Both a PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii version had been submitted for classification, and both were rejected. While the BBFC typically recommends modifications to games in order to accommodate particular ratings, in the case of Manhunt 2 this proved unfeasible.
"Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly," said David Cooke, Director of the BBFC. "Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible.
"Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end videogames by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."
The original Manhunt title was rated "18" in 2003, but according to Cooke, it "was already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category." He said the game's "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying," in conjunction with a "different overall narrative context," differentiated Manhunt 2 from it's predecessor and resulted in the ban.
Rockstar can appeal the ban to the Video Appeals Committee, an independent body chaired by John Woods. According to Sue Clark of the BBFC, there have only been about 20 appeals since 1984, and about half have been successful. The bulk of games to be banned by the BBFC have been pornographic; the last mainstream game to receive a ban was Carmageddon in 1997.
As well as the BBFC, Manhunt 2 has also been banned by the Irish Film Censor's Office. It has not yet received a rating from the ESRB in North America.
I think the British Board of Film Classification ought to realise that Britain is supposedly a free country. Banning artistic expression is not the mark of a free society. This sort of thing makes me ashamed to be British. If a game is unacceptable the CONSUMER is perfectly capable of making that decision for himself. We are not children who need to be constrained from making poor decisions by some government or industry-sponsored censor.
In short, classifying games is fine. Outright banning of them is not - it's a crime against freedom. I doubt I'd ever play a game like Manhunt 2, but I demand the right to make that choice for myself.
Beery: This sort of thing makes me ashamed to be British.Outright banning of them is not - it's a crime against freedom. I doubt I'd ever play a game like Manhunt 2, but I demand the right to make that choice for myself.
Good gosh, "WHAA my gonvernment bans a game", grow up man.
And besides, you're being very close-minded, you're just crying about not getting a game you want without thinking about it as a whole.
Okay, there are plenty of games which have you kill. Counter-Strike, Assassin's Creed, Half-life, Condemned, Manhunt to name a few. But are they centred around killing? Lets see...
Counter-Strike: Killing an opposing team, thats right, TEAM. Its a TEAM-based game, it requires communication and team-play skills.
Assassin's Creed: Roaming through a sandbox environment to commit to your task as an assassin. The theme is the sandbox play of course.
Half-Life: A unique physics engine where you're saving the world whilst killing the combine in your path. No need to point out again the theme of physics engine and umm..WORLD SAVING.
Condemned: A thriller which has you act as an invesitgator battling with your own psyche as despendable homeless come at you. Its a psychological game.
Manhunt: A game where you kill people..........and....um...OH SNAP! ITS A GAME JUST ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE IN BRUTAL WAYS. Did that EVER occur to you? People at Rockstar sat down and collaborated, talked about and generated a game for over a a year soley about KILLING PEOPLE. No sandbox, no team-play, no unique physics engine etc. Its simply KILLING PEOPLE. I'm a hardcore gamer, and as a true gamer (your language here I'm guessing) I refuse to offer money to a game which has no structure to it other than randomly murdering cosplayers.
There are more horrific things in the cinema on a regular basis, with no more story and intention. Manhunt did have a story, although killing was a large part of that, it was no worse than many other games.
This is just a case of the BBFC avoiding controversy after the murder that was blamed on the first game.
my my... all that work that corporation did to try and improve the outlook of the overall manhunt experiment after all the hell put onto the first game and they still get nowhere. they killed everything that was sublime about that game and turned it into something mediocre at best. im sorry but that whole 'foggy lens' bit still bothers me, it certainly takes away the point of killing a game person for kicks... makes it more of something one would rather just run through than takes their time with and savor. thoughts?
This is VERY old news, so much so that i swear i saw this in shops the other day *searches* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhunt_2 ... Looks like it, bottom line first paragraph. Or do you mean they are being recalled?
hmmm that's a fair enough point to make. After all that people have heard and seen regarding that game i suppose most wouldn't bother playing to begin with.
Beery: This sort of thing makes me ashamed to be British.Outright banning of them is not - it's a crime against freedom. I doubt I'd ever play a game like Manhunt 2, but I demand the right to make that choice for myself.
Good gosh, "WHAA my gonvernment bans a game", grow up man.
And besides, you're being very close-minded, you're just crying about not getting a game you want without thinking about it as a whole.
