- They've raised the bar on depravity...
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- As a confirmed vidiot (a person who loves videogames),
having plunked my fair share of quarters into machines since the early
1980's, I think I have a healthy perspective to be judging video game content.
I want to bring to your attention a new game that is out right now for
the SONY Playstation 2 (and probably other platforms to follow), which
has raised the bar on depravity. This article is for gamers and non-gamers
alike...
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- The game is called "Manhunt" and the object
of the game is exactly that; to go out and kill as many people as you can.
The game description reads as follows,
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- "They just killed Cash. Now, they want to kill him
again.
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 America is full of run down, broken rust-belt
towns where nobody cares and anything goes. In Carcer City, nothing matters
anymore and all that's left are cheap thrills. The ultimate rush is the
power to grant life and take it away, for sport. This time James Earl Cash,
you are the sport. They gave you your life back. Now, they are going to
hunt you down.
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- You awake to the sound of your own panicked breath. You
must run, hide and fight to survive. If you can stay alive long enough,
you may find out who did this to you.
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- This is a brutal blood sport.
- (Attached are several photos from the game packaging
as well)
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 Is this sick or what? !!!WARNING!!! DO
NOT BUY THIS GAME FOR YOUR CHILDREN!!! This is not like letting your child
watch South Park, or playing Grand Theft Auto 3. Make no mistakes about
it, this game (Manhunt) makes those two look like Teletubbies and Pac Man
in comparison. And if you don't believe me, please read the following...
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- Here are some reviews which have been made by other
'adult' gamers already:
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- LET ME BREAK IT DOWN FOR YA.... (5 star rating)
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- Ok now first off this game is very cool, yet also very
bloody and very violent. I dont recomend this game to anyone under at least
12 years old. Or any one who cant take blood or violence. So here are some
of the things good about this game.
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- 1.This game has good graphics
- 2.The stealth is real cool.
- 3.The executions are real cool
- 4.The story is creepy and cool.
- 5.The gunfights are tight.
- 6. And the fact that when you or one of your victums
gets shot (or slashed) they get visible wounds on there body.
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 Some other things that can happen is
say you have a bat (metal) and you sneak up behind some guy. If you hold
the X button for about 7 seconts Cash (the central character) will choke
the guy with the bat. When Cash finaly lets the guy get some air Cash Swings
the bat and hits him in the head wich sends blood and brains splattering
over Cash and the walls and the floor and everything around. The sound
in this game is amazing, the voiceovers are perfect.
- GRUESOME FUN! (5 star rating)
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- Imagine Metal Gear with ideas from movies like 8MM, street
gang movie "Warriors", RunningMan, Friday the 13th, and any movie
with killer rednecks. Now you got MANHUNT! Some might say stealth games
are over done, that is true but so are racing games, fighting games etc..which
never get old themselves. Anyway, this game is probably one of the most
violent games ever conceived so watch the ratings if you're sensitive.
The game is very audacious in a time we live in where everything is censored
in the US. Your character comes across many different weapons (melee and
shooting) with multiple execution and decapitation types (which would make
Freddy Kruger and Jason proud), depending on your stealthiness. The game
has you going up against anyone from street punks, racist rednecks, demented
mental hospital escapees, professional malitia types and even Cops. Objectives
start to vary as game goes along. So, only If you're into very violent
and bloody action games, this is for you!
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- NOT FOR THE KIDDIES (5 star rating)
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- I haven't been freaked out by a game in a long while,
but this one gave me the heebie jeebies big time. It's smooth and nasty
but go elsewhere for quick thrills - this is a thinking mans game!
- Not for kids though - this game gets inside your head.
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- And these are only 3 reviews out of 108, which basically
all say the same thing. If you want to read a full list of reviews you
can go here and check it out for yourself: http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/editorial/reviews/reviews.asp?page=1&pf_id=236669
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 What bothers
me most is that this is going to be marketed to children. As it always
is. Tell them they can't have it and they will only want it more. Sadly,
I honestly believe most parents don't monitor what their children, hear,
say or do. This isn't a harsh criticism or judgement, it comes from making
an observation of our society. It also comes backed by schoolteachers I
speak with (my wife being one of them) who tell me first hand of these
children who play them. To the parents who buy these games for their kids,
I say to them, "Don't allow your mind to be brainwashed by television
and other kinds of media, develop the skills to comprehend what you read.
Reading and comprehension...two different skills...one more important than
the next. So please comprehend this..."this 'game' should be banned,
and people should be outraged that is has even been marketed!" This
isn't about freedom of speech or the stifling of one's creative art medium
here. This is about the way they are marketing and selling this...AS A
GAME FOR YOUR CHILD'S PLAYSTATION 2! Did you know that a SONY Playstation
2 can also play DVD's? So why not stick some snuff, rape and other violent
porn and action films up on the shelf right next to this title? They would
actually be LESS damaging to your children when you consider they only
last 2 hours in duration and would probably lose your child's interest
as there is no interaction with them. Your kids minds are getting NUMB
on videogames like this however, which they play for HOURS ON END! Are
you getting the picture yet? It's the fact that they catagorize this stuff
as a GAME which really burns me up!
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- And this sort of thing reminds me of made a bold
statement in a highschool classroom back in the late eighties. It was in
world history and the subject was about the future progress of mankind
and civilization. I stated, "When pedophilia and gladiator games become
back in vogue, we will be, at the end of our civilization once again."
My classmates thought that was a severe statement, but the teacher nodded
in the affirmative at me and brought up the topic of the Roman Empire.
And you have to remember, the style back in the eighties was stuffy, conservative,
padded shoulders, layered clothing and closed toe shoes. The most provocative
thing going may have been androgeny and glam bands in music or Madonna,
the war on drugs with "Just Say No!" and AIDS was still a pox
with homophobia written all over it. The worst video game out at that time???
