Ex-Rockstar Vienna employee, Gareth White, who was apparently a programmer on Manhunt 2 has jumped on the Manhunt 2 Put-Down Train today following his friend Jurie Horneman who posted about the missing Vienna credits in Manhunt 2 last week. He had this to say on his Blog today:

I haven’t played the released version myself, but it sounds like it’s virtually identical to the PS2 & Xbox version we finished back in summer 2006, apart from the edits needed to comply with the ESRB, obviously.

At least Wikipedia and the Austrian National broadcaster ORF [German language] give us credit, despite the blatent lies that the Rockstar PR machine spews out.

Then again, it’s a crap game, as the developers knew all along, so perhaps it’s no great loss that I’m not officially connected with it.

On top of this it's rumored that a yet unnamed (well as far as we know) gaming assosiation is attemping to take action and "fix" the case of the missing credits. More on that soon.

According to EvilAvatar, Target are removing Manhunt 2 off the shelves and are no longer selling them. Take Two have supposedly agreed to take back all unopened copies of the game. Why are they doing this? Here's why:

My contact (an employee but not a manager) was told that it was due in greater part to the unfavorable coverage the game got in the national press the last several days. Target stores had been selling the game since it's launch, but it was only today that they were told to pull the product and refuse further shipments.

But after the ESRB stands firm by the decision for an 'M' rating, looks like some shops don't like the coverage it has been getting [the uncensor hack which was discovered just days ago]. Let's hope other shops don't do the same...

UPDATE (by Jared): Soon after this was posted we received word that Target had update the purchasing page for Manhunt 2 on their website to reflect the game being pulled from shelves, you can see this here on the Manhunt 2 purchasing page under "Availability:". It states:

This item is available online, but is not available in stores.

Note the error with the ESRB rating icon being RP (Rating Pending) where as it should be M (Mature), this strikes me as a little odd in itself, not making people aware of the rating when purchasing online. Seems to me like a bigger issue then selling in store, would probably lead to more trouble too.

Also no word still on if or when Australia will see Manhunt 2. So far we have heard of many Australian's having orders with Rockstar Warehouse and other online stores canceled without explanation. More information on that as it becomes available. Oh and by the way, Hostel 2 is still being sold at Target...Go figure.

The ESRB has held a conference call over the Manhunt 2 edits which rapped up moments ago. The following statement was read by ESRB president Patricia Vance during the conference call.

Earlier this week we learned about a hack into the code of the PSP and PS2 versions of the game that removes special effects filters that were put in place to obscure certain violent depictions.  We have investigated the matter and concluded that unauthorized versions of the game have been released on the Internet along with instructions on how to modify the code to remove the special effects. 

Once numerous changes to the game’s code have been made and other unauthorized software programs have been downloaded to the hardware device which circumvent security controls that prevent unauthorized games from being played on that hardware, a player can view unobscured versions of certain violent acts in the game.  Contrary to some reports, however, we do not believe these modifications fully restore the product to the version that originally received an AO rating, nor is this a matter of unlocking content. 

Our investigation indicates that the game’s publisher disclosed to the ESRB all pertinent content in the authorized Mature-rated version of Manhunt 2 now available in stores, and complied with our guidelines on full disclosure of content. 

What parents, and indeed all consumers, need to be aware of is that computer software and hardware devices are susceptible to unauthorized modification.  Parents should be cognizant of whether or not their children are engaging in unauthorized modification of their games, consoles or handhelds, as those modifications can change game content in ways that may be inconsistent with the assigned ESRB rating. That being said, the vast majority of consumers have not made the unauthorized modifications to their hardware necessary to view the content at issue.

There is also a Q&A about the edits.

Q. How is this situation different from the “Hot Coffee” incident?

A. The Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas “Hot Coffee” situation involved a scene that was a) fully rendered in an unmodified form on the disc (the Hot Coffee mod did not alter the content that was there, it merely unlocked it), b) not previously disclosed to the ESRB during the rating process, and c) easily accessible to all owners of the PC version of the game.  Conversely, in the case of Manhunt 2, a) content that was programmed to be part of the game (i.e., visual blurring effects of certain violent depictions) is being modified, b) the content was previously disclosed to the ESRB, and c) unauthorized versions of software and/or hardware are required to play the modified content.  