Okay, there are plenty of games which have you kill. Counter-Strike, Assassin's Creed, Half-life, Condemned, Manhunt to name a few. But are they centred around killing? Lets see...
Counter-Strike: Killing an opposing team, thats right, TEAM. Its a TEAM-based game, it requires communication and team-play skills.
Assassin's Creed: Roaming through a sandbox environment to commit to your task as an assassin. The theme is the sandbox play of course.
Half-Life: A unique physics engine where you're saving the world whilst killing the combine in your path. No need to point out again the theme of physics engine and umm..WORLD SAVING.
Condemned: A thriller which has you act as an invesitgator battling with your own psyche as despendable homeless come at you. Its a psychological game.
Manhunt: A game where you kill people..........and....um...OH SNAP! ITS A GAME JUST ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE IN BRUTAL WAYS. Did that EVER occur to you? People at Rockstar sat down and collaborated, talked about and generated a game for over a a year soley about KILLING PEOPLE. No sandbox, no team-play, no unique physics engine etc. Its simply KILLING PEOPLE. I'm a hardcore gamer, and as a true gamer (your language here I'm guessing) I refuse to offer money to a game which has no structure to it other than randomly murdering cosplayers.
Why did you post on a thread that has been dead for a year and a half?!
Beery: This sort of thing makes me ashamed to be British.Outright banning of them is not - it's a crime against freedom. I doubt I'd ever play a game like Manhunt 2, but I demand the right to make that choice for myself.
Good gosh, "WHAA my gonvernment bans a game", grow up man.
And besides, you're being very close-minded, you're just crying about not getting a game you want without thinking about it as a whole.
Okay, there are plenty of games which have you kill. Counter-Strike, Assassin's Creed, Half-life, Condemned, Manhunt to name a few. But are they centred around killing? Lets see...
Counter-Strike: Killing an opposing team, thats right, TEAM. Its a TEAM-based game, it requires communication and team-play skills.
Assassin's Creed: Roaming through a sandbox environment to commit to your task as an assassin. The theme is the sandbox play of course.
Half-Life: A unique physics engine where you're saving the world whilst killing the combine in your path. No need to point out again the theme of physics engine and umm..WORLD SAVING.
Condemned: A thriller which has you act as an invesitgator battling with your own psyche as despendable homeless come at you. Its a psychological game.
Manhunt: A game where you kill people..........and....um...OH SNAP! ITS A GAME JUST ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE IN BRUTAL WAYS. Did that EVER occur to you? People at Rockstar sat down and collaborated, talked about and generated a game for over a a year soley about KILLING PEOPLE. No sandbox, no team-play, no unique physics engine etc. Its simply KILLING PEOPLE. I'm a hardcore gamer, and as a true gamer (your language here I'm guessing) I refuse to offer money to a game which has no structure to it other than randomly murdering cosplayers.
Why did you post on a thread that has been dead for a year and a half?!
Lol, Avida: WHAAA YOU BAD-MOUTHED MY FAVOURITE GAME, I'M GONNA RANDOMLY PULL OUT AN IRRELEVANT COMEBACK.
And besides...Ummm.....why did YOU? O-O-O-O-OWND xD
Lol, Avida: WHAAA YOU BAD-MOUTHED MY FAVOURITE GAME, I'M GONNA RANDOMLY PULL OUT AN IRRELEVANT COMEBACK.
And besides...Ummm.....why did YOU? O-O-O-O-OWND xD
Ive never played the thing, i was just hella confused when i saw the headline - i'd already seen the game sold on PSP, and now i look like a tard XD. Anyway, really, tricking the community is baaaad. Only gonzo's are allowed to do that :p
Good gosh, "WHAA my gonvernment bans a game", grow up man.
And besides, you're being very close-minded, you're just crying about not getting a game you want without thinking about it as a whole.
That's particularly obtuse of you. Not only do you misrepresent Beery's statement, but you do so with the petulance worthy of a spoilt child, and completely miss the point of the issue at the same time. Censorship is an insidious practice which actively restricts the rights of citizens. In China the general populace is unable to access what we would consider very basic information, both via the press and the internet. Galileo was censored by the Church for challenging Geocentricity, not because they didn't believe him but simply because they didn't like what he had to say. The infamous Spanish burning of the Maya Codex remains one of the worst criminal acts committed against a people and their cultural heritage.
