Manhunt 2 Rejected Again October 09, 2007
Read more Consoles , Games , Gizmodo UK , PC , PS3 , Xbox
Manhunt 2, which was the first game to be banned in a decade by the BBFC in June, has had its revised edition rejected too.
Rockstar’s controversial hunt & slash, which oozes menace and delights in fantastically gory brutality in its methods of despatch, had been tweaked and resubmitted in August for a second stab at the cherry.
However, the BBFC is having none of it. According to David Cooke, director of the BBFC:
“We recognise that the distributor has made changes to the game, but we do not consider that these go far enough to address our concerns about the original version. The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the ‘execution kills’, but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature.
We did make suggestions for further changes to the game, but the distributor has chosen not to make them, and as a result we have rejected the game on both platforms. The decision on whether or not an appeal goes ahead lies with the distributor.”
Rockstar, which loves a little bit of notoriety, responded to the BBFC’s second smackdown, calling it ‘unacceptable’. In a statement, it said:
"We are continuing to appeal the British Board of Film Classification's decision to deny the edited version of Manhunt 2 an 18-plus certificate and thereby ban its release in the United Kingdom. The changes necessary in order to publish the game in Britain are unacceptable to us and represent a setback for videogames.
The BBFC allows adults the freedom to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in movies and we think adults should be similarly allowed to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in videogames, such as Manhunt 2.”
Is the BBFC ban merited or should adults be left make up their own minds? Have your say.-Martin Lynch
Editor and Contributor | Martin Lynch
Contributor | Tamlin Magee
Comments
OH THE HUMANITY
...oh hang on... we appear to have lost nothing here. Manhunt you will not be missed.
Unfortunately the deeply inadequate game designers who compensate for their lack of manliness by vicariously living out their fantasies on screen don't live in the sort of neighbourhoods that pay the price for their masturbation
This stuff has no interest to me other than that it seems to be one rule for films and a different rule for computer games. This is wrong.
Also, anyone who thinks the driving force behind a modern game is it's designers is an idiot. Modern games are consumer driven. And you're doubly an idiot if you're trying to draw some causal link between violant games and the 'state of society' (tm, Dail Mail)
I played the original manhunt on my ps2 years ago and it was ok as far as stealth games go. as for the nature of these games, heck , it's just the same as buying hostel on dvd. yes there should be censorship where children are concerned. But this game is targetted at an adult audience and I don't believe in censorship for adults. I want to choose what i want to see, read, hear, play. I don't play games anymore, have no time for them, but i find this kind of censorship insulting. The problem is not the game, it's the fact that kids can get hold of these games and that lies on the doorstep of the parents and the resellers. It's just all wrong. where's the freedom of choice?
callous and bleak? it's a frikkin game. you play it for cheap thrills extactly like going to the cinema for a some cheap torture porn (hostel/saw etc).
Like I said, no intention of buying it, but adults should be allowed to play the game if they want. Children caught playing these games should have their consoles confiscated.
I have a 7 & 9 year old. I wouldn't let them anywhere near a game that was not suitable for their age group because I'm a responsible parent, something thats becoming more and more rare these days.
I have absolutely no interest in playing this awful game. But that doesn't mean it should be banned. Let adults know about its content, and then release it. Make sure retailers uphold the rules.
If Rockstar do manage to get the game released, these rejections will be great for the game's notoriety.
Hmm lets see, the old addage that all publicity is good publicity still lives.
One rule for films and another for games thats because of the way you interact with them a film you have no controle over what happens you are just the observer but not with games, so yes there probably should be differnt rules set rules that give game developers something to follow.
so if your game has this, this and this it won`t pass or this, this, and this your game will be reviewed and yes perants need to be accountable for what there kids play there are alot of perants out there that need a slap take some responsibility stop blameing every one else because your kids a little git
that's fair comment jolko.
The main issue I have with this is how resellers get away with selling these games to youngsters. The governments now looking into whether games affect childrens behaviour - it doesn't take an expert to realize that yes games do affect children - and games aaffect them both negatively and positively depending on the type of game and content and social interaction (multiplayer games). Again, fair enough, no problem with that or the results of the study so long as it is not distorted to the point of creating a set of rules that encompasses all games for adults and children alike.
I don't want to be nannied. I want to see red blood onscreen, not green, like they had in Germany with resident evil when that was released.
How hard can it be to put restrictions in place to sell theses Adult Orientated games to just adults? the way I see it, it's almost impossible. So governments going after the source of these violent games to have them toned down which is sad because it means some gamers will miss out on how developers would have preffered to depict a game because parents, kids and resellers act irresponsibly.
