ESRB Slaps Adults Only On Manhunt 2
Manhunt 2 has lit up the boards today with the British Board of Film Classification banning the title in Europe, to the Center for a Commercial-Free Childhood demanding an AO rating. Now the Entertainment Software Ratings Board has officially branded Rockstar’s Manhunt 2 an Adults Only rating.
An Adults Only rating means that the game has content, “that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity." So says the AO rating description on the ESRB ratings guide.
Publishers of Manhunt 2, Take-Two Interactive said in a statement, "Manhunt 2 was created for mature audiences and we strongly believe it should receive an M (Mature) rating...we are exploring our options with regard to the rating of Manhunt 2.”
What does this mean to the future of the game? It doesn’t look good. Major distributors like Wall-Mart entirely refuse to stock AO games, which will impact the sales considerably if they don’t try to compromise for a Mature rating.
1UP had the chance to talk with Rockstar about the rating, and they are seriously considering how to respond to the ESRB. They stand behind their product, saying that Manhunt 2 “is a great game for mature audiences” that was “created for gamers who like the horror genre and is consistent with contemporary entertainment.”
I’m curious to find out how Rockstar will react to this rating. It would be out of character for them to edit or censor their work to appease the board. But then there is the financial issue of the negative impact on sales an AO rating would inflict upon the company. We will be following this story very closely.
ESRB Rates Manhunt 2 Adults Only
Toots
Posted to Video Games on 19 June 2007
· Comments (10)
Other stuff like this: ao, manhunt, ps2, psp, rockstar, wii
In this age of online shopping, why should they try to get the rating reduced? People who know about this game and want to play it will find an online supplier. If it's selling, the brick-and-mortars will probably make an exception in the AO rating rule.
I know im buying it if it stays AO. It is like NC 17 movies. I try to see all of them because I don't like the idea of ruining someones vision to make a rating
Wow. I think this is the first time a mainstream game title has been slapped with an AO. Incredible. What in the world is so awful in this game that it rates an increase in rating one level above the previous one? It also irks me that just like with the MPAA, they claim the rating is for pervasive nastiness or whatever. Rockstar probably wouldn't be able to censor anything to get an M rating if that's the case anyway. It's the whole mood and tone of the game. Editing out some violence probably isn't going to change the ESRB's mind. Especially since this is probably just their way of making an example out of someone.
I'm really hoping that Rockstar goes ahead and releases it with the AO rating out of defiance. With the free publicity this move will get them, brick-and-mortar stores would be fools to give up the sales it will likely produce. Also, if it's a success in spite of the AO rating, it sets a wondeful precedence where gamemakers can have a little more freedom to craft a game the way they want without worrying about cowtowing to the ESRB.
It didn't work for filmmakers with the MPAA, but a boy can dream, can't he?
I'm seriously considering getting this for every kid I know that has a Wii just to see if they even WANT to play it. Most I've talked to said they were too frightened to even want to look at the previews for it or read about it saying it was too violent. The rating is a little ridiculous, but then again the only real difference between M and AO is a year... and the last I checked, when GTA:SA got the AO label put on it its sales didn't actually decrease did they? Additionally: it amuses me that a ratings label is what is causing so much alarm considering that Manhunt was never really intended to be anything outside of a ridiculous violence fest. What I want to know is: Does any of the violence transcend that of standard horror movies where the ratings were usually "R" ? If the fact that the game is interactive actually had something to do with the ruling then that's proof that videogames aren't and probably never will be protected as art, speech, or expression until this current generation dies off.
Also: They should be proud for getting on an Elite list of AO titles which includes very few games and some wacky titles like Water Closet: The Forbidden Chamber. Heck the AO rating might even boost sales if they cause enough of a media blitz over fighting for this rating. I'm sure there are enough people into "horror tourism" who will buy the game just to find out what made it so awful. Sadly they'll probably be disappointed.
So a game has received a rating that accurately describes its content? Wow. And some stores choose not to sell certain games based on their content? Super-wow.
Ouch... Fans of the series will surely be outraged...
I said once and I'll say it again, I don't want any of my kids to play this but somehow I feel sorry for the game developer. This game is clearly for adults but this is kinda harsh... I hope they'll fix it up soon.
Now I wanna play it more then ever now. Let's see it that way: better this then being banned, right?
I played manhunt when I was 12, and I'll play it again even at 15, rating or not.
The only retailer that has made an official policy on AO games is Wal-mart, right? Between other retailers and online sales (or "exclusive retailers"), this could be better than any advertisement TakeTwo or Rockstar could have dreamed up.
I hope that Rockstar finds the means to release this game in its entirety or without a rating at all. There's something wrong with a retailer, like wal-mart, actively punishing devs/pubs for voluntarily participating in a rating system when "Hostel: Unrated edition" and other "unrated" dvd sit on their shelves.
The issue here isn't about whether or not this game should be played by kids (Brent, where were your parents when you played the first one?), but rather why can't a game that is designed for adults find the retails mean to reach its audience. The whole issue says more about the preconceptions people have with video games than it says about the ESRB doing it's job.
If there is one company able to release an AO game, and show the rest of the industry and retail that the rating isn't the sales mark of death, it's Rockstar. If the demand is there, retailers will carry it (look at Wal-Mart's lack of GTA 3 during it's first 4-5 months of sale as an example). If released in its entirety, not only will I buy the game, but I will also support the store/retailer in the future as well.
I think you actually have the right idea there, game_boi, but didn't express it. Take Two should take the game as it exists now, and cut it down to make an M-rated version. Great, now Wal-Mart will sell it. Then, 2 months after its release, put out the "Special Unrated Edition" which is actually the original. If the MPAA lets studios put out "unrated editions" of previously rated movies, why wouldn't the ESRB?
It wouldn't even matter whether Wal-Mart would sell it or not, because most of the people who'd want the original version would be able to get it through game shops or online anyway.
Old Jackie has been WAY too quiet about this...and the meeting between him and Rock* makes this even more suspicious. I hate to be a conspiracy theorist, but this all just reeks of 'free press' to me, especially considering before this whole thing Manhunt 2 was rarely ever mentioned anywhere.