AO-Rated Manhunt 2 Gunning for PCs
AO-Rated Manhunt 2 Gunning for PCs
November 2, 2009
Rockstar Games’ controversial Manhunt 2 is being released for the PC this week in an uncensored version that carries an Adults Only (AO) rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB).
Originally released in 2007 for the Wii and PlayStation 2 platforms, the title drew fire over its content and a perception that using the Wii’s motion controls to enact virtual violence could carry over to real-world violence, despite evidence that eventually emerged to the contrary.
The BigDownload notes that Manhunt 2 will be offered via the digital delivery system of Direct2Drive for $29.95. Purchases are limited to those who live in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. While Valve offers a full Rockstar Games collection through its Steam service, no mention of the pending availability of an AO-rated Manhunt 2 game can be found anywhere on their site or within Steam.
The ESRB content descriptor for the game states: “Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs.”
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Posted 02/09/10 at 10:59am
Valdearg: Honestly, the only thing I can imagine is the plaintiffs think it's their religious right to perpetrate violent criminal acts against homosexuals. Unfortunately, knowing some folks like that, it wouldn't surprise me if they did believe that.
Valdearg: Honestly, the only thing I can imagine is the plaintiffs think it's their religious right to perpetrate violent criminal acts against homosexuals. Unfortunately, knowing some folks like that, it wouldn't surprise me if they did believe that.
Posted 02/09/10 at 10:59am
Valdearg: @AE: I know, right? The only thing that law does is make a violent criminal act more severe if it was motivated by a hatred of homosexuals.
Valdearg: @AE: I know, right? The only thing that law does is make a violent criminal act more severe if it was motivated by a hatred of homosexuals.
Posted 02/09/10 at 10:43am
Andrew Eisen: What's amazing is the folks at that Law Center can't seem to read plain English that states that nothing in the law restricts someone's right to think what they want or say what they want.
Andrew Eisen: What's amazing is the folks at that Law Center can't seem to read plain English that states that nothing in the law restricts someone's right to think what they want or say what they want.
Posted 02/09/10 at 10:39am
Valdearg: But, hey, people are capable of anything when they use their religion as justification for their blatantly bigoted behavior.
Valdearg: But, hey, people are capable of anything when they use their religion as justification for their blatantly bigoted behavior.
Posted 02/09/10 at 10:35am
Valdearg: It's amazing, that anyone with any humanity, whatsoever, would challenge a law that adds protections to a group of people who are excessively targeted for violent attacks, based strictly on who they are.
Valdearg: It's amazing, that anyone with any humanity, whatsoever, would challenge a law that adds protections to a group of people who are excessively targeted for violent attacks, based strictly on who they are.
Posted 02/09/10 at 10:33am
Valdearg: Essentially, he claims the law infringes on a Catholic's God Given right to express their beliefs. This is only true if he believes it's his God given right to use someone's homosexuality as motivation to assault, murder, or maim them.
Valdearg: Essentially, he claims the law infringes on a Catholic's God Given right to express their beliefs. This is only true if he believes it's his God given right to use someone's homosexuality as motivation to assault, murder, or maim them.
Posted 02/09/10 at 10:32am
Valdearg: Catholic Zealot Tom Monaghan's Catholic Law Center challenging Hate Crimes legislation, a law that adds protection for homosexuals against violent, criminal attacks.
Valdearg: Catholic Zealot Tom Monaghan's Catholic Law Center challenging Hate Crimes legislation, a law that adds protection for homosexuals against violent, criminal attacks.
Posted 02/09/10 at 07:00am
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Posted 02/08/10 at 10:22pm
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
Posted 02/08/10 at 09:36pm
BearDogg-X: New Orleans elected Sen. Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu as mayor Saturday night.
