This month not only sees smoking in public banned in The UK but also the computer game Manhunt 2. This is the first game in 10 years to be officially banned by the BBFC.

The ruling means it cannot be legally supplied anywhere in Britain.

The last game to be refused classification was “Carmageddon” in 1997 but the the decision was overturned on appeal.
In 2003, the original “Manhunt” was given the highest classification for people 18 and over. But censors ruled it was at the limit of acceptability in that category.

The game hit the headlines in 2004 after 14-year-old schoolboy Stefan Pakeerah was stabbed and beaten to death in Leicester.
The victim’s parents believed the killer was inspired by the game, although police and lawyers said there was no evidence it had played a role in the killing.

BBFC director David Cooke said they always try to consider modifications to games whose content breaches guidelines.
But that was impossible with “Manhunt 2″, which he described as having an “unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone…which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing”.

“There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game,” he added.

The BBFC ruling was welcomed by Pakeerah’s parents while the Entertainment Leisure Software Publishers Association, which represents the computer and video games industry, said it showed the ratings system was effective.

“Manhunt 2″, for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles, is made by United States firm Rockstar Games Inc. The company that also brought out such crap as car theft games, bullying games and stalking games. They have six weeks to submit an appeal, but they should crawl back into the shithouse they came from.

Good riddance to bad rubbish!