By sanctioning censorship you are declaring the belief not only that a populace does not have the right to decide whether they want to be voluntarily exposed to various forms of media, but that they are also incapable of making that decision for themselves. The obvious paradox arises that the censors themselves are as equally flawed as those they are 'protecting', and historically have been either government or religious bodies with definite bias to their own agenda (the book burnings in Nazi Germany and Inquisitorial Europe and the Americas are a fine example).
What makes you think that you or anyone has the right to restrict the freedom of individuals to pursue an interest in any subject-matter?
I don't want this game, there is no reason for it to exist honestly, this game should come with graphic warnings on the front of the box and if children are caught playing it, their parents should be sent to jail for a week
mattttherman3: I don't want this game, there is no reason for it to exist honestly, this game should come with graphic warnings on the front of the box and if children are caught playing it, their parents should be sent to jail for a week
Obvious troll is obvious. Also, this is 2 years old, why are we discussing it?
I just checked a video about executions from Manhunt 1-2 and frankly I'm disgusted.
I never thought I'd actually say that about a game with violence, but the way the victim reacts, the tools used and the time it takes for killing them is just wrong.
Pyronox: I just checked a video about executions from Manhunt 1-2 and frankly I'm disgusted.
I never thought I'd actually say that about a game with violence, but the way the victim reacts, the tools used and the time it takes for killing them is just wrong.
I found manhunt boring around half way through, while violence didn't bother me, it certainly wasn't enough to keep me hooked. For an hour or so you're gonna be knocking on walls and bashing someone's head open...
Beery: This sort of thing makes me ashamed to be British.Outright banning of them is not - it's a crime against freedom. I doubt I'd ever play a game like Manhunt 2, but I demand the right to make that choice for myself.
Good gosh, "WHAA my gonvernment bans a game", grow up man.
And besides, you're being very close-minded, you're just crying about not getting a game you want without thinking about it as a whole.
Okay, there are plenty of games which have you kill. Counter-Strike, Assassin's Creed, Half-life, Condemned, Manhunt to name a few. But are they centred around killing? Lets see...
Counter-Strike: Killing an opposing team, thats right, TEAM. Its a TEAM-based game, it requires communication and team-play skills.
Assassin's Creed: Roaming through a sandbox environment to commit to your task as an assassin. The theme is the sandbox play of course.
Half-Life: A unique physics engine where you're saving the world whilst killing the combine in your path. No need to point out again the theme of physics engine and umm..WORLD SAVING.
Condemned: A thriller which has you act as an invesitgator battling with your own psyche as despendable homeless come at you. Its a psychological game.
Manhunt: A game where you kill people..........and....um...OH SNAP! ITS A GAME JUST ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE IN BRUTAL WAYS. Did that EVER occur to you? People at Rockstar sat down and collaborated, talked about and generated a game for over a a year soley about KILLING PEOPLE. No sandbox, no team-play, no unique physics engine etc. Its simply KILLING PEOPLE. I'm a hardcore gamer, and as a true gamer (your language here I'm guessing) I refuse to offer money to a game which has no structure to it other than randomly murdering cosplayers.
Beery: This sort of thing makes me ashamed to be British.Outright banning of them is not - it's a crime against freedom. I doubt I'd ever play a game like Manhunt 2, but I demand the right to make that choice for myself.
*snip*
nicely done
Hey, you do it for a t.v show and to stop the murder of your family.
This is strange to hear since I remember seeing a couple of copies of Manhunt 2 in the rental section of my local video shop not too long ago.
About banning grotesque violence in the media, if they had absolutely no problem with any of the five SAW films then why should they give a rat's ass about manhunt?
Beery: This sort of thing makes me ashamed to be British.Outright banning of them is not - it's a crime against freedom. I doubt I'd ever play a game like Manhunt 2, but I demand the right to make that choice for myself.
Good gosh, "WHAA my gonvernment bans a game", grow up man.
And besides, you're being very close-minded, you're just crying about not getting a game you want without thinking about it as a whole.
Okay, there are plenty of games which have you kill. Counter-Strike, Assassin's Creed, Half-life, Condemned, Manhunt to name a few. But are they centred around killing? Lets see...
Counter-Strike: Killing an opposing team, thats right, TEAM. Its a TEAM-based game, it requires communication and team-play skills.