Q. How is this situation different from the one with “The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion?”

A. After the release of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the ESRB discovered extensive amounts of fully rendered and previously undisclosed blood and gore in the game that warranted a Mature rating.  In addition, there was a fully rendered anatomically detailed art file of a topless female character present on the disc that had not been previously disclosed to the ESRB during the rating process.  The blood and gore was accessible to all owners of the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game.  The partial nudity was accessible to all owners of the PC version of the game if they downloaded a modification available on the Internet that replaced one version of character artwork for another, both of which existed in a fully rendered form on the disc.  Conversely, with Manhunt 2, a) the content in question was previously disclosed to the ESRB, b) the content is being modified by removing the obscuring blur effect that was programmed as part of the game, and c) unauthorized versions of software and/or hardware are required to play the modified content.   

Q. Why does this instance not fall under the ESRB’s disclosure rule clarification requiring that locked-out content contained in the code on a game disc be considered in the assignment of a rating?

A. Our rule clarification following Hot Coffee required that pertinent content that is programmed to be locked out but which exists in an unmodified, fully rendered form on game discs must either be removed or disclosed to ESRB during the rating process.  In the case of Manhunt 2, the scenes in question were playable (not locked-out), programmed to include the blur effect, and fully disclosed to the ESRB.

Thank god at least the ESRB understands game code, unlike Jack Thompson and the rest of the main stream media. Even though the ESRB has cleared Rockstar of any wrong doing, you can bet main steam media and the "concerned" groups will still be up-in-arms about the edits.

RockstarWatch would like to give GamePolitics a special thanks for the heads up!

If you would like to listen to the conference, GamePolitics has uploaded the audio for you to enjoy!

If your become a little sick of the groups trying to have Manhunt 2 re-banned, re-modified or just to be generally annoying I urge you not to both reading on. Once again after little more then 48 hours after the Manhunt 2 release another group is after Rockstar Games and even now, ESRB. Parents Television Council (PTC) president Tim Winter has made the cold move of asking ESRB to reinstate the original AO rating to Manhunt 2 and included a list of further demands by the PTC and hinted at what will happen if they are not fulfilled. Mr. Winter then went on to suggest the ESRB suspend reviews and consideration of any games to be published by Rockstar Games and/or Take-Two Interactive saying simply that they "have breached the trust of the entire video game rating system." . He then added:

Unless the industry as a whole, including the ESRB, steps up to the plate immediately and decisively, there is little doubt the video game ratings system will face the specter of government oversight.

So wait lets recap, he wants Manhunt 2 basically banned ( ...no AO games allowed on the PS2 / the Wii or the PSP... ) and no future Rockstar Games or T2 games to be rated (thus not released) all because his group feel the two companies have breached the rating system's trust? It seems very over dramatic to me, think of how many games both Rockstar and T2 have in the works, it's not only very badly thought-out, just rude. Seems this Manhunt 2 bashing won't be finishing anytime soon. All I can suggest is the obvious, if you are concerned about your children playing the game, don't buy them the game. Why should the rest of the world miss out on a game because of the neglect of parents not being aware of what their children are playing?

- Thanks QJ.net.

A past worker of now closed Rockstar studio, Rockstar Vienna, today expressed there disappointment that a total of 55 employee's and the studio itself were not put in the credits of Manhunt 2. As much as I feel for the people who worked hard on the game, legally Rockstar owns the game and the studio, closed or not, so they aren't legally required to include those credits, well from what I have been able to gather that is. Either way, to show our support for those who put hard work into this terrific gaming masterpiece, here's a complete list of the people from Vienna in credits form as posted here:

Executive Producer:
Hannes Seifert

Producer:
Marin Gazzari
Hannes Seifert
Jurie Horneman

Associate Producer:
Kirsten Kennedy
Monika Sange

Lead Programmer:
Thaddaeus Frogley

Programmers:
Andreas Varga
Mark Wesley
Christian Bazant
Adrian Garrett
Andrew Howe
Peter Melchart
Uwe Pachler
Christian Schmutzer
Gareth White
Bjoern Drabeck

