"must be balanced against the public interest, including the full range of possible harm risks to vulnerable individuals and to any children who may be wrongly exposed to such games."

Are they seriously holding Rockstar accountable for kids being wrongly exposed to games? You can put any rating you want on a game, but that won't stop a parent who is ignorant of games and ratings from giving it to their kids. It won't stop a kid who's parents don't give a damn what they do from playing it at a friend's house. This is like blaming a brewery because a drunk Uncle gave some beer to underage kids at a party.

Also, they refer to "possible harm risks". Would these be the possible risks who's existence is only supported by some pretty shaky and flawed research, carried out by people who already "knew" the results before they did it? The kind of harm risks that are disproved every day by the vast number of people who play violent video yet do not kill anyone?

will it be the full uncut version that gets released in the UK or is it going to be the censored version??

@ Ace of Sevens

Uh...? Didn't the US already Okay Manhunt 2 while the BBFC has refused the exact same game?

Who cares. The Manhunt series are terrible games to start with.
The only people who will seek this out are those interested in the violence, the real gamers know how terrible the games are and basically won't touch them.

Its a fair point Rockstar have about being singled out. Clive Barker's Jericho is just as violent.

I don't care much about violent content. I am more into sex than violence and that is sex with an element of love involved, or tentacles...

But I wish I would be able to play some Hentai games...

Sadly that will never happen for me so I will hope that players from the UK would at least get a choice about what games that they want to play instead of having an interesting game for them being banned because of a ratings mess.

I know at least what it feels like when a game you want is out there but you just can't get it because your country won't let you have it.

Well, I won't name name,s but a few people's arguments have just been rendered null and void.

chuma, you articulate the point perfectly.

You want in on my prospective UK ECA style group!? :-)

'must be balanced against the public interest, including the full range of possible harm risks to vulnerable individuals and to any children who may be wrongly exposed to such games.'

The needs of the few, who may not even exist, outweigh the freedoms of the many?

Well, hate to say it, but the whole reason the BBFC are kept seperate from Government is so that 'social opinion' doesn't affect those ratings, they aren't rated based on political expediency or 'protecting the children', they are rated for the age group they are suitable for, that's all.

The BBFC have a disclaimer on their site that they are not responsible for the enforcement of their ratings, that means that, even if a child should get their hands on this game, not only would it be illegal under our laws, but it is none of the BBFC's concern after the fact, so why should it be the BBFC's concern before it?

... Can't they just let Mh2 die in piece?

Its been well over a month (closer to 2) since the title was released. One might think that any in the UK that really wanted it would/could have gotten it by now. I do tend to forget that gamers don't count though even when it comes to games.

Apparently the PtB's (Power that Be) were so offended that the BBFC refused to allow the title that they are going to use a dead title to beat a dead horse. Many here complained that the US (ESRB) was allowing the UK (BBFC) to dictate ratings.. here we see the exact opposite. If R*/T2 succeeds in getting the title into the UK that is going to set a precedent for all such titles to come. I do not honestly know if this is a good thing or not.

I do not understand what the fuss is they have laws tied to sales and have a working 18 level there should be no ban or no argument just slap it wit the 18 and theres a good 50/50 chance will dumb it down for a 15/16+ rating.

the BBFC has a solid rating structure and should not whine about being forced to rate mature media.

My god people what happen to the stiff upper lip?

Waste of taxpayers money...

well what can you "really" do???

@Dogstew

To me it all depends on the violence being excessive and in context. Manhunt fails on both to me.

It absolutely amazes me how so many people who pass comment on this game have either never played either of the Manhunt games, or have no intention to.

Anyway, as a UK gamer who has played through both Manhunt games (I had Manhunt 2 downloaded for me, then imported an original copy from the US), I can honestly say that I don't see what the fuss is about. Sure, there is a lot of killing in the game, but after the first few levels, the vast majority of it all is gunplay, very similar to playing either The Punisher or Max Payne. As for the stealth based executions themselves.....they have some shock value the first time you see them, but quickly become boring and no worse than the numerous 'stick man death' animations doing the rounds online. The BBFC also made a point of the 'callousness of tone' of the game and a lot of the media implied that you took on the role of an escaped lunatic who just goes on the rampage killing random people.....without giving away too much of the storyline, it involves a medical experiement gone wrong and revenge against specific persons. The main character is literally not always in control of his actions it is mades clear on a few occasions that he is appalled by what is happening. In fact, the premise of the game, whilst quite grim, is a rather strong statement about a man trying to save himself from becoming something he hates.

The BBFC claim that they've played this game for 30 hours? I don't think so. It is fairly short and can be completed in around 10 hours, and certainly by the 30 hour mark they should have more of an idea of what the storyline of the game is about.

At any rate, even if you play the dowloaded 'uncut' version, it still doesn't seem as violent, edgy or atmospheric as the original Manhunt, which was literally about violent murders being deliberately encouraged and filmed for pleasure. And yet the original Manhunt was granted an 18 rating uncut. No matter what way you look at this, the BBFC has displayed double standards here.

It is also worth noting that the original game didn't sell very well at all until the media started screaming 'ban this sick filth'....a case of history repeating itself, perhaps?

[...] http://gamepolitics.com/2007/12/11/manhunt-2-wins-appeal-but-uk-release-... [...]

[...] Video Game Audio has evolved over the years, from the simple sounds of PONG to the in-depth, cinematic sounds of BioShock. Although many gamers take Game Audio for granted, it's just as important as a video game's graphics, gameplay and controls. In this episode of The Reboot, host Rio Pesino speaks with a few video game audio professionals about the importance of sound. Also on the show, Manhunt 2 may still be released in the United Kingdom after all, Nintendo is in the spirit of "Gifting" and a Detroit prosecutor unveils her list of violent games to avoid this holiday season. [...]

Sure enough, trying to run my Digital TV program gives me an error message about a filter not being available after which the program terminates.