On June 22nd regular contributor, Rob Fahey, of GamesIndustry.biz published an article entitled Sick Filth? which was rather one sided. The article discussed that Manhunt 2 should not be played by anybody, regardless of their age or personal right and/or opinion. It suggested that Rockstar should learn it's lesson. The article was similar to that of Victor Godinez's earlier this month, one sides and personal opinionated with no first-hand knowledge of what exactly Manhunt 2's gameplay or storyline is about. Rockstar's letter in reply to the article is included in full below.

Dear Mr. Fahey,

We are responding to the article Sick Filth?, in which you expressed support for the ban of Manhunt 2.

Although censorship makes you "deeply uncomfortable" and you found the ban's rationale "a less comfortable topic", you agreed with the judgment of the British Board of Film Classification that no one - regardless of age or personal opinion - should be allowed to consider playing Manhunt 2.

We are still exploring our options for Manhunt 2, but how does banning our game support the industry or further the development of the medium? Unlike a heavy-handed editor or a critical review of a game, a ban is punishment for deviating from tradition.

A ban denies everyone the chance to consider, experience, or discuss the actual game. The only obvious victor is the status quo.

You seem to view banning Manhunt 2 as a way to protect the industry from scrutiny and unfair attacks. In fact, a ban is a triumph for the industry's harshest critics, not an act of diplomacy.

A ban is only likely to encourage those who believe video games, already the most regulated medium in entertainment history, should be further restricted.

What about games make them deserve special treatment from the authorities? According to industry groups, the average games player is in his or her 30s, yet you support the widely held view that games are somehow a less sophisticated medium than cinema, only suitable for immature audiences.

In other words, although gamers can negotiate the boundaries between reality and fiction in other media, you believe we are incapable of navigating the same boundaries in videogames.

Yes, we have responsibilities as an industry, but as a creative industry, not as a pharmaceutical or weapons industry. Creative industries have always faced harsh political and legal criticism, and we know some of the movie industry's more reactionary responses to scrutiny actually backfired.

We believe in a well-run ratings system. With the best rating system in history and the future of the industry and medium at stake, we don't understand why it is necessary to effectively ban all games intended for players 18 and older.

Sincerely, Rockstar Games

Check GamesIndustry.biz's article for further details.

Good news Manhunt fans, finally we have an update on what will become of Manhunt 2. Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelman has said the company took it's social responsibility very seriously.

"We also have hundreds of extraordinarily talented people who have worked on this title for three years, and supporting their creative vision and bringing it to consumers as unvarnished and unchanged as possible is crucial to us"

He added that Rockstar Games sees itself as a producer of Mature (M rated) games. Take-Two will be standing by the game even if it has to keep it's dreaded Adults Only (AO) rating.

"We don't see ourselves in the Adults Only business, having said that, if we find ourselves in the Adults Only business, it would be because we have a title that we consider art and entertainment, that we consider if appropriately labeled AO, and that we would like to bring to market."

Mr. Zelnick also said he was critical of the American Rating system, where games rated for Adults Only are deemed inappropriate, wrong and useless as Sony and Nintendo both refuse to release AO games and most AO games are not stocked by game sellers:

"What is the purpose of a rating if it means effectively that a title cannot be released?...Having a rating that we don't think is appropriate is one issue, obviously, and a separate issue would be if we feel the rating is appropriate and we can't bring it to market…that seems somewhat nonsensical."

We sure hope this works out soon, once again we'd like to show our support for Take-Two, Rockstar Games and the Manhunt 2 game itself. It is good to see the company standing up for their rights and their belief's. Thousands of hard-working developers have put 3 years into this game, this outcome is a major slap in the face, and quiet frankly very disrespectful.

Azcentral.com published an interesting article several days back slating Rockstar Games and Take2 Interactive. The article blamed to two companies for “trash[ing] the reputation of the entire game industry [more] than any other companies ever” apparently. So I decided to put this so called “article” to the test and discover the flaws in its information and, already evident, biasness towards the two companies.