Lead Level Designer:
Gunter Hager

Level Designers:
Georg Gschwend
Jurie Horneman
Attila Malárik
James McLoughlin
Klaus Riech
Peter Saghegyi
Ngoc Nguyen

Lead Artist:
Leander Schock

Technical Artists:
Stefan Kubicek
Terence Kuederle

Level and Environment Artists:
Michal Drimalka
Daniel Edwards
Paul Ellinor
Maximillian Froemter
Alexander Hager
Guenter Hochecker
Ian Maude
John O’Malley
Oliver Reischl

Character Artists:
Julian Kenning
Ulrich Radhuber

Lead Animator:
Reinhard Schmid

Animators:
Roger Barnett
Steven Manship

Concept Artist:
Christian Koppold

Lead Audio & Video Engineer:
Tobias Kraze

Sound Designers:
Darren Lambourne
Dominik Mayr
Steven Blezy

Video Editor:
Bernhard List

Lead Tester:
Peter Ehardt

Testers:
Melissa Lumbroso
Simon Belton
Michael Borras
Helmut Hutterer
Sameer Malik
Joseph Sewell
Bryan Thompson
Kala Truman
Kieran Gaynor
Andrea Schmoll
Markus Igel

Localization:
Tobias Kraze
Bernhard List

Managing Directors:
Hannes Seifert
Niki Laber

Technical Director:
Tobias Sicheritz

Production Director:
Thomas Schweitzer

Creative Director:
Marin Gazzari

Administration & Finance Manager:
Dana Zajic

HR Manager:
Michaela Gazzari

Operations Manager:
Martin Filipp

Technics:
Chris Soukup
Thomas Zajic
Gernot Unger
Marco Pietsch
Peter Krakhofer
Markus Skrivan

Internal Tools Development:
Philipp Rettenbacher
Thomas Passauer
Martin Porocnik

Support:
David Huettner (Character Artist)
Donald Kirkland (Game Designer)
Sebastian Harras (Level Designer/Artist)
Jeff Wong (Animator)
Helmut Hutterer (Tester)
Gill Frank (Animator)
Kerstin Knesewicz (Management Assistent)
Kaweh Kazemi (Producer)
Petra Gregorowitsch (Management Assistant)
Melanie Friedl (Receptionist)

Additional Art:
RABCAT Computer Graphics GmbH
tidbit-images

Nation Alliance on Metal Illness (NAMI) today stated that Manhunt 2 portrays "irresponsible, stereotyped portrayal of mental illness." and further more "unfortunately perpetuates and reinforces cruel, inaccurate perceptions that people who live with mental illnesses are violent.". It's an unexpected but shows that once against the groups are out after the game on the news. Whether this group, which was highly doubt, has any success or not they are asking for a complete re-work of the game. The entire game is based around mental illness, what do you expect, play school? Please, movies do this type of thing all the time, and I don't see them being taken off the big screen and re-created because they "portray mental illness in a bad way". Games should be no different, it's a story, full stop.

Take-Two and Rockstar Games today released a statement to GamePolitics.com in reference to the hack for Manhunt 2 both on the PlayStation Portable and PlayStation 2 versions of the game yesterday:

Multiple edits were made to revise Manhunt 2 for its M-rated version.

Hackers apparently have altered one of those edits to produce an illegally modified version of the game that can only be played on an unauthorized, modified PlayStation Portable handheld system.

All of the game material, and especially these specific edits, was submitted to and reviewed by the ESRB in accordance with requirements regarding disclosure that were enacted two years ago and any contrary suggestion is inaccurate and irresponsible.

Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said, “I stand behind the game and the ESRB ratings process. It is unfortunately the case that no one in the entertainment software industry is immune from hacking. We hope that consumers will not engage in hacking or download illegally modified copies of our games. We encourage them to enjoy our games as they are meant to be played. We would also like to emphasize that Manhunt 2 is intended for an audience aged 17 and above.”

So Take-Two and Rockstar are fully aware of the illegal hack, as is most of the web today. I suggest staying away from such a mod, as yes it is illegal and Rockstar don't need any more trouble. Hot coffee was more then enough I think, and with the effort it took to get Manhunt 2 on shelves, a re-banning after being released would be horrifying. It may not be in the same league as the sexually explicit Hot coffee modification, but with everything Manhunt 2 has had to dodge from critics to be release, this will fuel the fire.