Assassin's Creed: Roaming through a sandbox environment to commit to your task as an assassin. The theme is the sandbox play of course.
Half-Life: A unique physics engine where you're saving the world whilst killing the combine in your path. No need to point out again the theme of physics engine and umm..WORLD SAVING.
Condemned: A thriller which has you act as an invesitgator battling with your own psyche as despendable homeless come at you. Its a psychological game.
Manhunt: A game where you kill people..........and....um...OH SNAP! ITS A GAME JUST ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE IN BRUTAL WAYS. Did that EVER occur to you? People at Rockstar sat down and collaborated, talked about and generated a game for over a a year soley about KILLING PEOPLE. No sandbox, no team-play, no unique physics engine etc. Its simply KILLING PEOPLE. I'm a hardcore gamer, and as a true gamer (your language here I'm guessing) I refuse to offer money to a game which has no structure to it other than randomly murdering cosplayers.
Why did you post on a thread that has been dead for a year and a half?!
Lol, Avida: WHAAA YOU BAD-MOUTHED MY FAVOURITE GAME, I'M GONNA RANDOMLY PULL OUT AN IRRELEVANT COMEBACK.
And besides...Ummm.....why did YOU? O-O-O-O-OWND xD
Wasn't that the game that had those murder scenes like, made all white and red, blinky'y and things like that? And this got banned, and Manhunt (1) didn't, which didn't have censored death scenes?
Pyronox: I just checked a video about executions from Manhunt 1-2 and frankly I'm disgusted.
I never thought I'd actually say that about a game with violence, but the way the victim reacts, the tools used and the time it takes for killing them is just wrong.
Geee M-A-N-H-U-N-T A 2 very violent Game,I THink the title gives it away (no offence) :D
I realise that the Dr. Kay resurrected a dead and now-irrelevant topic given that it was edited, rerated and sold but I completely agree with Beery said. I believe that I should have the right to choose what I play.
I coincidently bought this yesterday for the Wii and find it a fun game. The edits that were made appear to be in tune with the psyche of the rest of the game, washed out colours random sick death noise and flashes - in fact it sometimes makes it worse because your brain fills in the blanks by using the disgusting noises as a basis for imagination. However I am annoyed that I have to look hard to actually see what's happening. I think that it was wrong to have been banned/edited in the first place, given that Manhunt 1 was not and, like has been said, I can see far worse things in films.
Pyronox: I just checked a video about executions from Manhunt 1-2 and frankly I'm disgusted.
I never thought I'd actually say that about a game with violence, but the way the victim reacts, the tools used and the time it takes for killing them is just wrong.
Geee M-A-N-H-U-N-T A 2 very violent Game,I THink the title gives it away (no offence) :D
Well yeah, but I didn't think it would be like THAT. I'm all for ripping someones arm off and beating em to death with it, but sometimes violence is overshadowed by sadism and suffering, which kinda makes the game less appealing.
still even when you look at the back of the box it kinda gives you the creeps i never bought number one and i don`t intend to but it cant be as bad as some parts of the exorcist or the jaw rip scene in mirrors can it? anyone can prove me wrong the scene in mirrors had no need and was terribly gooey sad and well depressing
Manhunt 2 Banned in the U.K.
The British Board of Film Classification has rejected Rockstar's upcoming videogame Manhunt 2, meaning the title cannot be legally sold anywhere in the U.K.
Both a PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii version had been submitted for classification, and both were rejected. While the BBFC typically recommends modifications to games in order to accommodate particular ratings, in the case of Manhunt 2 this proved unfeasible.
"Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly," said David Cooke, Director of the BBFC. "Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible.
"Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end videogames by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."
The original Manhunt title was rated "18" in 2003, but according to Cooke, it "was already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category." He said the game's "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying," in conjunction with a "different overall narrative context," differentiated Manhunt 2 from it's predecessor and resulted in the ban.
Rockstar can appeal the ban to the Video Appeals Committee, an independent body chaired by John Woods. According to Sue Clark of the BBFC, there have only been about 20 appeals since 1984, and about half have been successful. The bulk of games to be banned by the BBFC have been pornographic; the last mainstream game to receive a ban was Carmageddon in 1997.
As well as the BBFC, Manhunt 2 has also been banned by the Irish Film Censor's Office. It has not yet received a rating from the ESRB in North America.
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