“When the pair announced that Manhunt 2, the sequel to a poorly reviewed but notably violent game, was coming to the Nintendo Wii, the buzz started almost immediately.”

I find it interesting in this part of the article (3rd paragraph) that the author only refers to the Nintendo Wii, where we know the game was scheduled for release on three consoles, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and Nintendo Wii. The article states that Manhunt was “poorly reviewed” where facts show that it received a average of 76% ( MetaCritic, 2003 ) which isn’t at all a bad rating for any game. The top 3 gaming website gave it an 8.5/10 (IGN), 8.3/10 (GameSpot) and a 5.0/10 (1UP.com). These don’t seem to me like “poor” reviews; even 5.0/10 makes the game average.

“I won't reprint some of the information included in previews of the game written by some of the gaming Web sites, particularly IGN, but suffice to say that enemies can be dismembered and killed in ways that make movies such as Fargo, Seven and Reservoir Dogs look tame.”

One thing you should never do when writing an article is refuse to show facts, although you don’t require a rewrite of the articles being related to links and in-text referencing would do a world of good. Relating games to movies has always been a pet peeve of mine. How anybody can compare a movie made in the real world using real actors; real props and real effects generated by computer using the blue and green screen technique to a game made using pixels and 3d models with scripted storylines is beyond me. There is no relation between the two, one is real; one is fake. Movies are more realistic then games due to the fact they use real affects, games depend on spooky noises, scary voices and gruesome photoshopped textures for 3d models to add shock value for the player. A game cannot make a movie look tame, an 18 year old could watch Reservoir Dogs an possible have nightmares about it or trouble sleeping, whereas they could play a violent game and not think twice about it once they have switched off the console.

“The AO rating is extremely rare, especially for mainstream games. It's the equivalent of a XXX rating on movies.”

An AO rating is rare yes, but it is not exactly equivalent to an XXX rating on movies. An XXX rating on a movie means the movie contains material of a pornographic and explicit manner. Most games that have had the AO sticker slapped on them, as in the case of Manhunt 2, have nothing more than strong violence and gore. An AO rating is also only applicable in the US. The UK and Australia have a different rating system altogether. The UK has 18+ which is similar to the AO but doesn’t cover the same depth as the AO does, and Australia currently lacks a rating higher then MA 15+ meaning at the current point in time Manhunt would not even be looked at for release. MA 15+ is the same rating all Grand Theft Auto games have received as well as the original Manhunt early before being banned.

“So where does that leave the companies that created the game?

Well, they're trying to argue that a game that lets you saw a man in half should be recognized as art.”

So wait a second, don’t we call movies art? How can movies be classified as art and games not? Everyone seems to have this idea that games, nothing more than pixels; models and scripts, are worse than a movie with the same, if not more, scale of horror and gore that uses real people and special effect. If games are in the same league as movies then shouldn’t they also be classified as art?

The article by Victor Godinez of Azcentral.com was one sided, with no facts or evidence to back up his claims. With all honesty it made no sense and really didn’t warrant an entire article. Your opinion isn’t news, it’s your opinion.

I wish Rockstar Games and Take-Two all the luck in the world, in my opinion games should not be rated harder then movies, at little they should be rated the same, if not easier. At the end of the day it should all come down to the consumer, which in this situation is parents and adults. The government can’t dictate what you play or watch, but they can advice, which is what ratings are for. It falls into the hands of the parents as being their job to monitor what their children play and watch. If they aren’t doing that then they aren’t doing their job. If parents cannot control their children, who can? As a society we have the right to our own opinions, as well as the right to play what we want in just cause.

It's good to have some new information to write about after a 3 week long landslide of nothing but news on the Manhunt 2 banning. According to UK magazine which this week was released with an exclusive look at Manhunt 2 for the Nintendo Wii has shed some light on an interesting feature, alternate endings.