The only sensible way to ensure that children are kept away from corrupting and harmful content like this, is to ban it - i fully support the censors comments. I am a responsible parent and given the age of my children,i can reasonably expect to determine what they watch, however, there are many other children who's parent have no idea or no interest in what they are watching. The censor must speak for them !
This game is aimed at an adult audience, not at kids. These censorships are an insult to our rights and our freedom- no one should say what we can and can't play. None of it is real! I don't give a damn if half of you are disgusted by it, I probably wouldn't play it either- but think of what this REALLY means- Soon they'll be banning everything from Biohazard for "harvesting" girls to GTA for banging prostitutes and shooting up buildings. Maybe halflife will be banned because you can blow a scientists head apart then carve his body with a crowbar? Who knows.
I was really looking forward to this game as I loved the first installment. Looks like I'll have to get it imported. After all, where will I get the inspiration for my killing sprees involving sickles, hammers and axes?
Joking aside, I can see no real reason for banning this game even in it's original, unedited form. I'm an adult who can distance himself from violence etc in games and movies as yes - they're not real! People who claim to be influenced by games when commiting evil acts are clearly 'a sandwich short of a picnic' and yet again, the general population has to suffer because of these people.
Oh, and 'williams' who posted above - why should the censors do the job of parents who would be happy to let their children play games such as this? Perhaps you are worried that when your children go round these idiots' houses, they might be exposed to adult films/games. Frankly, that's your problem, not mine. What you're trying to say is that it's easier for you for the game to be banned outright than you having to confront bad parents. Yet again - not my problem!
I grow to hate this country (UK) more and more each day and when I've got the necessary work experience and qualifications, I wont hesitate to jump ship and take my skills abroad to go live somewhere decent. Now, where did I put my lump hammer....................
We dont believe in War Games!
http://www.HIppoClaims.co.uk
I write this in response to Sparkes comment.
I find your comments kind of disturbing and somewhat disgusting. I do work in the game industry and I must say I disagree with your rather judgmental comments about those in the industry.
Bob is correct, most games are consumer driven. Publishers and investors will look at trends in the gaming industry and place their money on projects that are more likely to succeed. It’s harder to make original games with original concepts because they haven’t been proven to be successful. There’s a reason why such violent games sell so well, it’s because it’s what the consumer wants, it’s what they demand. If everyone loved Barbie and wanted Barbie video games you can be sure that Barbie games would be topping the charts. Publishers and investors are there to make money, not satisfy someone’s sick fantasy.
I’ve never met anyone in this industry that felt inadequate and felt they needed to compensate for their “lack of manliness” by “vicariously living out their fantasies on screen” Most people I have met in this industry are really laid back and are generally nice people. They enjoy life and know how to have fun with it.
The people that I find rather mean are the anti-video game people, the people that judge me so wildly because I do work on video games. Just because I make a gun for some game doesn’t mean I’m some crazed lunatic out to corrupt the minds of children, it does not mean I condone violence or support it.
I do art for video games because I enjoy making artwork, because I like playing video games, because I like the challenge of creating good looking artwork within the limitations of a real-time environment. I love to be able to push the limits of technology to new heights.
Hmm, and my views on video games? Well, video games are just that, a game. Wait, let me say that again just in case you missed it. They are a game, they shouldn’t be taken seriously and shouldn’t reflect upon a person’s merits and morals. If some whacked out guy gets his kicks off from killing stuff in video games, well the video game hasn’t made him that way, he would have been that way regardless if he played video games or not. Just as easy I could say that guy is violent because he eats bread or breathes air. My point is that most people are so fast to draw conclusions and so quick to find a correlation that they completely overlook the underlying cause. Did you ever stop to consider that little Johnny did what he did, not because he played quake, but he did what he did because of how others treated him? Because of how society treated him and viewed him, and it only made it worse by people’s false judgments of Johnny’s character. In the past little Johnny probably went and shot guns on a rifle range or tortured his toys to find his release, now days he sits in front of his computer and hacks away at zombies. The outlets of frustration have changed, but a lot of the underlying causes stay the same. In the past if someone had a weird fixation with torturing their toys we wouldn’t blame the toy, but rather question what has caused that person to have that fixation. It should be the same for video games. If little Johnny gets a little too excited about running around in a video game chopping things up, maybe it’s not the game, but rather the person playing it that you should be concerned with.
I’ve played video games all my life, from the cheerfully peachy games to the downright violent. It hasn’t made me violent by any means and hasn’t affected me in such ways that people seem to think that video games affect people. I’m just a normal person, I just happen to also enjoy playing video games.
damn thats about a b1tch you people in the uk are realy some unlucky sobs. Those of us in America can play whatever we want, without our goverment restricton. We just cant say much. :[