knife being plunged so deep that it had caused serious injuries to his kidney and liver.

A spokesman for the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers' Association 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.

"The game in question is classified 18 by the British Board of Film Classification and therefore should not be in the possession of a juvenile.

"Simply being in someone's possession does not and should not lead to the conclusion that a game is responsible for these tragic events."

Judge Michael Stokes QC said Leblanc had carried out "a brutal, cold-blooded murder" and could expect a life sentence.

Sentencing was adjourned for reports

From the BBCi website.


Yet again gaming gets the wrap for a murder. Holy god it makes me so angry when stupid reports put gaming in at the forefront of blame when something like this happens. Christ I have played games all my life and have never once had a single thought in my head to kill somone after a session on the PS2 or what every i was playing. I mean if I crash my car can i say it was due to playing Burnout on the PS2 as you get points for the biggest pile up? NO it was a crash it happened.

It is a shame that someone has died but it was not the fault of gaming more the fault of the enviroment of the person conecernd, and I bet money that it will come out at some point that the person charged with murder in this case would have had some sort of problem with his childhood.

All to many people want to jump on the band wagon of blaming TV, Film, Console Gmaes etc... for what ever crime has taken place, I think it is about time that these so called informed people stoped blaming these factors on crimes comitted and looked at the background of the people who commit these crimes.



Sorry Rant Over

The Real B-man

jaysus video games arent reality physco :rolleyes:

Shrimp

That guy obviously had some serious mental problems to do such a thing.

Pugsley

The kid was the insane one, I doubt the game had much, if any, effect on the murder at all, hesj ust an insane kid, lock him up before he kills more people :rolleyes:

Shrimp

Thats what i said the kid i meant was insane??

vibe666

do these left wing idiots not think that people were bashing each others heads in with hammers long before video games were even around?

sick poeple are sick people regardless of what video games they play. their sickness may influence what games they like, but games don't make normal people beat each other to death, or we'd all be doing it. I've played manhunt myself, and even though at times I'd like to give the odd person a bit of a knock on the bonce with anythign that comes to hand, i resist the temptation because I'm reasonably sane and understand that i could kill someone which (in most cases) would be a bad thing and would get me into lots of trouble.

anyone who either doesn't understand this or doesen't care is quite simply 'not all there', and should be under supervision and undergoing some sort of counselling (before the fact) or in the clink (after).

evad_lhorg

is the game any good?

bizmark

Stephen wrote:

Usual bull**** on a slow news day - games are a handy scapegoat these days... it used to be evil rock music and videos.

And it was tv before that

amp

These two indentical threads merged. While I like to merge, could people look at the forum before posting threads that pretty much already exist? It's easier for everybody.

Placebo

okay maybe we cant 100% blame the game but it must have some influence, motivation ? ive never played the game but my friend has it, havent seen it even, but i am guessing its rated R ? over 18's ? if so, the kid was 17 !

bizmark

Placebo wrote:

okay maybe we cant 100% blame the game but it must have some influence, motivation ? ive never played the game but my friend has it, havent seen it even, but i am guessing its rated R ? over 18's ? if so, the kid was 17 !

Then its his father/mothers fault not the game its rated 18's for a very good reasion

Placebo

yeah, thats what i meant/said

bizmark

Ah right my mistake

orangerooster

I hate when this crap starts up again.I've been playing violent games for years and have never and never intend to hurt another human being.All sympathy to the woman whos kid was killed but her and the father are talking rubbish.

pat kenny

Is it any good

Its mediocre at best, very repetative and linear. It sells off the violence thing, not much substance or plot to it, and for this day and age the graffics are poor.
In fact I left the game about half finished as my interest waned, and I rarley if ever leave a game unfinished.
It is the most violent game I have ever played, however in the game all the people you attack are violent criminals or corrupt cops and there are no civilians I imagine this is how it got by the censors.
Its pretty bad when a game has to sell off violence alone but hey hollywoods has been doing it for years.

