Rockstar Appeals Ban on 'Manhunt 2'

Techtree News Staff, Aug 02, 2007 2000 hrs IST

Rockstar Games has now reportedly filed an appeal asking the Video Appeals Committee to overturn BBFC's decision.

We had reported Rockstar Games' "Manhunt 2" becoming the first computer game in over 10 years to be banned by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC), who refused to give any age rating to the 'very violent' game.

At the time, David Cooke, director of BBFC, had said that the game has an unrelenting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context that constantly encourages visceral killing with hardly any respite or relief. Cooke had said the game is marked by a sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way the killings are committed and encouraged.

Nearly a month and a half since the ban effective June 19, and Rockstar Games has now reportedly filed an appeal asking the Video Appeals Committee to overturn BBFC's decision. This was confirmed by a spokesperson for Rockstar.

In fact, just after the ban, Cooke had also said that wherever possible, the BBFC tries to consider cuts, or in case of games, modifications that remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines. But that in case of "Manhunt 2", this hasn't been possible.

Post Rockstar's appeal against the BBFC ban, it remains to be seen what will be the final outcome of all this...

USER COMMENTS

i think you should unban manhunt 2 becuase of its gameplay vilance these days is action and everyone loves action the point is that the voilance stays in the games and not out door so thats why i think you should unbann manhunt 2 persides it will be a big game when it comes out because no one has ever persented games like this before. thank you

by Lucas Witthames, wakefield, on Aug 20, 2007 06:58 PM, Report abuse Reply

Just wondering how is the ban enforced... I understand that the game is not sold in shops in the uk. But what about if someone orders it from a website outside of uk? or just download it illegally?...

by Shez, London, on Aug 05, 2007 02:32 PM, Report abuse Reply

I think they are right to appeal against the ban, I hope that the game does get released. I am a fan of the first game i still sit at night and play the first one and cant wait for this one but to my dissapointment the game was banned even before it hit the streets, which i dont think is very fair, As an Adult I (Yes me not anyone else but Me) should have the choice of if I want to play this game or not, not anyone else but me. I have been playing video games since Mortal Kombat and i am not crazy i have played every game that everyone has deemed to violent but i am not crazy. People dont want to blame themselves for the mistakes they make so they look for the next best thing which just happens to be a video game of a violent nature and is rated 18 or M or whatever but still parents go out and buy there children the game and dont expect any problems. If people cant tell the difference between make believe and reality then i am sorry but i wouldnt even let them near a potato gun, i think they should give us a mentallity test if you pass then you get a copy if you fail you get a big rubber stamp right on the forehead that says "I AM STUPID" then we can tell who to sell the game to. well like many people around the world that cant wait to get there hands on the game, im sure they will all be wishing the same as me, to get the game unedited and uncut.

by Iain Brisland, Port Glasgow, Scotland, on Aug 03, 2007 05:01 PM, Report abuse Reply

First and foremost I need to say that after having gone into my local Game Stop just the other day to check up on the status of Manhunt 2, because I had resereved it weeks before, I was told by both GS employees the game already had an M rating, as per Take-Two Interactive, and they said there is no way in hades anyone would be able to reserve a game for any console PS2, XBOX, 360, PS3, Wii, etc that had been given an AO. The release date for the game is slated for October 2nd. Personally, I think Rockstar has been yanking us around by our noses for the past few months. If in fact this game was bad enough to get an AO, it was completely intentional. Rockstar did this to sell copies. And now that GTAIV has been moved to early '08, I am completely convinced the Manhunt 2 controversy was intentional and will be released with an M, and that M rating will be very, very, very similar to the AO version. As far as cutting the game? The ESRB said there were no amount of cuts that could be given to the game to drop the rating. Yet, GS is taking reserves. The game will get an M, and it wouldnt surprise me if the AO and M rated versions are "similar." PS: They delayed GTAIV to give time for this Manhunt 2 thing to blow over. Why, you ask? Because GTAIV is going to be worse than Manhunt 2 and Rockstar needs time to make sure an "accidental" AO doesn't pop up for that game. If that happens we will see the flood gates open and all of the GTA fans will swoop down with buckets of napalm.

by Mitchell, Kalamath Falls, on Aug 04, 2007 08:19 AM, Report abuse