BearDogg-X: New Orleans elected Sen. Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu as mayor Saturday night.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:22pm
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:21pm
Valdearg: This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin telling the Teaparty Convention to pray for Divine intervention to stop the Progressive tide. It seems she succeeded in recruiting the big man to offer some help. >.<
Valdearg: This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin telling the Teaparty Convention to pray for Divine intervention to stop the Progressive tide. It seems she succeeded in recruiting the big man to offer some help. >.<
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:20pm
Valdearg: @A_L: I'm hearing that, as well.. It seems the dems aren't just losing seats via elections... :(
Valdearg: @A_L: I'm hearing that, as well.. It seems the dems aren't just losing seats via elections... :(
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:04pm
DarkSaber: Did he design Big Murtha Truckers 1 & 2?
DarkSaber: Did he design Big Murtha Truckers 1 & 2?
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:50pm
Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:04pm
Shadow D. Darkman: DarkSaber: (EDIT) IDC really, it's just good to see some new stuff here.
Shadow D. Darkman: DarkSaber: (EDIT) IDC really, it's just good to see some new stuff here.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:02pm
DarkSaber: @Shadow If the on-going spat in China over WoW counts as "new" at least. Does anyone here REALLY give a shit about the state of chinas game industry anyway?
DarkSaber: @Shadow If the on-going spat in China over WoW counts as "new" at least. Does anyone here REALLY give a shit about the state of chinas game industry anyway?
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:59pm
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:58pm
Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
And I had to go and live in Ireland to miss this beauty...
"God, is that you?"
"No! It's a me, Mario!"
Meh you cans till get it :P
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
I am so getting this. I have a codebreaker for the PS2 buts just not the same with the toned down gore. I'm getting the full version. ^_^
Time until fox news begs politicians to "think about the children", T-minus 24 hours and counting.
Unlikely. Guess which large media conglomerate owns Direct2Drive?
/b
News Corp?
I'm surprised anyone is deciding to play through this a second time.
I would imagine most sales will be to those who passed on the game the first time due to it being censored.
Andrew Eisen
I would imagine most sales will be to those who passed on the game the first time due to it being too expensive.
It was $50 when it came out. Same price as every other game. I find it hard to believe that was the most common reason people passed on it in the first place in light of the fact that the game was censored to the point that everything unique and fun about the game was stripped out.
Andrew Eisen
eh, just because it came out at the price of every other game, does not mean it was WORTH the price of every other game...
Very true but I still hold that censorship would have been a bigger turn off to fans of the franchise than its price.
Andrew Eisen
Whilst the game became less brutal than that of its predecessor, censorship had no effect on its gameplay (at least with the PS2 version), only the non-interactive parts were censored and more extreme kills taken out.
What did for the game were the poor reviews it received and after completing the game I can say that it was a clear step back from the original where nearly every element was worse than the original. The censorship didn't harm the game the actual quality of it did.
Also true. Censorship aside, most reviewers felt the game just wasn't as good as the first. But surely many fans of the first might have given it a go anyway if not for the fact that the biggest reason to play the game in the first place was stripped out.
Andrew Eisen
I liked the first game. It was quite fun. I'll get this too but only if it comes to steam.
Can't buy it, due to living in the dump that is the UK. And to think, I bought all three previous versions, just so I could be ignored when they finally bring out the real deal? Not R*s fault of course, it's the scum that is our BBFC that's to blame for this one. And then I can thank the British government, when I try to torresnt it and get my internet cut of. It's not as if I wouldn't buy it if I could you b******s!
It was cut in America so that it could see release on the consoles and actually be sold within shops. It wasn't a UK only problem.
Umm... yes it was a UK only problem. Here-in lies the difference;
America
Retailors: We won't stock it
Big Three: Our consoles won't run it.
Rockstar: Whatever, PC release it then
UK
Retailors: We'll stock it
Big Three: We'll run it
Rockstar: Awesome! Now just to get it to our distributor...
Government: Stop! If you sell or otherwise distribute this game, you are liable to several thousand pound fines, and a prison sentance, huzzah!
Free speech: *gets urinated on by Harriet Harman*
The result was exactly the same, consumers could not purchase the game at retail based on censorship. In America there were many groups involved in the censorship, in the UK there was one, but still the same result in both countries.
Not quite. In the US, it was still able to be released on a platform, the PC, and it was legal. In the UK, it's a criminal act to distribute the game. Period.