Whether there be more to unlock or not is unknown. Take-Two did however stated to GamePolitics that the hack does not reveal all the AO content, only a portion. As this is hack unlocked the gore from the uncut version but not other content that was also removed, we only hope it was entirely removed and not left hidden in the code of files. That could cause disaster if it was, Take-Two was unable to comment on this however, but I am willing to bet you, if it's in there someone will find it now they have succeeded with one part of it.

Like GamePolitics states, the plus of all this is that Take-Two wasted no time in alerting the internet of this, as it was probably the time holding off on the Hot coffee hack that caused it to burst out of control. There has also been a lot of criticism over why the content (as far as we know so far, the gore) removed totally. To clear things up for those people, this game has been in development in 2004 and was only denied a M rating in the middle of this year, editing the game in a major way to remove a few things that could be easily blurred out to some degree would waste time, money and resources which could be accomplished with a few minor edits anyhow. Being it the rating systems fault, I hardly see how Rockstar should have had to re-code and re-model entire sections of game-play when all they needed was a bit of code, spend a day in their shoes and you'll see how hard it is too do, then decide.

Today, a group of Russian hackers released information on how to remove the censor in the PSP version of Manhunt 2. Shortly after, a guy named "nlldata" released a similar hack for the PS2 version of the game. Could this spark another "hot coffee" fiasco? Only time will tell how the mainstream media will blow this out of proportion. They certainly blew hot coffee out of proportion when it was found and released. To show our support for Rockstar, we will not be giving a link to this hack.

As most of America sleeps in waiting for the release of the most controversial, and apparently most violent, game ever only a few hours away the internet is being filled with outcries over Manhunt 2. Labels such as "the most violent video game yet", and ratings as low as 4 out of 10 from gaming websites that not only argued over the Uncut version's intensive violence, but were convincing everyone the modified version would be just as good have been among these outcries and discussions.

All we can say, is don't bash it till you've played it. We know first hands from a staff member who was lucky enough to get the game a day early, that it is a terrific game, and he is quite a critic mind you, so for him to say it's good, it must be good! As with all things, if you liked the first you should like the second, then again sources tell me it doesn't hold much of the same functions from the first game, in fact if you read the introduction on the back of the box you'll see compared to the first game, it is very different. If your a fan of horror and suspense, you should get a ball out of Manhunt 2. Don't let something as small as censorship change your judgment, we all know it was the evil but necessary action and Rockstar had no choice. As do we, it's either the censorship or no game at all, and certainly don't let a few bad reviews change your mind about purchasing the game. If you have to, hire it first to see what it like, I assure you that you will not be disappointed.

On a nice note, Rockstar did release a statement just earlier about Manhunt 2 now being available in North America:

New York, NY - October 30, 2007 - Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce that Manhunt 2 for the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system is now available at North American retail stores.

“Manhunt 2 has gone through much to reach this day,” said Sam Houser, Founder and Executive Producer of Rockstar Games. “We are very excited that fans will finally get a chance to experience the magnificent horror experience we’ve crafted with Manhunt 2.”

The sequel to the critically acclaimed, best-selling franchise, Manhunt 2 is a dark and disturbing psychological story revolving around the sinister events of a secretive research project called The Pickman Project.

Plunging into the depths of human psychosis, terror and paranoia, the twisted plot and brutal gameplay conspire to create the most atmospheric gaming experience ever, with GamesRadar.com stating, “Manhunt 2 looks to be a deeply, horrifyingly unsettling experience, and we mean that as the highest possible compliment.”

Manhunt 2 for the Wii, PlayStation 2 system, and PSP system is rated “M” for Mature.

For more information please visit http://www.rockstargames.com/manhunt2/.

If your interested it seeing how the game begins, what starts the Manhunt 2 turmoil and non-stop fun, you can see the introduction movie on YouTube now. If you happened to see the video of the BETA introduction movie that was posted over the internet back when the leak happened, you'll notice it has really change. It's more dark, faster and grungy then before, with more dialog thrown in too. Terrific work Rockstar, you've done it again, a top notch game with a top notch story line and character dialog. Pat yourselves on the back, you should be proud of yourself.