Prosecutions over banned video game

5.30pm

People who allegedly tried to sell copies of the banned video game Manhunt in New Zealand are to be prosecuted, the Department of Internal Affairs confirmed today.

They are the first prosecutions for distributing a banned game in breach of the Films, Videos and Publications Classification Act, and if found guilty face a maximum penalty of a year in prison or a $20,000 fine.

The people faced charges of distributing objectionable material, Internal Affairs spokesman Vince Cholewa told NZPA.

"None of the people are connected, so this wasn't an organised group," he said.

"They obtained the games offshore and allegedly tried to sell them and make a buck in New Zealand."

Manhunt, which uses extremely violent imagery, last year became the first video game to be banned in New Zealand by chief censor Bill Hastings.

Internal Affairs issued a warning last Christmas that if the PlayStation 2 game was brought into New Zealand, importers faced prosecution, and Manhunt was put on the Customs "alert" list.

But its banning was expected to make the game even more sought-after.

The department has been monitoring New Zealand-based websites on which gamers reveal their plans to import Manhunt.

Manhunt, which was to sell for $109.95, allows gamers to play the character of Cash, a man on death row who escapes execution but who is forced to take part in a snuff movie.

He is awarded extra points to carry out graphic killings involving shards of glass, chainsaws and plastic bags, in an extreme and bloody way with gruesome sound effects, while victims plead to be spared.

Britain's biggest electronics chain, Dixons, pulled Manhunt from its shops this week after parents of a 14-year-old murder victim blamed the game for the killing.

Warren Le Blanc, 17, a fan of the game, admitted he beat the younger teen to death with a claw hammer and stabbed him repeatedly with a knife in a park.

- NZPA