Manhunt 2 denied UK release

[Satanist]

Taken from CVG...

The BBFC has rejected Manhunt 2 on PS2 and Wii, the ratings board has revealed, meaning that the sequel "cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK".


This was getting some good reviews too.

[The Amstor Computer]

It was getting some good previews, but considering what the BBFC have passed recently - and considering they passed the original - the content in MH2 must be quite something for it to be refused certification.

Ireland's ratings body has rejected it as well, and I wouldn't be surprised to see other European countries follow - Germany are almost certain, as are several others. If it ever gets releases in Japan it will incur an instant Cero Z rating - essentially making it next-to-impossible to get hold of - so it looks like only the US and importers will get to experience it.

I'm not an advocate of censorship, or of banning movies/books/games etc. where no laws have been broken in terms of depiction of "hard rule" acts - bestiality, rape etc. - or anyone harmed in the production of the material, but I would find it hard to defend MH2 against it based on my experience with the first game and what I know of the second.

[ukdane]

Not currently banned in Denmark, and probably the BBFC doesn't have any direct influence on decisions here. BUT as the UK is a big player in the games market in Europe, the decision might end up having an indirect effect.

[Steve Green]

Or maybe it's political interference?

I'm surprised Sony or Nintendo didn't pick up anything when it went through submission if it was that bad.

The only video I've seen of MH2 didn't look as nasty as the original, which was pretty bad admittedly, but still got passed.

My gut feeling is that it will get overturned with cuts, or they'll just release it region-free.

- Steve

[Peter Wolf]

      I played the first game and got to the end including killing Piggy.     I quite like games that are stealth based.     I did learn a couple of things as well from playing it.   The violence was in context.     Killing  the lunatics etc didnt leave a bad taste in  my mouth,  but  other aspects involved killing police and swat teams etc.     I wasnt so mad on that bit.   waiting round a corner and blowing them away with a shotgun when they appeared.

  The thing is , i have never been tempted to go through it all again.    I probably wont.   Once was enough thanks.

       The new one is very different apparently in content.     Buy one on ebay quickly  before you cant.    I wont.      

[Peter Wolf]

     Am i alone in thinking that this game may just be a bit too much ?   Are rockstar games going too far?    
               Is there enough of a culture of violence in the U.K already  ?

     I will say that i havent played it.

     So i am  prejudging it.

    And i never  thought that i would advocate censorship ever.

   I may be talking rubbish.   I dont know.     Its just my   opinion.        I just get a very bad feeling about this game.

[satchmo]

I'm pretty pissed off about this, as Manhunt is one of my all time favourites.
Ive just seen this idiot on News 24 saying he doesn't agree with censorship but this time it's ok. What he meant was I don't agree with censorship but I also dont care about games so fuck anyone who does.
Rockstar make my favourite games so i'm biased, but you never hear anyone mentioning the tens of millions of pounds they bring into the british economy every year.
games, like comics, are an easy target for moral outrages because the people doing the outragin' dont understand them or the people who care about them.
Cormac McCarthy just won the Pulitzer Prize with a novel that features a baby being roasted on a spit. Ban him!
All I wanted to do was strangle a few thugs  : )

[Peter Wolf]

   I am prejudging so i am not sure as i havent played it.    Im not following the herd either as i have played lots of games.    I have been playing Scarface so i am not touchy about these things.    And i wouldnt tell you you couldnt play it either.     And i played Manhunt as well.         Also i enjoyed playing Predator a lot and that was very visceral.   An inspiration in fact.    Its just that i dont like violence for its own sake.      

[Eck]

You can't even use the revenue argument, can you? The game market is far bigger than the film market, if I recall.

I just don't get it. There was also that recent argument over the use of Manchester Cathedral as a game's backdrop. You had to shoot up the place, or something.

I just don't get it.

I mean, I haven't seen them, but Hostel and Saw are both pretty nasty movies right? And there's no real story to them, it's just one gruesome torture/death after another, right? Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

The point I'm trying to make/highlight: why the censorship argument is focused solely on games is beyond me.

[Ochs]

Probably because it's the newest medium. There is a precendent going back centuries. At different times, theatre, music, film, photography, various sports etc have all been blamed for societys problems such as violence and breakdown of moral standards. It'll all blow over, then the game'll get released uncut in a few years and everyone will wonder what all the fuss was about. Look at all the eighties 'video nasties', if you opened the Daily Mail in the late seventies you would have thought the whole of the western world were picking up video inspired power tools and murdering each other on the streets!

[Ochs]

Probably because it's the newest medium. There is a precendent going back centuries. At different times, theatre, music, film, photography, comics, various sports etc have all been blamed for societys problems such as violence and breakdown of moral standards. It'll all blow over, then the game'll get released uncut in a few years and everyone will wonder what all the fuss was about. Look at all the eighties 'video nasties', if you opened the Daily Mail in the late seventies you would have thought the whole of the western world were picking up video inspired power tools and murdering each other on the streets!

[Gothmog]

Well I suppose they can argue that you're taking a more active role while playing a game so it's easier to identify yourself as the person inflicting the "casual sadism" which results in a greater emotional effect.

There's still an emotional response while watching a film about toture or murder but it's different to actual planning and executing it yourself via a game.

The problem is that more and more nowadays games are replacing video/films as the medium that is deemed to be corrupting the population and creating sociapathic tendecies.

[Peter Wolf]

     I was meant to say last night  that i think this game is a pointless sequal  that just indulges in violence.     Like  hostel 2,    saw3,etc.        

                     Why  not a new game  and a new concept   instead ?


    I am more or less desensitized  but Manhunt  1 was quite enough thanks.


 

[Dunk!]

All I wanted to do was strangle a few thugs

Then cut their heads off and wear them on your belt as a trophy to scare off the 'normal' characters in the game.

All sounds pretty fuckin twisted if you ask me.

[Satanist]

"I was meant to say last night that i think this game is a pointless sequal that just indulges in violence. Like hostel 2, saw3,etc."

You mean those pointless sequels that have been given an age rating by the BBFC?