worth checking the comments at the end of the Leicester Mercury piece

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132935&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132702&contentPK=16600074&folderPk=77465&pNodeId=132393

For those who don't remember... it turned out that the VICTIM was the Manhunter addict, not the killer.

DOH! He should have been able to better defend himself!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/04/manhunt_murder_claim/

However, today it emerged that Leicestershire police found the game in Pakeerah's room, not LeBlanc's, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

"The video game was not found in Warren LeBlanc's room, it was found in Stefan Pakeerah's room," a police spokesperson said today. "Leicestershire Constabulary stands by its response that police investigations did not uncover any connections to the video game, the motive for the incident was robbery."

Police believe LeBlanc murdered Pakeerah, whom he knew, to obtain money to pay back a drug-related debt.

shouldn't the parents at least PLAY Manhunt 2 before they condemn it?

Play it? They haven't even so much as seen it and they've all got their knickers in a twist.

Kinda reminds my of Florida attorney, Jack Tampon's tirade over "Columbine simulator" Bully - before he'd even sneaked a peek at the game.

That was Bully, a game that turned out to be no more a "Columbine Simulator" that Cross Stitch Weekly is The Murderer's Handbook.

The first game was appallingly poor and mindlessly violent, but who knows? If they inject a shred of workable gameplay into Manhunt 2, it might actually be good without simply being about stoving people's heads in.

If the facts of the case stand as they appear to be, these people are actually MORE off base than Jerk. They should be condemning real-life violence and the drugs that led to it, not cuddling up to this Vaz fellow. Maybe they didn't like their son playing Manhunt, maybe they saw him playing it and the casual, hyper-realistic violence appalled them, maybe its easier for them to vent againt a video game than a real person. But sheesh, get a clue...course I'm sure theres plenty of people nodding sagely and shaking their heads at the obvious (some people on the tele whose poor son got kilt said so) effects of video game violence on society

aww it wasn't that bad, I thought it great fun...

as to mindlessly violent...I'm not sure it was that much more violent than many other games, and the rationale for the plot of the game was sound enough for me...which was basically an excuse for loads of stealth kills and improvised weapons, but the violence was no more mindless than much of what I've seen in (bad) action movies, less so than many.

The one thing that makes Manhunt stick in certain peoples minds as being exceptional is that the game mechanic appears to be based directly on violence, rather than the violence being a means to an end. This is merely an illusion of the plot, such as it is. The object of the game is to escape, violence being the means. Pretty much bogstandard, actually. So what if I used a rusty bit of wire or a plastic bag instead of martial arts or a combat knife? Or a nail gun rather than a silenced Walther PPK or somesuch?

Much ado about nothing if you ask me...More ink for R*...