Controversial video games

The first and probably most recent example of a very controversial game is Manhunt 2; the first game in years to actually be banned. The BBFC rejected it for classification due to the game's relentless killing, as it encourages players to perform kills in the most brutal and savage ways possible. Rockstar are hardly strangers to the world of controversy; bringing me to my other controversial game examples. the original Manhunt came under much scrutiny because of the killing of 14 year old Stefan Pakeerah, which was allegedly inspired by the game. An opdd case considering, it later emerged, that the victim was the one who'd played the game, not the killer. Nonetheless the fact that its vast amount of brutal killings was insufficient for a ban, yet it was for the sequel, brings questions as to either how extreme the level of explicit content is in the sequel, or as to the BBFC's classification; did they ban the game possibly due to controversy surrounding the previous game? There were calls for the original manhunt to be banned; indeed, it was banned in new zealand among other places. The BBFC claims the ban in manhunt 2 is due to the game's 'unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone'. However in recent interviews some of their reasoning seems a little questionable. In fact BBFC's press office manager Sue Clark's own admission of its findings is curious to say the least: "The interactivity element of it, one of the things we found, which we weren't really expecting, was that people felt that the interactivity slightly distanced them from the game. What with having to press buttons, you are more likely to be aware that you're playing a game." Of course, that somewhat contradicts the Board's self-admitted tendency to "bump the rating up to a higher category" in certain instances where videogames are concerned, while massively exploitative films such as Wolf Creek and Hostel navigate the classification process unscathed. This suggests some serious inconsistencies in the way games and films are rated alongside each other. The problem games face, which don't necessarily apply to film, is that it's much more difficult to make tweaks and changes to a videogame than it is to remove two or three seconds or several frames from a film. "It's a much more complex issue and in the case of Manhunt 2, as in the case of 'Terrorists, Killers and other Whackos', the amount that you'd have had to have changed or removed would have not made it a viable work which is why it was rejected." Yet if the interactivity suuposedly distances you from the game, is this logical to begin with?
The last controversial game I will look at is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; due largely to the 'hot coffee' mod, which allowed players to access a sex scene that should have been altogether removed form the game. The rest of the game, as with the otehr GTA games, was hardly immune to controvery as well; with the car stealing, vandalising, drive-by shootings (now possible on a bycicle!) and whatnot. It seems Rockstar has a taste for controversy with their games; most likely because it undeniably attracts attention. But are they going too far? Or are people overreacting to violence in video games?