Manhunt Controversy

God damn it.

So ireland, being trigger happy with the BAN button (Pink Floyd (Arnold lane) Monty Python, etc etc) Have decided to ban Manhunt 2 due to its graphic nature.

Now, in the US, People have risen up and said they'll slap it with an AO (Adults only) rating, meaning it can't be sold at Best buy, target, Can't be ported on the Sony or Nintendo - Sales are very limited.

I was never going to play it. I still don't want to. but FFS, Is anybody ehre old enough to remeber going into a R movie at 13 with your friends? just paying the ticket and going in and nobody gave a damn?
WTF Changed? God damn this is pissing me off.

Congratulations you weak f|cktards who are limiting our fun by "looking out for use" by banning video games. You weak f|cktards. Thanks to you take - Two will be short changed 40 million bucks, PLUS the production cost (Several million now a days) (FEAR? 25 million) Which will mean huge cuts, meaning less games that could potentially have been awsome.

Could they change the content of manyhunt? Sure, and kill the game along with it. Its not like with the Far Cry Fiasco where you just took out the Ragdolling from dead bodies, Violence is the essence of Manhunt.

Thank you. Thank you very much. Sour Crout f|cking mothers looking out for Timmy. Eat my shorts. Whats next? hmm? Oh no! lets ban GUNS in video games! Guns are bad! And now they are WAAAAAY too realistic, its virtual trainning! They might induce us into becomming all Terrorists! Oh no! 9/11! games cause People to Go mad and 9/11! 9/11! everybody!

Surely, you do not want Mr. Jones to come back?

I think the whole thing is ridiculous, I'm 21 years old and can get this game. I pre-ordered it at EBGames last week, and he told me July 10th, a day before the 'shelfing'. I hate shitty parents who don't know what their kids play, and cause chaos over a GAME.

Meanwhile, Hostel 2 is out.

I like it how you can legally buy a gun, then go and kill someone with it, but you cant buy a game and kill a virtual person, cause that might be harmful.

Yay! We'll tell everyone over the age of 21 what they're allowed to play in their own home. mistboobs

Is there any difference to an R or Adults rating?

Who the hell is Mr Jones which Koala MeatPie mention don't you mean jack thompson that dickhead ?

this is absolute crap!
i agree with mist..its ok to get a gun and kill under circumstances, but you cant hold a gun in a videogame 😬

It's not actually OK to buy a gun and go out and kill somebody though, is it? To be realistic.

It's a bit of a silly decision. If anyone is crazy enough to be influenced by a game, then they're...already crazy. Banning a game won't help them.

M is supposed to be like an "R" rating.

Ao is supposed to be like Nc-17, which limits the distribution of it...

The European and American situations are very different.

I do have to say... I think the American situation is reasonable. The ESRB has not tried to ban the game. It is simply their job to certificate it, and I can very much see the case for them giving it a high certificate.

It's not their fault that many games release companies- like Sony ad Nintendo- have policies of not allowing AO stuff on their consoles. Nor is it really unreasonable for such companies to have family-friendly policies- it is part of their market, especially for Nintendo.

It is also not the ESRB's fault that big chains refuse to stock AO material. It is, after all, up to shops what they do and do not want to sell.

You've got to understand the market you are releasing into. If you make a hyper-violent game that actively encourages you to indulge in such violence in-game, then I rather think you should be aware that if you push it too far, no-one is actually going to sell your game. Duhhh.

Now, in the UK and Ireland, it has effectively been outright banned, which is less defensible. No-one is ALLOWED to sell it whether they want to or not. Hmm.

It'll get a PC release of some sort, for sure. Even if online only.

Funny though the Sony situation, since Sony-exclusive fans are usually citing 'adult' games as a reason that Sony is superior to Nintendo.

I think that is because there was a time where Nintendo would barely allow anything past PG. They've changed that now, but there's a legacy to it.

Still, despite being a family-orientated console, I do indeed think that Nintendo has parity with Sony in what they will allow now for the Wii. It's just a matter of people making such stuff for it. Nintendo were all up for releasing Manhunt if it had an M rating, which would make it the most extreme thing Nintendo ever released.

I believe the basic questions are these....

Just exactly HOW violent is this game?

And...

