Although not as bad as Australia, New Zealand has seen its share of banned video games (Manhunt, Postal, Reservoir Dogs), and it may ban Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto IV if a member of Parliament gets his way. According to the New Zealand news site Scoop, Independent MP Gordon Copeland has called for a ban on the game because he's afraid of its influence on an already violent atmosphere in the nation.

"Sadly New Zealand has become a violent society," he said. "Our criminal courts are almost log jammed with cases involving murder, manslaughter, rape, and other heinous crimes. Our jails are overflowing. A recent study has indicated that, on a per capita basis, New Zealand is now twice as violent as the USA."

The report also cites an "expert" in the field of violent crime. "These (video games) are actually killing simulators and they teach... to kill in much the same way the astronauts on Apollo 11 learned how to fly to the moon," said David Rossman. "Simply stated, it is time to reverse the tide of violence in New Zealand. We have to have the courage somewhere, sometime, to say 'no' and I agree with kiwi parents and the police, that this [ban of GTA IV] is not a bad place to start."

This call for a ban has come despite the fact that the version of GTA IV that just launched in New Zealand is already a watered-down censored product.