Case Study - Video Games - Grand Theft Auto IV

There have been several cases worldwide of people attempting to get grand theft auto IV banned or edited because they believe that the material is harmful to the people who play it especially seeing as it is easily accessible. In America it is legal for a 12 year old to purchase the game which is one of the reasons why there is large outcry about it. There is another lawsuit filed by Jack Thomson. There is also an edited release for the australians and new zealanders.


This is a link to the wikipedia site


It is possible that the game may have received more criticism because it was very popular having sold just over 6 million copies in its first week this made it very common knowledge and so every part of the game was under scrutiny to make sure that it was not too bad. There was also the wider issue that al ot of children under the age of 18 go the game because their parents bought it or they got it online this meant that whilst the gam had an 18 certificate a lot of people under the age of 18 were and still are playing the game.

BBFC - video game classification - case study - Manhunt 2

There was a large amount of controversy around manhunt 2 becuase like its predecessor it has a lot of gratuitous violence invloing large amounts of blood and gore. The violence like manhunt 1 is encouraged and emphasized. There was controversy after video game hater Jack Thomson filed a lawsuit against Rockstar the developers in an attempt to get the game banned.

This is the link to the wikipedia site which has more information about the controversy

The BBFC banned the game when it was first given to them in 2007. Rockstar then changed the game to make it less violent however it was still rejected it then went through a long legal process which took all of a year before it was finally given an 18 certificate

This is a link to BBFC case study on Manhunt 2

BBFC - video game classification - case study - Manhunt

Manhunt was the source of much controversy. It was and still is one of the most violent games you can find with graphic executions that sparked outrage amongst the community at the amount of blood and gore you can see and the frequency of the executions. Also the game actively encourages you to perform these executions. The game also caused controversy because of the murder of Stephan Pakeerah. The murder was said to be an avid fan of manhunt and the media linked the game to murder however the police said that their was no link and in-fact the victim owned the game and the murderer didn't.

This is a link to the wikipedia page giving more detail

The BBFC classified the game as an 18 and left it uncut. This was because whilst there is lots of violence the game was seen as unrealistic and also because of its linear nature it was clear that the game was not based on real life.

This is a link to the BBFC case study for Manhunt

Past papers and exemplar material

This is a link to the paper from Jan 2010

Jan 2010