Maybe Leisure Suit Larry, a game which most kids wouldn't bother with as
it was pretty cheesy at best and that wasn't even out until 1991. Look
around us now. The images in magazines and clothing catalogs (Tommy Hilfiger
& Calvin Klein), MTV, etc. They exploit children constantly, dress
them up sexy and pimp them out. And I thought the extent of the gladiator
games would have been the PPV wrestling or Ultimate fighting championships.
I never imagined killing online through video games... So is my prophetic
statement coming true? I hope not.
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- But in defense of video games, can I please say this.
I've played tons of them. The artistic content and story lines and the
creative extensions of someone's hard work is really something to admire.
There have been MANY intriging, engaging, intelligent and even, educational
games, which I honestly feel have added to my own hand-eye coordination,
logical & problem solving skills as well as the 'fun' factor that comes
with it. I've met some really cool gamers, nerds like myself, that would
rather plunk down good money on something they can stay at home with and
stay out of trouble with as well. And even when you did play a game with
a violent objective (like Doom, or Half-Life, or Dungeons & Dragons,
etc.), the object of the game and the enemy were clearly defined and often
of a mythical and make-believe nature. Every one of these people who've
I discussed the subject with have stated the same thing, "I would
NEVER do that in real life, it's just a game, it's make belief." Never
were the enemies civilians, pedestrians or humans like yourself. And if
you did kill someone and they were innocent, the game script was written
to make sure that there were severe consequences to your actions, even
making the game unbearable to play. NOW, the object of these games are
to kill the innocent? Do you see a pattern forming here? Do you see the
underlying brainwashing effect of some of these games. Shoot now, ask questions
later (or don't, who cares) attitude that will be engrained in the minds
of the children playing them. That there are no consequences for your actions,
but there are rewards? Add to the cocktail mix, some mind-altering drugs
(SSRI's?) and rapid flashes through an Alpha-wave inducing medium (television
& monitors).....what do you have..... perfect soldiers for a polce
state in the 21st century?
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- And again, in defense of video games, my son is only
5 weeks old now, I can't wait until he is old enough to fly a kite, catch
a ball, ride on the motorcycle with me and do fun outdoor things. But I
also hope I can play video games with him too. I hope we can play car &
jet fighter simulators, things you can only do vicariously by watching
television or see on the Discovery channel & TLC. The idea of racing
a car and jumping over a bridge or plowing into other vehicles; Heck, kids
have ALWAYS done that with their Tonka's and Matchbox cars, even running
over Ken & Barbie or Lego people or Plastic Army Men. Now, they even
have video games starring Tonka, Matchbox, Ken & Barbie, Lego and Plastic
Army Men! What's up with that? But when playing like this, it was understood
to be fantasy and simply a creative, healthy release. When you dropped
a doll off your shelf and made a bomb whistle sound, it was an inanimate
object and there was no evil intention. It was simply a toy. And there
were no other nuances and bylines which included drug trafficking, using
prostitutes, or strangling and sniping people. And God forbid a child strike
a toy with another toy in the witness of a teacher or other S.S. gastapo,
anal-retentive, noseybody and they'll try to psychoanalyze the kid and
stick him or her on a mind/mood-altering drug cocktail all the way into
adulthood.
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- If he and I play online shooting games or medevial
based games, they shoud be no different than playing with water pistols,
paintball guns or wiffle ball bats (how many of us didn't have cap guns,
wooden sticks for swords or other 'weapons' at a young age?). And now in
writing this piece, it makes me wonder if the lowest level the game manufactuers
have stooped to is because of the bureacracy and letigious society we have
become which don't allow children to play games outside in public anymore?
I mean, we hear of the zero tolerance policy's in schools now, horror stories
where a kid who picks up a chicken nugget and realizes the siloutte of
such matches that of a small handgun and who later gets suspended from
school for pointing it at his best friend who he likes to roughhouse with?
How many of those same children are playing violent games through their
video game systems at home, with their parents only in the next room? If
kids don't have the societal outlet that playing outside and acting out
through make believe allows, will the only way they can do it now be through
digital media and $50 game cartridges only? Maybe this is a more calculated
plot than I first realized? Helmet laws, no B.B. guns, no fireworks, no
gas-powered remote control wire planes, no chemical kits (things I played
with, which many kids back then played with, they offered this stuff in
the back of Boy's Life magazine even as prizes for selling stuff). Maybe
the problem is that playing outside is just not fun anymore? Maybe they
want to just capitalize on all of the fun and make you HAVE to buy it too?
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- Jeff, your listeners, and readers, are some of the
smartest and most savvy in the world. I would like to know if others feel
the same outrage and way I do on this particular subject. Email and comment
to me even if you think I'm missing something here and if you think I am
looking at it too critically as well. I honestly worry that if this is
acceptable now, what will be acceptable tommorrow?
- Globalhawk systems are being built right now, terminator
soldiers with Helmet systems are next. Who's to say your sons or daughters
won't be controlling them one day remotely? As good parents yourself, YOU
WILL. However, others with less morals or education won't. When the score
of the game could register in dollars in your bank account and not just
numbers on a screen, people might be willing to pay a subscription rate
to be able to play these deadly games. It sounds crazy now, but in a society
where jobs are getting scarcer, money tighter and the future bleak...well...let's
just say it doesn't amaze me anymore as to what some people will do for
money. SONY, a MULTI-Billion dollar company has just proven that by picking
up this game title it's not a matter of morals or socio-economic status...it's
just simply buisness.
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- Sincerely,
- John Macedo, Jr.
- johnmacedojr@aol.com
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