Police slam Reservoir Dogs

By Ellie Gibson Published 31 July, 2006

For featuring too much violence.

The UK's Association of Chief Police Officers has slammed Eidos's forthcoming Reservoir Dogs game for glorifying violence against police.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post, an ACPO representative said: "Anything that encourages violent emotions, including such emotions towards members of the police service, is particularly disturbing and can only be described as offensive.

"It is disappointing to find violent video games on the market that may cause psychological harm to those who play them."

The spokesperson's comments were echoed by Tom McGhie, chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, who described Reservoir Dogs as a "sickening glorification of violence against police officers".

"Anything that encourages that type of behaviour, when police officers are suffering more attacks than ever before, should be banned," he continued.

"It's impossible to see how such a game can have anything other than a highly damaging effect on how people perceive and react to police officers."

Harrogate MP Phil Willis also jumped into the fray, declaring that he was "staggered" the game was allowed to go on sale. Not that it has yet.

"It sends out the message that the police and authority figures are there to be targeted and dispatched, desensitises people to the idea of killing and undermines normal moral values," Willis added. He also suggested that those playing Reservoir Dogs would be encouraged to behave in the same way as those who murdered PCs Sharon Beshenivsky and Ian Broadhurst.

Leicester East MP and well-known anti-videogame campaigner Keith Vaz has tabled a Commons motion arguing that the game should be banned, due to the fact it "promotes and supports the infliction of extreme violence and cruelty".

The British Board of Film Classification observed that the game has been given an 18 rating, with a spokesperson stating: "It contains nothing that is particularly stronger than things found in most 18-rated games."

This isn't the first time Reservoir Dogs has come under fire - last month it was banned from sale in Australia after the country's ratings board ruled that it was too violent.

However, the game is still due to go on sale in Europe for PC, PlayStation and Xbox this autumn.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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Comments (45) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Freek #1 6 years ago

    Blabablabalbalbla, this pointless debate is geting old fast. BORING.

    /watches Reservoir Dogs sales go up
    Edited by 3 at 31/07/06 @ 13:10

  • coojam #2 6 years ago

    It's really not that bad...you grab people by the hair and smash their faces on walls and desks n stuff, but the special moves where you can cut peoples ears off isn't even shown...the camera moves up ala the movie, so violence is simply implied in some cases.

  • aldo_14 #3 6 years ago

    The same Keith Vaz as from the 'passports for donations' scandal?

  • jmctavish #4 6 years ago

    They're probably doing us all a favour by attempting to get this banned. It'll more than likely be completely shit anyway.

  • El_MUERkO #5 6 years ago

    lol a special move for ear chopping \o/

    what the fuck do they expect, mild mannered non criminal type plays game and thinks

    "i'm going to wear a suit while playing this then go out and stab some pigs!"

  • el_pollo_diablo #6 6 years ago

    Funny how the Rozzers keep schtum when it's games (or films, for that matter) featuring renegade police officers serving up their unique style of bullet ridden justice.

  • skillian #7 6 years ago

    The whole debate hinges on whether computer games are more likely to corrupt young minds than traditional media such as films and books.

    I don't think they are, and I therefore call SHENANIGANS! on the whole argument.

  • manic_mouse #8 6 years ago

    I dunno. Sometimes when I go into a pet shop and there are loads of turtles there, a little voice in my head tells me to jump on them...
    Edited by 1 at 31/07/06 @ 13:24

  • Royal Fool #9 6 years ago

    But you could kill cops in Grand Theft Auto, and nobody ever complained then!

    Asshats.

  • Stickman #10 6 years ago

    How come the coppers don't complain when I cuff bystanders as a SWAT officer, then pepper spray them?

  • Freek #11 6 years ago

    "I dunno. Sometimes when I go into a pet shop and there are loads of turtles there, a little voice in my head tells me to jump on them..."

    Gotta be carefull with that kind of behaviour, they are trained ninjas after all. Could get you killed!