How extreme is the violence in the game as oppose to other illustrations of violance in movies, games, comic books, tv shows, and music?

What is in the content of the game to deserve such penalty?

That's a relevant question for the UK and Ireland, but not in the US. In the US it has not received any more penalty than a violent film. It's simply that retailers don't like to sell such games

Jack Thompson seriously needs to find a new hobby.

I can see why retailers may not want to sell an AO rated game, and while I think it's kinda silly with the "no third party AO games on our systems" thing that Nintendo and Sony are doing, that's their call. The game will still be obtainable...if it ever comes out.

But think of it this way. Chances are that once it does come out, very few stores will carry it. The best way to get it is online. Isn't this a bit counter-intuitive to keeping kids from buying it? If you buy a game in the store and it's a restricted rating, you're going to get IDed (I do this a billion times a day). But online? Any kid can borrow Mom or Dad's credit card to buy it. There's no way of telling who they're really selling to.

And then just outright banning a game is simply stupid, in my opinion. It won't stop people from getting it at all.

Well, that thing about online selling applies to any mature game at all, really. If the kids cannot get it in a store because of being id'ed, they'll get it online. No different to not being able to get it in a store because the store isn't selling it, and so getting it online.

The reason it would be available on-line wouldn't be part of a concerted effort to keep it away from kids, after all. It's just that on-line is probably the only way it will be available nationwide.

But that would only likely be if the current version is released on PC (where there is no problem with Sony/Nintendo disallowing it). More likely the game will be toned down for an M rating on the consoles, and an 18 rating in the UK.

Jack Thompson and all these overreacting parents need lives, control your ****in kids, unless I see some CONFIRMATION about Necrophilia in Manhunt 2, the only reason (I think) for this is because of the sex house at some point in the game. I think if you remove sexual contact from a SEX house, it kind of ISN'T that at all, and as far as the tortures go, you're getting REVENGE for the people they tortured.

The difference between Manhunt vs. Texas Chainsaw Saga, and Hostel saga is, Texas and Hostel is just pointless slaughter of innocent teenagers/adults.

Manhunt 1 you played as Cash who was fighting for survival after they set him up for the injection and it didn't work. To ME fighting for survival is legit, and you WOULD have to use any means neccesary against groups of people who want to kill you.

I mean come on, Unrated dvds come out all the time, sure there isn't a lot different from the theatrical version, but it's the PRINCIPAL. I see no reason why Manhunt 2 should get this kind of fire because of some whiney old bitches and Jack Thompson.

The national media calling the 'shelfing' a WIN for parents and families, ****.THAT. it's more like a reason for Jack Thompson to pop a bottle of Champaigne and say his bitching and crying actually caused something 'good' in his own opinion.

I've also been playing games above my age limit for years, as well as had Resident Evil 1 & 2 when I was 12, I shouldn't be cheated out of this because of some people who fail as parents. I know plenty of people who are quite sane as well, and when we talk about violent things, 99% of the time we're quoting a movie or discussing a game. It's never been, 'Man I want to kill that guy.'

And as far as the rumors of it being banned across the world for scrotum ripping, that's garbage because you can get a Scythe Hook around the middle of the game, and the YELLOW level kill is sticking the hook under him, and tearing it off. So, it clearly isn't that.

Still dumb, though.

Also kind of annoying that this all happened like...two and a half weeks before the game was scheduled to be released. That's going to delay it for months, most likely.

Gotta say this much, though...it's certainly going to build up a huge amount of hype about the game.

Well of course it is, and with it being on the Wii and Ps2? They're the two best selling consoles out right now. This all happened in a WEEK as well, when NOTHING else would happen so quickly.

What I read from Gamespot, its pretty damn violent and I'm not surpraised it got an AO. I'm sorry, but the AO fault is on Rockstar and not the ratings board.

The rating system is flawed anyway. If manhunt was a movie it would be rated R, not AO, but Jack Thomson has scared people into thinking that Interactive Entertainment is a worse influence and those people want stricter ESRB ratings. It's funny, because it all started these same people buying their kids video games without paying attention to the ESRB in the first place, which most will continue to do and still complain when they see their kids busting caps and so the cycle continues.

Question:

Is Postal 2 banned in the UK?