Manhunt 2 slammed for its portrayal of mental illness

By GamesIndustry International Published 2 November, 2007

"Cruel" and "inaccurate".

Rockstar's Manhunt 2 has been slammed by a US charity for its "irresponsible, stereotypical portrayal of mental illness", GamesIndustry.biz reports.

The National Alliance for Mental Illness has asked for the game to be recalled from sale or modified, and that retailers decline to sell the game.

"Even though some people may consider Manhunt 2 to be only a game, it unfortunately perpetuates and reinforces cruel, inaccurate perceptions that people who live with mental illness are violent," blasted Mike Fitzpatrick, executive director of NAMI.

"The US Surgeon General has condemned such stigmatisation, identifying fear of stigma as a major barrier to people getting help when they need it," he added.

The organisation said that it does not back censorship of entertainment, but expects a "higher standard" of understanding of health problems.

"Concern over the violence reflected in the game up until now has not yet been extended to include the outrageous portrayal of the 54 million people in the United States who live with serious mental illnesses.

"We do not favour censorship, but we do ask for responsible exercise of creative rights when serious public health concerns are at issue," added Fitzpatrick.

For more cruelty and inaccuracy, head over to GamesIndustry.biz! Actually, er...

Picture of GamesIndustry.

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Comments (42) Latest comment 5 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Mercatoria #1 5 years ago

    oh give it a rest

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #2 5 years ago

    More than a sixth of all men, women and children in the US "live with serious mental illnesses"?

    That probably explains a lot.

  • AcidSnake #3 5 years ago

    54 million?
    That's like 1 in 6 americans?
    Would explain some things...

    Oh and the next version of Manhunt 2 will replace the insane characters with spastic ones...

    EDIT: Beaten by the airy mentalist
    Edited by AcidSnake at 02/11/07 @ 16:36

  • Metalfish #4 5 years ago

    You don't favor censorship but want it taken off the shelves? Erm....

  • NewYork #5 5 years ago

    Shut up, retards.


    /replies without reading article

  • Landmaster #6 5 years ago

    All people with mental illnesses ARE violent.

    Says so on Wikipedia... ;)

    x x x

  • chrisjm #7 5 years ago

    1 in 6 people mental?
    Stupid - maybe.

    another case of if this was a film no one would care.

  • jellyhead #8 5 years ago

    So most of the other games out there unfortunately perpetuate and reinforce cruel, inaccurate perceptions that people WITHOUT mental illness are violent?! ;)

    I'm offended! :)

    Anyone else fed up of hearing people whinge about Manhunt 2 so they can get their organisations in the news?

  • cloud_ix #9 5 years ago

    When will they learn! If you just ignore it the bad game will go away!

  • dudefella #10 5 years ago

    lol

  • NewYork #11 5 years ago

    1 in 3 people have Aspergers.

  • Stonker #12 5 years ago

    I agree that manhunt 2 portrays mental illness in very a negative light. A lot of sufferers are quite happy to sit dribbling in a corner without ever throwing a punch. Don't get too close though, unless of course you want to be bombarded with shit.
    Edited by Stonker at 02/11/07 @ 17:19

  • SEVQA #13 5 years ago

    Michal Myers had the right idea! He was just an underachiever!

  • symbiote #14 5 years ago

    3 in 1 people have dementia

  • kangarootoo #15 5 years ago

    "1 in 6 people mental?
    Stupid - maybe."

    Given the "mature" tone of this thread, the comment above is arse deep in irony.

  • smelly #16 5 years ago

    Since when have games supposed to portray reality?

    (goes off to get mario banned because it portrays plumbers in a bad light - going around jumping on turtles heads)

  • Apologie #17 5 years ago

    manhunt is just violent... doesen't have any kind of appeal to me.

  • Freek #18 5 years ago

    Really, horror doesn't reflect reality? Never would have geused that!

    Have these people been living under a rock for past 30 or so years? The psyco killer is a tried and true concept. But suddenly it's a problem when it pops up in a recent video game?

  • HelloWorld #19 5 years ago

    What a bunch of retards.

  • smelly #20 5 years ago

    >manhunt is just violent... doesen't have any kind of appeal to me.

    I have no intention of buying it either.

    But saying the reason i wont play it is because it's violent seems a bit weird - as most games are violent.

    Take - halo 3.. I can gaurantee you kill more people in that than you do in manhunt.

  • haowan #21 5 years ago

    I applaud any motion that increases the amount of more mature creativity going on in this rather immature business. We are by far and away the entertainment medium most bereft of any kind of culture at all.

  • The-Bodybuilder #22 5 years ago

    I love it. This crappy, extremely violent game has caused concern globally and is doing so now by stereotyping the mentally ill. Yet so many here are on the case of these people.