  • kangarootoo #12 6 years ago

    "It's impossible to see how such a game can have anything other than a highly damaging effect on how people perceive and react to police officers."

    Impossible? Really? Lets test that.

    I can imagine it having a completely benign effect on sane individuals. I imagined it just now, with my mind.

    Hmmm, seems like Tom McGhie needs to update his dictionary.

    Another guilty-as-charged quote would be,

    "It is disappointing to find violent video games on the market that may cause psychological harm to those who play them."

    Sneaky, sliding in an assumption presented as fact, cunningly veiled beside your quite reaonable disappointment.

    This will blow over, same as it always does. Once the front pages are made and the papers are sold, the media will move on to other cashco... I mean news.

  • decibel #13 6 years ago

    woo woo!

    everybody aboard the free PR train! *passes money hat*

  • neil_pub5 #14 6 years ago

    This issue wont ever go away until mature games get unfairly banned or people except that gaming is like the movie industry where more than just kids get involved and such content is age restricted. They should either campaign to ban all offensive movie and gaming content (without picking one individual title out) or shut up and actually catch criminals who have broken the law without playing a game to inspire them (I've never played Asylum seeker on PS2 for example lol).

  • Dynamize #15 6 years ago

    He also suggested that those playing Reservoir Dogs would be encouraged to behave in the same way as those who murdered PCs Sharon Beshenivsky...

    Well, considering said police officer was shot while responding to an armed robbery (did anything come of the investigation into just why two non-firearms WPCs without body armour were sent alone to an armed robbery call out?), I'd say playing a computer game wouldn't make that much difference to someone who was into committing armed robbery.

    and Ian Broadhurst

    Bieber was an ex-US Marine drug-dealer and hitman-hirer, so I think that raises more questions about the de-humanising process inherent in crafting soldiers (and their inevitable need to operate as members of civilian society post-service), than it does about computer games. Unless the majority of gamers are ex-US Marine drug-dealing hirers of hitmen...

    Yadda yadda stock response to ignorant politicians and authority figures. Why do I bite every time? Politicians - the ultimate trolls.

    All these people have done is confirm their own stupidity, ignorance; and their questionable ideas about logic and the direction of causation. And these fools are in charge. Heh.

    Bah, it looks like it's shaping up to be a rubbish game anyway.

  • Freek #16 6 years ago

    With GTA it was even more stupid as the police are invincible and always win the fight. The only way for the player to get away is to hide from them.

  • Sko #17 6 years ago

    "The British Board of Film Classification observed that the game has been given an 18 rating, with a spokesperson stating: "It contains nothing that is particularly stronger than things found in most 18-rated games.""

    Usually, the BBFC and 'common sense' aren't seen within a hundred miles of each other but a very nice "What's all the fuss about? It's violent and we've rated it as such. No problem." comment there.

  • Spikester #18 6 years ago

    Hmm the murder of PCs Sharon Beshenivsky, was by a bunch of Somali bank robbers, who were probably more traumatised/inspired by the civil war rather than a computer game? Maybe...

    As for Keith Vaz, maybe voting for a war in Iraq is slightly more damaging to the worlds yoof than some pixels on a screen, he should get some perspective on his own actions, if only there could be a decent MP Simulator made (one's with options like long term consequences for your votes, looking for badgers on commons, affairs, backhanders or combining Satsumas in the mouth and ironing boards). Wonder what their reaction would be then?

  • jack_klugman #19 6 years ago

    It's this sort of news article which makes me want to fuCkING kIlL PoLICE OFFICERS IN THE FACE WITH GUNS!!!!!1

  • Royal Fool #20 6 years ago

    ManicMinerUK:
    Erm.. hello? Did you not notice the last 3 years then?

    Yes, but I don't recall seeing an article about the GTA games that included such blatant bashing from police officials and others, no. Mostly just Jack Thompson stuff and perhaps a quote from Hillary Clinton.

