can someone seriously explain to me how these games are marketed to children? seriously? please!?

These games aren't being marketed to children, but I guess you can't really prove that which is the problem. They are and always will be marketed in areas that children may come across. (Game magazines, websites, late night television shows, etc.) So people will argue that violent games are being marketed to children, even though common sense says they're being marketed towards the larger adult demographics who view this kind of material.

Please, parents! Please see the cover art (the main character's eye) and what does that tell you? It means that this game is rated M and not suitable for kids, sheesh! It's pretty sad that Jack Thompson and his anti-game cronies doesn't know a simple thing about the ESRB ratings and can't understand even a simple rule, "OBEY ESRB RATINGS!"

To Terrible Tom,

I second that.

While not overly concerned about John Bruce's prattlings, one does have to wonder if this had something to do with that secret meeting between Take Two and John Bruce.

Nightwng2000
NW2K Software

@nightwng2000:

That was my first thought as well.

@Clyde Wyman:

Eh?? What are you talking about?

Why do I get the feeling this is going to end badly? First we of hear a secret meeting between TT and Jack, now Jack has big news about Manhunt 2

@Clyde..

I'm going to confess that once again I am rather baffled by one of your posts.



Who wants to start an organization dedicated to fighting the evils of books, sports, cops and robbers, tug of war, tag, intelligent thought, and sleeping. These scourges on humanity must be stopped and damnit they are harming the youth of our nation... no, the youth of the world. THINK OF THE CHILDREN GOD DAMNIT!!!!!!!!

@Tom

My local community can call something obscene. I can then challenge that in court and they will lose. For something to be obscene it must (fail/pass?) the miller test. A 3 pronged test used to determine if something is obscene.

Patently offensive

Conveys no Ideas or thoughts

something else.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_test

So yeah my community can be stupid. I can then tell them to piss off and take it to the courts.

THANK GOODNESS I pre ordered this game.

@Tom

Hehe SLAPS. I love that one.

Is there a week where Manhunt 2 ISN'T under fire?

What country are you from Gameboy??

@Daniel

Read Closer, he said COUNTY not COUNTRY.

@ Daniel

Heh looking at my last post I can see why you might ask that. First, I meant to say "I HOPE GP is wrong in this educated guess." I should of proof-read, I guess. But, no, I didn't misspell country. I meant county. For our foreign visitors, the United states is divided into 50 individual states, each with their own governments and laws. Each State is divided into so many counties which also have their own governments and laws.

I live in the United States of America. Georgia to be precise. Yes, I'm a Southerner. Don't be fooled by what you see on TV. We're not all rednecks. At least... not on the outside.

The county I live in will not allow Porn to be sold at all. What's really surprising is that its a part of Metro Atlanta.

@Gameboy

Georgia kicks ass... except for the public schools.

Wait, metro area? We have porn stores in Fulton, gwinnett, cobb, and Cherokee. Which county is it?

Ya know, IM going to pick this game up. Thanks GP for telling me the release date on this one.

I can honestly see how this game is being seen as being "marketed to kids" from a gamers standpoint. Many gamers see Nintendo's system as a "kiddie" system. A lot of kids find the Wii as a fun machine. Nintendo is advertising their Wii to all ages. An extremely violent game is now being released on this kiddie system.
Therefore, they must be advertising the game!!!

Nintendo should mail all the parents who possess a Wii in their house explaining how to use the parental controls on their console. The Wii has it. So if the parents can not care to do it and their kid plays the game, it's more their fault than anything.

@Gameboy

Oh I know, my school lost accreditation twice because students who were part of certain groups were not performing well enough despite the fact I know that teachers did everything they could for them... maybe I'm just bitter because my school screwed up my math credits preventing me from my first choice college.

What should really happen is that the game stores should subdivide the DS/Wii/PS2/PS3/Xbox shelves into their respective ratings. For example, to pick up Manhunt 2 to bring it to the counter, you would have to go past a sign that says "THESE GAMES ARE RATED M FOR 17+. THEY MAY CONTAIN SEX, DRUGS, ALCOHOL, AND INTENSE VIOLENCE." That might put an end to all these people.

These are my opinions folks, so don't tear me too big a new one. I have been subjected to Camp Meeting and a plethora of various religious services during my life, so I am very biased toward free-thought.

Tom's breakdown of the censorship movement spells out well what some people within the movement feel. The participants include a wide range of individuals including those who actively participate in legal/press matters, those who donate money to further the cause, volunteers who will ramble about whatever their leaders tell them, and those who fall inside other variations within. It is often based around some quasi-religious rhetoric's agenda but in the end their success will render the same unfortunate end: we all are screwed without so much as getting dinner first. Structurally the movement organizations operate the same as those that won Civil Rights ironically enough.

A hypocritical bigoted mentality, really a lack of unbiased thought and free will pulls the reins IMO. Let us take a snapshot resembling past events that had no small effect on anyone. Pick a year. Outcry from watchdogs and warriors claiming a videogame made for adults in indecent on Tuesday, yet in another arm of their crusade against freedom on the Friday before doctors are killed/women are bullied at an abortion clinic, raped women are denied morning after pills by pharmacists/ER doctors on Wednesday, and children, the very children they are "protecting" are further fed a bed of lies which make up their core beliefs. There is often little free thought wiggle-room if you are a part of the communities supporting these crusades. As a simple supporter you may not have built the hardware for said clinic, but you benefited from a further schism being drawn between those with your beliefs and those without them. Those most devout and crazy resort to extreme measures to make the point and become a martyr, but the stain doesn't go away. I feel I am responsible for Bush's antics overseas and our soldiers' deaths indirectly even though I voted against him every time. I feel shame for being an American right now.

