Really wish people would stop saying that the Hunger Games is just Battle Royal. Battle Royal had no real setting or setup.

Hunger Games is actually less about the children killing each other and more about just how far humanity has sunk. the Capital City is basically a new Rome, and the Hunger Games is a new Colosseum to entertain the masses. The children aren't allowed to say how horrible it is that they all have to die. They are forced to dress up and be beautiful for the camera and give speeches as if they were actors. If the children are doing well in the games or have a sympathetic "character", citizens are allowed to purchase "gifts" for them to help them out.

The whole thing is horrible, just horrible! And in later books, people start to rise up against the corrupt government and a civil war ensues.

The author's explanation of her inspiration for writing the books is enough to convince me that she hadn't ever seen Battle Royale (not everyone is a jap-fan who has seen this movie, you guys. We're in geek-culture, here).

Hunger Games is MORE than Battle Royal. It isn't just about picking random kids and making them kill each other (and IMO it's LESS random in this book than in Battle Royal, and in Hunger Games everyone knows it's coming as opposed to it just being a wtf moment). It is about WHY the games exist in the first place, how the games have corrupted high society, and what the oppressed are going to do about it.