  • Azazel #21 6 years ago

    zomg vidyo gamez AR tEH THOUGHT CNOTROL

  • smoison #22 6 years ago

    What do you know. Another stupid ass cop that would be better of dead anyway.

    P.S I Hate the Po-Po, and not because of videogames.
    Edited by 1 at 31/07/06 @ 15:11

  • Riggers #23 6 years ago

    One would think if Keith Vaz was so touchy about torture, he'd be a bit more vocal to his boss over the UK's support of the US, what with its slightly dodgy prison camps and 'extraordinary rendition' policies. Methinks actual torture is possibly a bit worse than the digitised kind.

    Still, it's all good news for the game. Who can forget when Manhunt was temporarily withdrawn from sale - sales went through the roof for weeks afterwards!

  • rinoaMW #24 6 years ago

    "The spokesperson's comments were echoed by Tom McGhie, chairman of the West Yorkshire Police Federation, who described Reservoir Dogs as a "sickening glorification of violence against police officers".

    They must see alot of action upt' at them there moors. ;)

    I mean c'mon, there have been far worse games released! Manhunt is one as Riggers said :)
    Edited by 2 at 31/07/06 @ 15:18

  • President_Weasel #25 6 years ago

    Good ol' Keith Vaz. Even in a strong field he's prime contender for biggest bandwagon-jumping rabble-rousing waste-of-space MP.

  • Mick #26 6 years ago

    youve been tango'd!

  • souljah #27 6 years ago

    Isnt Vaz the twat who also jumped onto the Manhunt and Bully bandwagon?

    Arsehole that guy.

  • ruckus #28 6 years ago

    kkkunts
    Edited by 1 at 31/07/06 @ 16:53

  • Rambaldi #29 6 years ago

    Games, films, music: none of these actually make psychos. They might trigger a few off, but they are not responsible for making them that way in the first place. If it wasn't the game triggering them off it would be something else...

    Why can' these doo-gooders just admit this and focus on investigating and adressing the real causes behind sociopathic behaviour.

    I mean, they brandish their claims around like they were scientific fact: if their claims were in fact true, why hasn't everyone who's watched a violent film or game gone out and murdered someone? Answer: we have restraint and the capacity to distinguish fantasy from reality. Insane people don't have this ability to begin with.

    Maybe the really disturbing truth is that there is no explination as to why some people commit horrific acts : some animals are just born sick and need to be put down.

    Oh yeah...the do-gooders wouldn't let us do that either, would they?

  • cyber_nicco #30 6 years ago

    I thought law enforcement's job was to protect the public. Why all the objection to cyber-violence against the police. Shouldn't they be more concerned with the 100's of games that depict violence against "civilians"?

    Not suggesting they should - I think these concerns are absurd.

    Oh, can anyone direct me to a source for comprehensive "on the job" mortality rates? I've been looking, but I have only so far found the top ten (which, or course, law enforcement doesn't fall into). I've had a long-held belief that even plumbers probably die on the job at a higher rate than law-enforcement.

    This is a boring link, but since I mentioned it I'm including it - please don't tell me it is a boring link. It's just that list of top ten...

    [link url=http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/13/pf/dangerousjobs/?cnn=y es
    ]http://mo ney.cnn.com/2003/10/13/pf/dange...[/link]
    Edited by 1 at 31/07/06 @ 23:14

  • Riggers #31 6 years ago

    I do find it a little odd that you'll get some nutter whose third cousin twice removed once played on a friend's copy of Manhunt, and MPs and the like start yelling, 'BAN THIS SICK FILTH!!', yet you get some equally nutty scampster who kills because 'God told him to do it' or such like, and people just accept that he's nuts, without demanding a blanket ban on religion.

    And why are the police singling out the violence towards police officers? Is everyone else fair game?