I am not painting this broadly to say all Christians are causing our freedoms to go down the shitter. I know many who are good people that filter what they hear from their religious leaders when necessary, and some who are awesome religious leaders that skip the political BS and try to give freedom back to their flock. They don't cut their neighbors' thumbs off to keep them from playing videogames, or push their beliefs on society, actively missioning or trying to convert. However, I will say that a minority of people who use the potent drawing-power of religion (with its roots of cult followers, support networks, established history, privileges, and contacts) to affect and sway society are getting away with murder every day. Front stage and back stage antics where their true intent is never really visible to others.

I can imagine a mass disc-burning session is being planned by local church coalitions now. Well, maybe by the richer churches. Wii games are pretty expensive after all. I'm still waiting for Rockstar to be equated as the Devil's work in major print media, so locals can burn all violent games like they did with Harry Potter books. I will be right there watching the demonstrations when they begin to burn games, let alone bomberman discs, my favorite game series of all time, holding my sign and making noise. Hopefully wearing a bomberman suit and holding flowers to drive home the point.

To the Georgians, I empathize, living in North Carolina since '98.

How to stop the gamee being marketed to children

1) ask Rockstar nicely
2) When they say they won't, believe them.
3) If you ever see the ad in a public space take a good look at it before deciding if it's being amrketed to children.
4) If you think it is ask rockstar about it
5) If you don't believe them seek a professional (like a psychiatrist) for a quick analysis.
6) If the psychiatrist agrees then you have a problem
7) If not, ignore it and have a nice day.

Anyway at the very least they aren't trying to ban it.

@ Gameboy

I go to college at Georgia Southern, so I don't care much for the big Rivalry up there. I have more important things to worry about, like if I will survive my commute from Roswell to Norcross.

woops I meat furor over, not fury of.

Of course it'll get stick, there are literally hundreds of 'fretful mum' organisations out there rubbing their hands at the possiblility for appearing on TV to denounce this game, they're probably forming a big queue somewhere.

It has an 'M' on the box, that means Mature, it's not Rocket Science, you don't have to have a degree to figure it out, and for the hard of thinking, the word 'Mature' that is written underneath it may be a little hint.

There was the same backlash against Slasher Movies, and they were only famous WHILE the backlash was going on, most of the 'Gorefest' horrors sunk into a much smaller sub-sulture once the interest subsided. Of all the Politicians, Lawyers and People who seem to feel they have the right to impose their own Moral hang-ups on the rest of society, I just wish ONE of them could get that fact through their incredibly thick skulls.

@GoodRobotsUs:

There are many who understand the ratings. They don't care. It is their free right of speech that allows them to counter our free speech right to talk about our beliefs on videogames and media in general. Tom made it very coherent above. They are one line of the sand and some of us are on the other. On some issues we are pals, on others rivals. Such good times keep our freedoms rolling, so long as we keep things in check through proper political and legislative involvement.

The seemingly mindless "adults" with kids (mind you I don't qualify them all to be called parents) and gamers are as much to blame as anyone orchestrating a war behind their puppet strings. Were all "gamers" polite to people in public (including rabid kids overdosed on material they shouldn't have consumed in the first place) to strangers, teachers, and other authority figures, maybe some trend would manifest where being considered a "gamer" equated to being polite and well-mannered. Games and violent material has a bad rap and so do gamers, who are unfairly seen as slackers or deviants because of their choices in personal expression whether it manifest in music, clothes, piercings, or what have you. Giant pizza-box sculpture of a Halo marine included.

It's just another battle, which with education and action will be overcome as other more vital concerns take hold of the nation's spotlight. Hopefully.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1633082-1,00.html

@goodrobotus

if the censors looked back at history they would realise that

a. they never succeed in getting anything banned
b. the same tactics they use have failed repeatedly
c. given time their views on what is demonic are seen as stupid, insane, and those of a nutcase (example: anyone still think comics and rock and roll are tools of satan?
d. times change, what was unacceptable yesterday can be acceptale today (example: playing cards and dancing).

If I their is logic correct we should also ban Hostel 2, Bug, and Saw 4...because they are obviously targeted towards children along with Steven King's IT, I Spit on Your Grave, and The GodFather.

[...] My issue is when this group decides that protected speech is less important then that ever-present clarion call for censors throughout history, “protecting the children.”  In the case of the CCFC they are seeking to ban the marketing of Mature rated games to children because, apparently, the parents of our nation are incompetent. [...]

"CCFC will be launching new campaigns to stop a horrifically violent video game from being marketed to children…"

Damn, they act fast. Like, 'back-in-time' fast.

By the way, is the CCFC a communist, anarchist or such organization? They think capitalism is evil by the looks of them. Why the hell do they have credibility?

[...] Anyway, if you are interested in learning more I point you to some various articles… and for those out of the loop, this all started back on 18 June 2007: Will Manhunt 2 Come Under Fire This Week? [...]