RuggieBear

It is a Rockstar game......maybe they have a policy of controversy sells.

p

Tusky

Tut tut - careful now.

nesthead

the game is 18's. the kid is seventeen. case closed.


there is far more ****ed up stuff than Manhunt readily available to everyone from the internet, which isnt regulated on an age basis like game retail COULD be....

the_obsolete

Ah come on Pat it is a good game sure, I have it too and love the kind of atmosphere created within it, and in all fairness it is a fairly original game. Scared the bajaysus outta me at points, also it's rock-hard. Fair dues ta Rockstar North I say.
As for this sad tale, the kid was more than likely a psychopath at some level anyways, since they can't tell the difference between reality and, say, computer games. And as mentioned before, games are the easiest target of all.

Kiith

it's a load of BS in my opinion. if someone is capable of killing a friend with a hammer just cause he saw it in a game, than it's not the games fault. he's just messed up. tabloids always blame games. after september 11th, the daily telegraphy sent PcZone a letter asking them to record a session in Ms Flight simulator, showing how you can learn to fly a 747 into the twin towers.

but than again, we all know that there was no murder before games were created.

mayordenis

its defiantely GTA's fault if go mad and run over 15 po-po's

Azza

I bet windows virsus and instabilty are more likely to cause people to go nuts than video games.

Big Nelly

Was listening to this story all day yesterday and the Dixons Group(Dixons, Currys, PCWorld) in UK have removed this game from the market.....the mother of the dead boy said it was the games fault

By that reackoning because I have just played GTA I am going to head out and start robbin cars and flyin around the st till I smash it up and then get another one

As soon as I am finished that mite have a game of Champ Manager!! then because of that I will turn into a stark raving mad Scotish person roaring abuse at players!!

Cant just say that because a game is violent it caused this guy to kill! they said he was obsessed with it.....I hate to say it but how many people do u know who are totally obsessed with Champ Manager?????? doesnt mean that all of them turn into World Class managers!!

This is the usual bulls**t that comes out every 2-3 years

Absolam

It's obvious...we have to ban hammers. They're clearly responsible for the moral decay of society today. Who's with me?

bringitdown

LOL

I hate to say it but how many people do u know who are totally obsessed with Champ Manager?????? doesnt mean that all of them turn into World Class managers!!

I might have to test that theory, I'm off to purchase Championship Manager. See ya'll when I'm managing Arsenal.

Big Nelly

bringitdown wrote:

LOL



I might have to test that theory, I'm off to purchase Championship Manager. See ya'll when I'm managing Arsenal.

Well I can put myself into the bracket as being obsessed(playin constant since 99) but I am still waiting for Utd/Arsenal/Chelsea to offer me that job....even colchester wud do at tis stage......put in application for Ireland job but someone called Kerr got it....haha

BrookieD

what about the parents who:-
A) Could have paid the kids drug debt! thus he would not have fliped?
Taken the game away if they were that worried about it.
C) Moved all Hammers/Knifes/Bats and anything else that could be used to kill away from the kid.

D) play a game for a whole day and see if they are crazed enough to kill???


:mad:

fizzynicenice

evad_lhorg wrote:

is the game any good?

The game is Rockstar North's 'Manhunt' and good god it kicks ass, yes it is violent, Very Very Violent!
but it has 18+ certs and it has warnings of extreme graphic content.
the kid was messed up anyway and it the parents who lived with the nutter and didn't even think anything strange when he allowed himself to become 'obsessed' with a damn video game
::annoyed::

ykt0di9url7bc3

Yeah, I can't walk past a tri-colour now without wanting to capture it.

roffle

tbh, video games should have a positive attitude to real life violence...

fights in alleys after closing time would be more civil, Live on 3 X rr ....

tbh IMHO video games offer interactive alternate realities which borders on escapism, not personality altering subliminal messaging based on a guided character ethos*

*serioudly, it was the best way i could put it

Zombrex

I agree that violent games and movies should not be shown to minors. But blaming this on the video game, as if the game turned the guy psycho, is just plan sillness. If there were no video games, it would have been a movie. No movies it would have been TV. No TV it would have been a book. It wasn't so long ago that people wanted to ban the "dangerous" Catcher in the Rye.

The guy was obsessed with Man Hunt because it was volient and mentally ill, not the other way around. Serial killers often start off by harming and killing household animals like cats. Does that mean we should ban cats in case they get obsessed with them.

vibe666 wrote:

do these left wing idiots not think that people were bashing each others heads in with hammers long before video games were even around?

