Manhunt 2

[bkfount]

Re: Manhunt 2

I would think Rockstar would just edit it. It would cost them too much to go through the process of making a complete game only to scrap it at the last minute because of a rating. I don't even know why it needs to be AO, the first one was brutal enough and had an M rating, what do they really need to put in this one that makes it AO?

that was pre-hot coffee times though. The ESRB got blasted by critics and congress for their failures and now they want to show they can in fact give a game a proper rating. Good for them.

[plasticbeast]

Re: Manhunt 2

The more I think about this, the more upset I become. I can't believe people get so irate about video games that are violent. There are so many problems in this world that should be a higher priority than content of a freaking video game. Do we really need government appointed councils to preview our entertainment so we know what we are getting into before we buy it? adults play games as much as kids now, it needs to be handled the way movies are, but better policing to keep children from buying them. I would wager that plenty of kids under 18 have seen Saw and hostel but no theater is saying they wont play these movies because of their rating. Sorry for the rant but I get pissed when people try to tell me what is good for me, let me make the decision myself. I can live with the consequences.

[bkfount]

Re: Manhunt 2

I didn't see eariler where sony and nintendo won't license manhunt 2 to play on their systems. Well what's the point of the AO rating if no one will let it play on their console?

So it's basically got nowhere to go unless it is edited. 2 companies won't allow it on their console, and it's too much of a last gen game to be on the 360.

[plasticbeast]

Re: Manhunt 2

I didn't see eariler where sony and nintendo won't license manhunt 2 to play on their systems. Well what's the point of the AO rating if no one will let it play on their console?

So it's basically got nowhere to go unless it is edited. 2 companies won't allow it on their console, and it's too much of a last gen game to be on the 360.

Exactly... and thats what makes me sad. I never played the 1st game and probably wouldn't have played this one but I would have liked to have the opportunity to play it if I wanted to.

[MassNole]

Re: Manhunt 2

I didn't see eariler where sony and nintendo won't license manhunt 2 to play on their systems. Well what's the point of the AO rating if no one will let it play on their console?

So it's basically got nowhere to go unless it is edited. 2 companies won't allow it on their console, and it's too much of a last gen game to be on the 360.

Have they just stopped supporting the Xbox, that would seem like a viable option.

I don't get why companies don't license AO games. As they say, they are for Adults Only, the only way a kid gets his hands on it is if a parent buys it for them, as such they only have themselves to blame for exposing little Timmy to violence. Myself, as a 28 year old I think I can decide what is appropriate for me to play, and I certainly wouldn't blame Nintendo or Sony for the game. Sadly this could have been a system seller for the Wii, too bad Nintendo is so out of touch with anything no aimed at 2 year olds.

[The GIGGAS]

Re: Manhunt 2

RE4, MassNole! RE4!

[Pared]

Re: Manhunt 2

What annoys me about the entire situation is movies are always being compared to video games.... yet you have movies like Saw, Hostel...

Oh yeah, they have a rating system so it protects our children! Right... Same thing with games... and I don't see how an 18 year old can go watch Saw 3 yet they wouldn't be able to play this game.... b/c it can't garner a Mature (17+) rating.

Society's reasoning for some of their actions are never justified, IMO.

[Flawless]

Re: Manhunt 2

Manhunt 2 Hands-On Preview
Rockstar Games locked us in a darkened room for a first play of the controversial Manhunt 2 on the PlayStation 2 and Wii.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/manhunt2/news.html?sid=6172967&tag=topslot;title;1&om_act=convert&om_clk=topslot

Manhunt 2 is Rockstar Games' bloody follow-up to the 2003 snuff classic that has found itself in the middle of a firestorm even greater than the one conjured by its predecessor. While the stealthy gameplay of the original may have been nothing new, the style and subject matter of Manhunt made it one of the most mature games ever to hit the gaming world. While controversy always surrounded the game, it definitely didn't do any harm to its sales, so it was perhaps inevitable that Rockstar would produce a sequel. However, in its attempt to top the first game, Rockstar has opened up a big can of worms that has led to this week's recent drama. Back before everything hit the fan, we had the chance to get a proper hands-on with work-in-progress versions of the PlayStation 2 and Wii incarnations of the game. What we played then appeared to be an engaging sequel that was indeed poised to outdo the original.

[Knight165]

Re: Manhunt 2

Take Two just suspended the release of this game...


Release of 'Manhunt 2' Game Suspended
Thursday, June 21st, 2007 at 7:01pm EST

AP Photo/

Video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. said Thursday it was temporarily suspending the release of the violent title "Manhunt 2" because of an ongoing ratings controversy in the United States and a ban in Britain and Ireland.

The New York-based company said in a statement that it needed time to "reviews its options" but would "continue to stand behind this extraordinary game."

"We believe in freedom of creative expression, as well as responsible marketing, both of which are essential to our business of making great entertainment," the company said.