    I mean, it's not like thier claim isn't legit, and they've done is in a very fair and mature way (no daily mail ban this sick filth-type of response). Yet they're the ones getting abuse here.

    I hope Manhunt 2 never gets released here, and the code gets lost somehow. It's a blot in gaming history.

  • robg #23 5 years ago

    "54 million people in the United States who live with serious mental illnesses"

    I don't think he means 54 million people have mental illnesses, he means that 54 million people live with people with mental illnesses. He just used a horribly degrading phrase to describe them.

  • Luvbeers #24 5 years ago

    Mankind is a mental illness.

  • Pablo2k5 #25 5 years ago

    This game and rockstar are pathetic...

    It's the lowest form of video game entertainment for chavs and thick bastards.
    Edited by Pablo2k5 at 03/11/07 @ 10:37

  • matsimpsk #26 5 years ago

    I work in mental health and, although I think it's counter-productive for NAMI to use such a confrontational approach, I have a lot of sympathy for what they say. The fact is that media coverage surrounding mental illness concentrates so much on the tiny, tiny, *tiny* minority of people who have a very rare combination of conditions that can lead to violence. In reality, people with a diagnosis of mental health problems are far more likely to be the victim of violence than the perpetrators.

    And for people making wisecracks about the 54 million figure - that is indeed 1-in-6, which is the same ratio of people experiencing some form of mental illness in the UK.

  • YourMessageHere #27 5 years ago

    I sincerely hope we can expect an even more outraged announcement from these people when Kane and Lynch is released, what with that game depicting a character with a mental illness (I believe Lynch is specifically identified as a psychopathic schizophrenic, in fact) in equally glowing terms.

  • mingster #28 5 years ago

    at least you dont feel lonely being a paranoid skitzophrenic

  • Daikon #29 5 years ago

    Nurse!

  • Kryon #30 5 years ago

    1 in 6 do not suffer with mental illness, most of those people just pretend to have "depression" so they don't have to work, lazy fuckers! Jamie Oliver suffers from real mental illness, just watch one of his shows, it's so obvious!

  • Ryze #31 5 years ago

    54 mill??

    I should have known actually. Makes perfect sense when thinking about America.

  • tenma #32 5 years ago

    Given some of the responses in this thread, I'd almost agree with Fitzpatrick. "Mental illness" encompasses a wide range, from the relatively innocuous to extremely severe, but a few of you guys would think a sixth of all Americans are all the latter.

  • Ryze #33 5 years ago

    Er... they are.

    Have you seen any of the American Idol auditions? How about the current state of HipHop music? The US government? Xbox live? Gamespot?

    They all need the world's help. A well targeted nuke would do wonders for the evolution of the human race.

    We're being held back by these fat, stupid twats.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE

  • Kryon #34 5 years ago

    LOL, Great link!

    Q - "How many sides does a triangle have?"

    A - "Four"

    Hilarious! XD

  • Ryze #35 5 years ago

    more... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCoVaeYHzWA

  • conkdonk #36 5 years ago

    Word of warning that minor spoiler ahead.

    I admit I havn't played all through the game yet but if complaints about the portrayal of mental illness is based on the opening facility then they obviousy never got to level three in the game, as more is going on than first apears.

  • anver #37 5 years ago

    Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the protagonists violent as hell because one's a government agent crammed full with combat/assassination/suchlike knowledge and the other's the guinea pig in some Ludovico treatment scheme?

  • Antonyw999 #38 5 years ago

    Unfortunately one of the "1 in 6" made it into the White House.

  • G3org3 #39 5 years ago

    Antonyw999
    05-Nov-07 08:11:57 Unfortunately one of the "1 in 6" made it into the White House.

    LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL
    So sad yet its true.

    Its also sad that companies use controversy to sell
    its also sad that games are the only medium so easily censored
    its also sad that we forget that society isnt build on games but on education

    In america when there is a shootout
    the big problem starts from which game the action was inspired by
    and not how a 15year old had access to a shotgun

  • YogiTah #40 5 years ago

    Super Mario ist banned from all stores for disrespecting all italians with mustaches ...

  • MrObycyek #41 5 years ago

    Next they will be blaming Manhunt 2 for the death of JFK and for murdering prostitutes in london back in 1888. The total ignorance and stupidity of these people never ceases to amaze me. Last time I checked there were a variety of different mental illnesses and not all of them have anything to do with being violent. I kind of agree with Ryze. I well place nuke would seem to be the only way to make the world a better place.

    "I have no problem with the world. it is the people in it I have a problem with."
    Sausageman. From the motion picture SAUSAGEMAN:THE REVENGE.

  • DvBloke #42 5 years ago

    Just Bring it out, They tried to ban the first one and it still got released so i don't know what the problem is???? If ya mentally ill u shouldn't be playing these games anyway :)