Manhunt who too Blame?

This review of certain literature explores the issue that computer game violence is a release as opposed to a dangerous thing to the world "Playing computer games may actually be good for children, according to a government study that found no proof that even violent games triggered aggressive behaviour"(Hinsliff 2006) . Although there have been events in rare cases - that may have been linked to video game violence such an example is "The fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Stefan Pakeerah, whose attacker was said to have been obsessed with a game called Manhunt"
( Hinsliff 2006) an online news article found states "It now transpires that the 17 year old murderer did not own a copy of the game, which should not be sold to those below the age of 18, but that 14 year old Stefan did."(Jenkins 2004) in reaction to the newspapers attack on the industry. Furthermore a spokesman for the police said “We haven’t connected the game with the murder and we've already made that statement, but some sections of the media chose to ignore it… the motive was robbery.”(Jenkins 2004)
this game in question though was not meant for any persons below the age of 18, in response to this "Ministers have discussed age-labelling of games and are understood to be planning talks with the industry about helping parents choose titles."(Hinsliff 2006) . More recent research has found that video games are reducing violence "The rise in popularity of computer games such as Grand Theft Auto has coincided with a drop in violent crime" ( Anon 2008) considering the fact that Grand Theft Auto is a big selling game, as well as a violent game where you play as a criminal doing crimes, this link agrees that violence in games serves as a release, this particular article concluded "'Violent crime, particularly among the young, has decreased dramatically since the early 1990s, while video games have steadily increased in popularity and use,' said researcher Patrick Kierkegaard."( Anon 2008) To summarise when buying games for kids, parents should look up on the content of the game first and secondly researchers have found a drop in violent crime following the rise in computer games.

Reference's

D. Jenkins , 2004, title: New Twist In Manhunt Murder Row, gamasutra , August 4th 2004
Available at: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=4117
date accessed: 28/10/2009

G. Hinsliff , 2006, title: study downplays link of video games violence, The Guardian, May 21st 2006
Available At: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/may/21/news.games
date accessed: 12/10/2009

Anon , 2008, title: Research says video games cut violence, The Metro, Wednesday May 14th 2008
Available At:http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=147715&in_page_id=34
Date accessed: 12/10/2009