While I support a parents' right to choose what is or isn't appropriate for their children, and find the watchdogs pretty tiresome, Mr. Antonucci's statement, in my opinion, comes awfully close to implying that there's nothing wrong with little kids playing Manhunt 2. I'm staunchly against game censorship, and believe Manhunt 2 should've been permitted to release as it was (in other words, I believe that console publishers should allow AO rated games), but I DO still believe there are things inappropriate for small children, and that Manhunt 2 is a game best left for the group to whom it's intended.

What really bugs me, though, is that he's offended by groups telling parents what to do. Welcome to reality. Any group with any position on something being right or wrong, or good or bad for society is going to try to tell people they shouldn't do it. Sometimes there are very good reasons (smoking, unsafe sex), and sometimes there aren't (gaming), but if he takes issue with groups advising people of what they believe to be the truth, perhaps he should push for newspapers to remove editorial sections.

I'd like to reiterate I'm not on the watchdog groups' side here--but they are what they are, and they do what every watchdog group does, almost by definition. If Mr. Antonucci doesn't like that, I'd posit that his problem is with watchdog groups fundamentally, not with them issuing warnings.

I saw most of the Katie Couric coverage, and it seems to me like the biggest red flag to all these alarmists is the use of the Wii controller to perform kills.
Well, after watching their guy demonstrate how it's done on the show, I really don't see the big deal. Every time he attacked something, the movements of the controller were more like playing a maraca than swinging a hammer or knife.
It seems to me like the real problem is not that our entertainment is getting more graphic, but rather that parents don't give their kids enough credit. Apparently they don't remember what it's like to be a teenager. To the parents of America (and the world over): YOUR KIDS ARE NOT ROBOTS. They are free-thinking, intelligent individuals. They may be naive, they may be ignorant, but they most certainly can tell the difference between standing in front of a tv and shaking a controller, and actually going into the real world to stalk and kill people.
STOP TREATING YOUR CHILDREN AS IF THEY ARE BRAINLESS IDIOTS!

And of course, there's also the matter of Manhunt 2 being obviously aimed at adults and not children. Even the box art makes it painfully obvious that this game is not appropriate for the young'uns.

I agree with the spirit of this piece but this will not be reported in the mainstream media(MSM).I hope I am wrong but I hold no hope that the MSM will report a dissenting view to the violent game hysteria.

@ some guy

I totally agree. I just think parents get paranoid.

Games, Movies, TV shows, can we avoid violence for just a second?

violence is as old as mankind itself. it is inherent in nature. trying to stop violence is like trying to stop the sun from setting by yelling at the moon.

@ JC

That was the Mercury News Editor in Chief. Mike is a lowly reporter.

@ AM

I am going by only what is quoted here as I can't access the whole article at work, but from what I read here it seems that he is complaining about the nature of the watchdog "advice". These groups do not give parents any more knowledge or powere than they already have. For the most part, they are preaching to the choir so to speak.

These groups would have better served parents by explaining to parents what the ratings mean, and how to set limits, and parental controls. Instead, they went off to condemn a single game.

@ AM

I understand your position, and I agree with you about censorship, console manufacturers, etc.

But based on the quoted part of the article here, I don't agree with your interpretation. I really don't see how he's saying it's okay for young children to play the game (well, he is saying it's ok if the parents say so, but I guess there's an implicit understanding that no INFORMED parent is going to say "oh, sure, little Billy, have at it!"). He's more calling into question the way in which the watchdogs go about their work.

He's absolutely right, if they put more time and effort into treating parents like more than just mentally handi-capped sheep who need to be told what to do at every turn, and actually informing them about the tools that are available to them to help make those informed decisions, they'd be in a much better standing with everyone. Including us.

He's absolutely right. There's a difference between "warning: parents pay attention" and "warning: parents who buy this are stupid".

By "telling" all parents that they shouldn't buy this game, they are not helping parents at all. They are dictating, rather than informing.

Watchdog groups aren't no more than bored idiots.

Doesnt that guy know that parents aren't smart enough to know what is and isn't good for their own children its not like they didn't raise them.

I just find it ironic how much wider a distribution this game will get thanks to all these sensationalistic groups, and one question proves it.

Who has heard of Texas Chainsaw Massacre?

Censors should stop and ask themselves why the film is so well known. It wasn't particuarly good, and yet it's general content is known across the country, and that was because of censors. It was censored, boycotted and banned, people who had never heard of the film were stopped by people wanting to tell them all about how 'disgusting' the content was, therefore making them aware of the film. In the end the censors themselves ensured that the film made a fortune, and is still part is film-culture even today.