"Manhunt 2," had been scheduled for a July 10 release in the United States on both Nintendo Co.'s Wii and the PlayStation 2 from Sony Corp.

But critics said they were concerned with the game's content, which depicts the escape of an amnesiac scientist and a psychotic killer from an asylum and their subsequent killing spree. In the Wii version, the console's motion-sensitive remote is waved around to control a virtual murder weapon.

The suspension was a setback for creator Rockstar Games, which has come under fire for its popular "Grand Theft Auto" series of urban crime games, and Take-Two, which earlier this year underwent a shareholder coup that ousted its chief executive and nearly all of its board.

A spokesman for Rockstar said he was unable to comment on the suspension. Earlier Thursday, Take-Two had issued a statement saying it was determined to bring the title to market regardless of criticism.

In the United States, the video game industry's self-regulated ratings board gave a preliminary version of "Manhunt 2" an "adults only" rating instead of the more lenient, and far more popular, "mature" rating for ages 17 and up.

Slapping "Manhunt 2" with the Entertainment Software Rating Board's most stringent rating would likely doom sales. Large retailers including Best Buy Co., Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. won't stock AO-rated games.

At the same time, Nintendo and Sony said their policies bar any AO-rated content on their systems. Microsoft Corp. has a similar policy, but "Manhunt 2" wasn't planned for its Xbox 360. There are no such restrictions on games for personal computers.

Rockstar was given 30 days after receiving the ESRB's suggested rating to present an appeal or make changes to the game. On Thursday evening, the official Web site for "Manhunt 2" still said "coming July 2007."

After Britain and Ireland banned the game Tuesday, Italian Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday that he would seek to have the sale of the game canceled there as well. In a statement he called the game "cruel and sadistic, with a squalid environment and a continuous, insistent encouragement to violence and murder."

Rockstar and Take-Two have long been a focal point for debate over the effect of video-game violence on children.

Rockstar's "Grand Theft Auto" series features characters who develop underworld careers through bank robberies, assassinations, drug-dealing, pimping and other crime. Two years ago, Rockstar was forced to replace its first edition of "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" after a hacker discovered a password-protected game inside it that involved a sexual encounter.


M.K.
Knight165

[Pared]

Re: Manhunt 2

That's terrible man... I actually would have purchased this. Now, it's either going to be tamed down to meet the rating it needs to sell or it will go the way of the do-do...

[ExtremeGamer]

Re: Manhunt 2

It went from a must buy to a not even going to bother now. I cancelled my pre-order on it.

[Turbo_Squish]

Re: Manhunt 2

Maybe I'm the only one, but to me this reeks of the old ploy movie studios use where they purposely make a movie they know will get an NC-17 rating, they wait for the inevitable backlash and bannings, and then when a suitable amount of hype has built up they cut some of the most objectionable content (which they never really planned to release anyway), get the movie down to an 'R' rating and then sit back and watch people flock to the theatres to see what all the fuss was about.

I think Rockstar knows exactly what they're doing. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity...

[Lintyfresh85]

Re: Manhunt 2

The feed on G4 was saying Sony and Nintendo both said they won't sell A-O games...

Like I said earlier... Thrill Kill 2.

[wxkid23]

Re: Manhunt 2

I just saw this today... Unbelievable... we can't even make our OWN choice if this is too violent or not? This is what ratings are for!!

I guess we should ban Saw and Hostel from the movies

[pistoldill]

Re: Manhunt 2

A toned down Manhunt 2 will be making it's way to stores on Halloween. The game looks to be back on track, to a certain extent.

TAKE-TWO SETS 'MANHUNT' RELEASE
By BRIAN GARRITY
PrintEmailDigg ItRedditPermalinkStory Bottom

August 25, 2007 -- The "Manhunt" is on once again for Strauss Zelnick's Take-Two Interactive Software.

Two months after the embattled video game developer was forced to shelve the release of its highly touted "Manhunt 2" due to extreme violence, the controversial title is coming back in a tamer form.

Take-Two, which is now releasing "Manhunt 2" on Oct. 31 via its Rockstar Games unit, has come up with a modified version that has passed the muster of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the ratings body for video games.

The cleaned up version is now rated "M" (Mature) for ages 17 and older and will be available for Sony's PlayStation 2 (though not PlayStation 3) and PlayStation Portable, as well as the Nintendo Wii.

The rating also comes with the warning that game features "blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, strong sexual content and use of drugs."

The original cut of the game, intended for release in July, was slapped with an "AO" (Adults Only) tag in the U.S. - a rating too risqué for distribution through most mainstream retailers like Wal-Mart.

Additionally, leading video-game systems from Sony and Microsoft don't recognize "AO"-rated games.

Shares in the company were up over 3 percent in morning trading on the news. The stock ended the day up 45 cents at $14.80.