when i first saw this earlier i went and read the interview and i thought it was sort of hilarious to abandon all pretense of goodies vs. baddies and just video-kill video characters. i've never liked much gore so it's not like something i'd play but i thought if someone wants then why not etc.
but then i read pantophobia's post and realized yes--he's right in that the already maladjusted might be encouraged to become worse.
i don't know enough about this to make a pronouncement though. but i know that in the early origin of arcade games there was this:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2008/08/23/death-race