Legal but denied access versus accessible but illegal. Its kind of like drugs. You have access to heroin, but its illegal to possess it whereas morphine is legal but you're denied access(not counting black market for the morphine).
>In the UK, it's a criminal act to distribute the game. Period.
Only on disc or tape, due to a quirk in the way the law is written- broadly speaking, it's illegal to distribute it on a storage medium- in the case of Digital Distribution, it's technically legal to distribute in the UK, since there's no storage media involved, or at least no storage media that's part of the product.
So in theory, it would be a breach of the VRA to buy the Direct2Drive business, if it was a UK-based operation.
I really hope Steam carries the AO version. It could very well be the first salvo in making AO a viable option for gaming. Maybe move the definition of it away from porn games.
nah... you need a really, really good game for that to happen. You need a real system seller; you need a game that gamers are really clammering for; a true masterpiece of gaming.... frankly you need a game that will inspire other developers to make good AO rated games... I don't think many are really watching Manhunt 2 all that closely, or really much care how it does.
In order for it to take off you need something big. In order to get in the door, you need something small, like a foot or a toe. I think this game has the potential to be that foot in the door. Slip in under the radar, gain precedent for that game everyone really wants.
Um...as far as trying to make developers develop good quality AO18+ games, I can name so many Japanese Dating Sims that do just that.
But because so many people don't understand how Japanese Dating Sims work, I guess it is a lost cause and will only remain popular in Japan.
You also had some good companies trying to publish Japanese Dating Sims and Visual Novels in North America but the problem was with Hiemeki running out of business with their games marketed for M17+ and Teen audiences and the only games that did prove to sell well was the Hentai ones from Peach Princess.
So if you have anything to blame for a lack of companies not trying to make good quality AO18+ games, blame those who did not buy the Japanese Dating Sims from those companies.
Funnily enough, here in the west we do not really want cartoon porn when we say we want mature, adult gaming experiences.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Maybe you don't, but the fact that there was even a small market for them in the US means that some do.
Be it tasteful or tasteless, if its there to stimulate arousal it can be classified as pornography. That scene in Mass Effect that flashed some alien nipple? While it may have been tastefully done, it can easily be classified as softcore porn. Just watch Cinemax after 3am sometime and you'll see that it comes fairly close.
Also, would CGI scenes like that not count as cartoon porn?
Don't get me wrong, I understand that your argument was more about wanting a mature experience, in terms of actually having a well done, mature storyline along the lines of Fahrenheit, or Heavy Rain once it comes out, but those games have shown that a mature and adult storyline can be had with an M rating. What most people want an AO for is simply so that they can have CGI tits flashed in their face or extreme gore, should they so choose. There are few actual storytelling situations that are blocked by AO not being sold.
I support allowing the AO rating and removing its wrongfully earned "porn game" label, but at the same time I also realize that when it does become something other than an effective ban that it will be used primarily for that. I highly doubt that you're going to find a game that takes you on some profound journey of introspection and self-enlightenment that could only be done with an AO rating. Or if you do, it will be a one-off deal because it won't sell well to the general masses.
Fahrenheit was an AO game. It got cut in the US to get an M rating. In the UK the game was released uncut with a rating of 15+.
Sex and nudity were cut from the game, and the sex in the game actually served the plot.
"Be it tasteful or tasteless, if its there to stimulate arousal it can be classified as pornography. That scene in Mass Effect that flashed some alien nipple? While it may have been tastefully done, it can easily be classified as softcore porn."
No it is not...
Porn is speficially defined as material that is INTENDED to cause arousal... scenes like the one in Mass effect, and numerous sex scenes in movies do NOT carry such intent. Any arousal they cause is unintentional.
Only way you could call them pronography is if you define pornography as just "anything that might cause arousal", but then you are using the term too loosely as that would includes A LOT of material... the mere picture of a person, no matter how much or little clothing they are wearing, could cause arousal in people... ya lots of normal pictures could be considered "softcore porn"
Im probably not getting this uncensored verision, didn't like the ps2 version much.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/