Game Over for Rockstar's 'Manhunt 2' as Sales Bans Continue

REDMOND/TOKYO - If you thought the ban in the UK and Ireland of Take-Two (NASDAQ: TTWO) label Rockstar Games' ultra-creepy Manhunt 2 was the worst it could get, think again: it only gets worse from there.

As of Tuesday evening, the game was slapped with a preliminary rating at the AO level - as in Adults Only, mind you - by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board here in the States, complicating matters even more than the IFCO (the Irish Film Censor's Office) and the BBFC (British Board of Film Certification) ever did with their own outright ban of the controversial title, which was originally scheduled for release on July 10. Now the title may possibly not even be released at all, thanks to the fact that most retailers - which, of course, includes Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) - won't even stock AO-rated titles. And neither Sony (NYSE: SNE) nor even Nintendo (OTC: NTDOY), whose respective Playstation 2 and Wii consoles were set to support the game, won't allow such titles on their systems either.

In a statement released to videogame blog Kotaku on Wednesday, a Nintendo spokesperson said: "Games made for Nintendo systems enjoy a broad variety of styles, genres and ratings. These are some of the reasons our Wii and Nintendo DS systems appeal to such a broad range of people. But as with books, television and movies, different content is meant for different audiences. That's why the ESRB provides ratings to help consumers understand the content of a game before they purchase it. As stated on Nintendo.com, Nintendo does not allow any AO-rated content on its systems." Then, just an hour later, a Sony Computer Entertianment spokesperson said the same thing as it relates to their hardware: "Currently it's SCE's policy not to allow the playback of AO rated content on our systems."

Additionally, Rockstar Games responded - also via Kotaku - with the following statement: "The ESRB has issued an initial rating of AO (Adults Only) for Manhunt 2," Take-Two said in a prepared statement. "We believe the process of rating videogames is to help people make informed entertainment choices and not to limit them. Manhunt 2 was created for mature audiences and we strongly believe it should receive an M (Mature) rating, aligning it with similar content created in other forms of media. We are exploring our options with regard to Manhunt 2."

The ESRB's preliminary decision comes on the heels of a campaign spearheaded by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood indended to get the Wii version of the game an AO rating. According to Kotaku, the Campaign was "asking people to send an email to the ESRB's Patricia Vance calling for the game to be rated Adults Only, essentially comparing it to an X or unrated movie, because of the 'unprecedented combination of video game violence and the interactive Wii platform.'" The Kotaku post goes on to say that "Up until that point the letter, while I don't exactly agree with it, at least makes sense. But then it goes on to say that giving Manhunt 2 anything less would be saying that the ESRB condones the marketing of violent video games to children."

It should be noted that according to ESRB doctrine, a Mature rating means 17 or older, or 18 or older in the case of an Adults Only classification.

The ESRB's Patricia Vance, in another statement issued via Kotaku, responded that the organization was still waiting for Rockstar's response to their rating at the time, "We have received the letter from CCFC and, while we might take issue with some of the statements made within, we sincerely appreciate their expressed concerns," she said. "Our ratings are intended to provide guidance that allows parents to choose games they deem suitable for their children, and that is a responsibility we take extremely seriously.

"It should be noted that ESRB has already assigned a rating for the Wii, PS2 and PSP versions of Manhunt 2, and that rating has in fact already been communicated to the publisher," Vance continued. "However, we are unable to publicly release the rating at this time as it is our policy that ratings be posted to our website 30 days following assignment, unless the game is released prior to the end of that period. This is done to give publishers the opportunity to consider modifying and resubmitting their games for rating or appealing the rating assigned to our Appeals Board should they wish to do so. We have not yet been notified by Rockstar as to what they intend to do with respect to our rating assignment."

For the record, the original Manhunt was released with the less stringent - althogh almost as equally strict - Mature ratings classification but was still pulled off the shelves in some countries, most notably in Austrailia - after it came to light that the game's level of sadistic undertones edged slightly above what is acceptable in some parts of the world. On the other hand, the release of Manhunt 2 - if it had continued unobstructed - would have come out in a very different world following the catastrophe that was the Virginia Tech massacre, not to mention the fact that trigger-happy finger-pointers - most notably videogame violence critic Jack Thompson - were quick to raise concerns about the brutal content of such games as the original Manhunt - especially after the game was mistakenly linked in an infamous incident following the murder of a British youth - making it all the more imperative for Rockstar to reevaluate the level of sadism in some of its more brutal titles.

And if Rockstar is unable to tone down the content (or sucessfully appeal rating) of Manhunt 2, then all hope of a release is essentially lost.

Prepublication addendum 6/21/2007: Adding to Rockstar's release hassles with Manhunt 2, Italy's censorship board has kicked the game out of it's borders as well, citing concerns of "cruel and sadistic" violence, according to Forbes - making a worldwide ban of the game's publication ever more likely if the actions of German and Austrailian censors toward the original game, combined with the actions of censors toward the sequel, are to hold merit concerning the possible reality that Rockstar faces at this point.

Source links for this article follow below:
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2007/06/20/manhunt_2_rated_ao_by_esrb/1
http://kotaku.com/gaming/breaking/manhunt-2-rated-adults-only-270337.php
http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/news/?id=16580

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: The author of this story does not own any units of stock in any of the companies mentioned above.