October 17, 2007
As reported by GamePolitics and other outlets, an early PS2 build of Manhunt 2 was leaked onto the Internet last month.For its part, the gaming community seemed to take the news in stride. It was, after all, not a finished product, only one of several planned versions, and not accessible without some extra effort and technical knowledge.
Great Britain's Sky News, however, jumped on the story in a big way today:
Thousands of gamers are using the internet to get their hands on a video game banned because of its graphic scenes of torture and murder...
[Manhunt 2] ...was leaked onto the web - and anyone with a little technical knowledge can download it and play it on a modified games console...
No-one of any age is allowed to play the game, and yet our investigation found thousands of people downloading it.
Despite the sensationalism, we did extract one kernel of what is believed to be new information from the Sky News coverage:
[Rockstar] accepts the game was leaked onto the web by an employee of a different company who had access to the preview copy. That person has been sacked.
So... we'd like to know more about who leaked Manhunt 2, as well as how and why. Simple mischief? Bragging rights? Perhaps a true believer who was offended by the ban and wanted the original version to see the light of day?
Comments
I highly doubt swinging a simulated axe to hit someone is worse that using a simulated gun to shoot someone. Given that the later have been in arcades for decades, I'd say we're safe.
Bad PR? Maybe. Legitimate area of medical concern? Hell no.
And of course, all these people not only are downloading the game, but then know exactly how to mod their PS2's in order to make the game run without exploding anything.
Voided Warranties, oh noez.
Nightwng2000
NW2K Software
No, Dennis and you will be in Philadelphia. Jack will be in Conneticut.
By the way, I encourage anyone in the gaming world to come to the VideoGame Expo in Connecticut November 3. I’ll be there, and we can actually talk about things without Dennis McCauley censoring our discussions.
See http://www.vgxpo.com/
GP: Yeah, you’re really censored here…
By the way, you keep heading to Connecticut. The rest of us will be in Philadelphia, where vgXpo is actually taking place…"
Shhhhhh Dennis...Now now If Jack says it is in connecticut then its in connecticut....so lets not question that now....See jack i defended you..
Hooooah!
"we can actually talk about things without Dennis McCauley censoring our discussions."
The only thing Dennis censors here is personal attacks. Are you admitting to inciting such an attack?
岩「…」
Really?
Is it more like, hundreds or tens of people? Probably.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Where the hell has Sky News been for the last decade?
Why do I get the strange feeling that their 'investigation' looked at how many people were sharing and didn't look at in which country?
So much for our rights as an adult lol.
Seconded. Quite how Sky thinks this is news I don't know..
"There's no victim to sympathise with, there's no particularly complex storyline; you simply go around killing people in extraordinarily violent ways... there's no moral framework around it.""
Is anyone else dumbfounded? I swear, Sky is almost as bad as FOX.
Am I the only one who had a 'Holy Grail' flashback there?
Also I guess that means we should watch out for more copy-cat violence incidents because of this, right?
Gee, are they talking about a leaked copy of Manhunt 2 or GTA: SA's "Hot Coffee"?
"[Rockstar] accepts the game was leaked onto the web by an employee of a different company who had access to the preview copy. That person has been sacked."
See what happens when you own up to something, even if it wasn't directly your fault? Ole Eiber can sit n' spin. Hah!
Nightwng2000
NW2K software
Yet this will still be touted as a "failure" of the ESRB. I just know it...
Try to narrow your numbers down, please
@BlackIce, Leftie:
Sky News is Fox News' sister network in the UK.
Your're joking right? The world has just become a little bit foggyer..
Well, it is still legally a copyright violation. R* does, after all, own the rights to distribution of their title. Still, like a lot of .torrent stuff, it'll probably be hard for them to do much to the end downloaders. Ask the RIAA.
So I'm sure this "Bloody Coffee" incident will be similarly blown out of proportion by the sensationalist media and the so-called watchdog groups, even though hardly anybody will actually see it (except the ones who hear about it on the "news")
No Joke.
It's bugged from what I hear
It argues that it is parents' responsibility to supervise what games children play, and what they see on the internet."
What radicalism!
That's not necessarily true.
For example, Dead Rising, was not banned in Germany. It was just not rated. Any people over 18 had the right to import a copy.
Either those news were British (nothing against those from Great Britain) or the announcer were speaking in hyperbole, something some announcer (not all) tends to do (thinking about Jeff Filion).