Depending on how you play your game will change the final outcome of the game. Playing your game violently using every weapon at your disposal making an absolute mess of your victims will result in a more dark ending, whereas using your stealth and an 'only kill when absolutely necessary' approach will lead to a more positive, and generally “nicer” ending. On top of this your killing methods and how you navigate yourself will also change the final stage of the game, the more violent you play the darker and more difficult the final stage will be. Thus the less blood you spill the easier the final stage. Only time will tell if we ever get to see this new feature in action.

Thanks to QJ.net for the tip.

Unhappy with the recent banning of Manhunt 2? Well now you can have your say and have your opinion count. An official petition has been started on the UK Governments website and does already booming with comments and signatures from people who disagree with the banning. The petition is currently only open to UK residents, so if you're currently living in the UK be sure to sign the petition at petitions.pm.gov.uk/Manhunt2/ and post your opinions.

Via rockstargames.com:

We wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to contact us about Manhunt 2, which we had been planning to release on PlayStation 2, PSP and Nintendo Wii. As you know, Manhunt 2 was effectively banned around much of the world, after it was refused certification in the United Kingdom, prohibited in Ireland, and denied an M rating in the United States.

We are very proud of Manhunt 2 and believe it builds on what the team accomplished with the first title in the series. The game was developed as a horror experience, and to be an M rated title, aligning it with similar horror content created in other forms of media. Unlike many other people, we do not think video games should be singled out for special treatment from the authorities. We hope to have more information for you soon, but in the meantime, we wanted you to know how much we value all of your messages of support.

That's the price an analyst believes it'll cost to bring down the AO rating.

These are strange times for Rockstar games, who last week saw Manhunt 2 slammed and banned by the BBFC in the UK, and given an AO Adult Only rating in America. They say no publicity is bad publicity, but even we are unsure on this one!

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Patcher has recently made a statement, predicting that it will cost Rockstar approximately $1 million dolllars to 'rework' the game, in an attempt to bring down its AO classification rating.

"They will probably spend $1 million or so to rework the game," he said. "They will not have revenue from the game this quarter (ending July), so they will likely miss their guidance, but will make up most of it in a future quarter when the game is released."

He added, "The overall financial impact is not that serious, provided sales don't suffer. It is hard to know whether the publicity helps or hurts, but my guess is that it hurts."

So, maybe there is hope for them after all. But, certainly not an easy obstacle to overcome.

CVG has gotten word from a anonymous source that Take-Two/Rockstar will appeal the ban of Manhunt 2 rather than modifying the game. Keep in mind that is from a anonymous source, not Take-Two. If successful, Manhunt 2 will be most likely to release with the content deemed "harmful" by the BBFC in tact. When CVG contacted Rockstar, the response was "Take-Two is considering all its options".

Source:CVG

The link from Gamespot.

An exert from the article: "Take-Two Interactive Software has temporarily suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for the Wii or PlayStation platforms while it reviews its options with regard to the recent decisions made by the British Board of Film Classification and Entertainment Software Rating Board," a representative told GameSpot. "We continue to stand behind this extraordinary game. We believe in freedom of creative expression, as well as responsible marketing, both of which are essential to our business of making great entertainment."

Now there is only three options for Take Two. Either tone it down to get it on the consoles, release it for the PC, or cancel it (which I highly doubt is going to happen). Well, I guess it looks like Daniel will be staying in his cell for a while longer

The link from Gamespot

An exert from Gamespot's article:GameSpot has confirmed with Nintendo and Sony that one of those options, which would be to accept the ESRB's judgment and release the game with the AO rating, isn't an option at all. Both companies forbid licensed third-party publishers from releasing games rated AO for Adults Only on their various hardware platforms. Though Manhunt 2 isn't slated for any of Microsoft's systems, the company has also confirmed that it does not allow AO-rated titles on the Xbox or Xbox 360.