Right wing, not left wing ... it is always the right wing, conservatives trying to save our moral fibber for the evils of sex, violence or what not. And then 10 years later a Convervative minister is caught in a sex orgy with two hamsters and a goat :rolleyes:

BlitzKrieg

the only prob debating this topic is that we never get anyone against violent computer games to debate against us...so we end up all agreeing with each other just phrasing it different.

Waltons

It's obviously all MANSON'S fault.

the_obsolete

BlitzKrieg wrote:

the only prob debating this topic is that we never get anyone against violent computer games to debate against us...so we end up all agreeing with each other just phrasing it different.

That's because we've all played far too many computer games to count, some VERY violent, but some not so. To get someone who's against violent games you'd have to bring in somebody with no experience playing them, and so would have no interest in the Games boards.

Big Ears

who would have no understanding of if games could make people mentally deranged .

Im not 18 , and GTA never did me any harm .(now why have I got this feeling of pulling a trigger , and thinking about Haitians at the same time :rolleyes: ) .

Raskolnikov

Fantastic publicity for Manhunt though, admittedly, even I'm going to give it a rent to see what all the hype is about

the_obsolete

Be ready for LOTS of graphic violence! Sure after a while one time I actually had to stop playing it disturbed me that much (I know it's a pussy-ish thing to do, but I just didn't have the stomach that day...).

Azza

I see the Irish Times yesterday said sales of the game shot up in Ireland. Guess there is such thing as bad publicity. I'm also of the mind set that games/movies/books don't make people killers. If a person is determined to kill someone he will find a way to do himself or by obtaining inspiration from somewhere else. Games and movies don't make killers they just make them more creative. Although I can understand the greif the parents of that boy must feel.

One thing that I will say is that games and movie certs don't work. Having worked in a video store for a long while the cert sytem is crazy. If a 5 year old has his parents permission he can rent a 18 cert movie. Yet if we give it out in a wrongly certed box we could be hit with a huge fine. But I can say in 10 years
there never has been a case of certs been inforced or sort of inspection. Like underage drinkers can be difficult to tell what age some people are but we don't want to hassle customers for id's as many might just be under age and have there parents permsion for the last 3 years or so. Besides time and again we have parents renting horror movies for there kids and anytime we refused a kid a movie 95% of the time a parent will return to get it for them.

But then again I never forget the time I had my former vice principal of my school in the shop with her 14 year old daughter. There was a popular romantic comedy out certed 15 that the daughter wanted to rent but she would not let her. She was so embarrassed she left crying

AdMMM

They should blame no-one but themselves. They let their son play a game that wasn't suited to them. Granted, however, it might all boil down to the shop selling it to him in the first place!

neXus9

Waltons wrote:

I don't think postal or postal 2 ever hit the news, did they?

Well, the postal service in the US tried to sue them because the title was offensive. It was thrown out of court and the game company gave out a statement basically telling them that they were muppets.

CyberGhost

well I can't say that games don't influence some people, they certenly do! but that's why there is a rating on the game! and it says 18+! it's his parent's fault, and IMHO he would have killed eventually even without a game!

and some people just shouldn't play!

Retr0gamer

He probably killed his friend for recommending the game. Its terrible. I think Rockstar were trying out the new GTA close combat system and decided to make a game out of it.

koneko

I can't count the amount of times I've run over prostitutes in my car after playing GTA. The game made me do it.

But seriously, this kid would have bashed the other kid's head in even if he didn't play games. He probably would have used a brick instead of a hammer. WTF is wrong with his parents that they couldn't see there was something wrong with their son. You don't just bash someone's head in out of nowhere, he would have been having issues or acting messed up before this. Blame-shifting is what this is.

Doodee

I had to do research for this topic for a project in college. I believe there have been a few studies in UCLA about it. Quick Google ,
i think our conclusion was that video games dont create violence, its the individual. The studies in UCLA found that different people respond to violent games in different ways, and those who have irregular amounts of Adrenaline etc in their system were the kinds of people who tended to get violent.

Basically games were simply the catalyst for the violence and it could have been brought about any other way.

then again, mothers need excuses as to why their kids ****ed up.