Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Manhunt 2, Where are you?

So, a friend of mine walks into my office today. He owns a Wii and asked if I knew what was going on with Manhunt 2. I didn't so I looked it up. While this may be old news to some, Manhunt 2 is back on its way to your murderous hands!

Manhunt 2 has been re-rated at M for Mature which means it will be available in the United States. The United Kingdom still has a ban emplaced on Manhunt 2, though. And also, if you want an unedited version, rumor has it that the Netherlands will be selling the original Manhunt 2 version.

Now, some watchdog groups are complaining and protesting, claiming that Manhunt 2 still deserves an AO rating and should not be released. So far, though, it looks like Manhunt 2 will hit American shelves on Halloween: October 31st.

It seems to me that all this hype about Manhunt 2 will probably help sales. From everything I heard, the original Manhunt wasn't that great of a game so without all this fuss about Manhunt 2, most people might have passed it by. But now you can get a game that was so violent it was once banned in the US and is still banned in the UK! That's what every kid wants for Christmas!

2 comments:

PuLseLoGiK said...

Yea, kinda bummed about the censorship. I mean what's the big deal about an AO rating and why are all retailers and console manufacturers so afraid of it?

I actually own the first Manhunt and thought that was pretty violent and it only got a Mature rating. How much further could have Rockstar taken it with this new one?

What could you do in game this time that you couldn't before? Cut people's heads off and throw them at others or rip someone 's arm off and beat them with it? Come on, ESRB I'd like to know what specifically was so dramatically different from the first one to warrant that bogus rating.

Maybe they got a batch of squeamish people in there that are easily offended to rate the game and ruin it for others that are not afraid of some fictitious game violence.

I just wish that censorship wasn't so prevalent in our society and that a few can ruin it for the many.

And quit using the excuse that it's to protect the children! I don't even want to go there. That's a whole other deal.

Jester013 said...

I blame the Wii for the AO rating. I've read reports that ESRB raters were disturbed by the violent motions you made with the Wii-mote. And everyone knows the Wii is for kids and old people.

But the problem with the AO rating is American's Puritan roots. The movie rating NC-17 was created in 1990, but there have only been around 20 movies ever released with that rating. Americans like to have a maximum rating so they can avoid it and feel good about themselves.