    Paticularly if they're Brazilian? :p

  • Lovemoose #32 6 years ago

    ooh! twist the knife there Riggers!

  • Spikester #33 6 years ago

    If only Brass Eye was still going, there would be a top spoof in video games = violence.

    Cyber thanks for the stats, I've just resigned from the Forrestry Commission :o)

  • Rambaldi #34 6 years ago

    Excellent point about murders 'in the name of god'. Come to think of it, how many wars are started on this premise? Maybe religion should be banned...

  • The_Foo_Fighter #35 6 years ago

    /steps back as the wheels of the bandwagon start to buckle

  • chupachups #36 6 years ago

    Whether they're right or wrong, all this will do is give Reservoir Dogs even more mystique and make more people want to buy it.

  • Riggers #37 6 years ago

    Does anyone know if these complaining parties have actually played the game? From the site for the game (I admit it, I looked - I was curious!!), it doesn't mention owt about torture, just that *not* killing people gets you a 'professional' rating, whereas killing people gets you a 'pyscho' rating.

    And as for torture...didn't the Punisher game have the fact you could torture people as its unique selling point? Why weren't people throwing a paddy about that?

  • Nostromo13 #38 6 years ago

    i like the song in the trailer.

  • Steroyd #39 6 years ago

    what next?

    Banning porno films because it's showing too much flesh?

  • Bumbuliuz #40 6 years ago

    Why do they seem to want to bash the most the unpublished games? Let the game to come out first and people to see it and review it. Otherwise this is just a media hype to get some attention like always with us politicians.

  • corposant #41 6 years ago

    "It's impossible to see how such a game can have anything other than a highly damaging effect on how people perceive and react to police officers."

    Interesting comment that on perceptions. Another interesting thing is the fact that not a single UK police officer has yet been imprisoned for shooting a civilian. This despite a number of cases involving the killing (murder?) of people armed with chair legs or in the case of Jean Charles Menezes, nothing at all. I would have thought that was more damaging to the way people percieve and react to the police than a video game?

  • chupachups #42 6 years ago

    "It's impossible to see how such a game can have anything other than a highly damaging effect on how people perceive and react to police officers."

    Actually it's VERY possible to see how violent games can have a non-damaging effect.

    Films and games in Japan have always been more violent and less censored than the same films and games in America and Europe, yet Japan itself is a much less violent place, there are far fewer murders and far fewer muggings.

    It's possible that playing violent games actually reduces real life violence by acting as a sort of safety valve, by letting people work out their aggression in virtual situations rather than real ones. Instead of repressing their feelings they let them out regularly before they become dangerous.

    I'm not saying that explanation is definitely true, but it's possible that it's true and worth looking into. It also shows that what the policeman said is a load of rubbish, there IS a way of looking at things that defends these sorts of games.

    It also shows that there's no clear link between violence in games and violence in real life: Japan is a quiet place in real life but has very violent games, America is a violent place in real life but has less violent games. There's no way you can draw any firm conclusions from facts like that.
    Edited by 1 at 01/08/06 @ 11:19

  • Vauncey #43 6 years ago

    Just wanted to raise the post count to 50 and say to ManicMinerUK - Violence in Res Dogs? - BWAHAHAHA!!!

  • corposant #44 6 years ago

    Here's a further example of how the police are helping to build a strong, credible image of themselves in the eyes of the public they serve...

    [link url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/ news.html?in_article_id=397240&in_page_id=1766&in_a_source=& ito=1490
    ]http://ww w.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/ar...[/link]

    It concerns the arrest of some kids for building a tree house!

    If this sort of thing is happening I think it would be a bad idea for anyone to play Resorvoir Dogs when its released, otherwise you'll be looking at a 10 stretch.

  • Isonic #45 6 years ago

    Its a video game,A VIDEO GAME PEOPLE........i dont think too many people would copy things out of this game,as they will be too busy thinkin how awful the gameplay and how they have got evrything soo damm wrong!