A computer video game that encourages players to kill everyone in sight in ever more gruesome ways has become the first such product to be banned in New Zealand.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification has banned  Manhunt, a DVD-ROM console game produced in Playstation 2 format,  from distribution in the country.

Chief Censor Bill Hastings said in a statement Friday that  while computer games appeared to be getting more "edgy," Manhunt  went further than any game previously referred to his office.

"It's a game where the only thing you do is kill everybody you see," he said.

"It gets worse. Not only do you have to kill everybody you see, you can choose to kill 'mild,' 'medium' or 'hot'."

Hastings said "hot" kills were particularly gruesome. Weapons  used ranged from shards of glass to garroting wire, plastic bags  and machetes.

Hastings said the game was produced by American company  Rockstar Games, "the same people who brought us Grand Theft Auto" - - a controversial video game sharply criticized by opponents of  media violence.

An updated version of that game - Grand Theft Auto 3 - is the  subject of a 246 million US dollars lawsuit in the United States  by families of two people shot by teenagers allegedly inspired by  the game.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is classified in New Zealand as R18,  restricting its sale or hire to persons over 18.

Manhunt had been banned from sale or hire in New Zealand for  its likely effect on "players of any age," Hastings said.

In its 12-page decision, the Classification Office ruled that  Manhunt depicted and dealt with matters of horror, cruelty, crime  and violence in such a manner that its availability was likely to  be injurious to the public good.

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