Kotaku
Today, the British Board of Film Classification, the UK's independent regulator of film, video and gaming, announced that it has rejected both the PS2 and Wii version of Manhunt 2. Manhunt 2 was developed by Rockstar Games and is the sequel to Manhunt, a game that was banned in several different countries and linked to the murder of a 14 year-old boy. With this announced ruling, Manhunt 2 cannot legally be sold anywhere in the United Kingdom. This is the first game to be rejected since Carmageddon in 1997. We just got off the phone with BBFC's Sue Clark, who said, "We took a lot of time in examining Manhunt 2. Banning is not something we take lightly." She added that the regulatory board examines video games closer than its counterparts aboard.
Her remarks echo BBFC Director David Cooke, who stated, "Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."
According to BBFC's Sue Clark, five or six examiners played through "several hours of the game." Using cheat codes, they were able to play the "tops of each level." The BBFC was also furnished with a copy of the game's script. These same examiners then produced a report on their findings. The decision to ban Manhunt 2 was then made by a BBFC panel which consisted of Director and the Presidential Team of Sir Quentin Thomas, Lord Taylor of Warwick and Janet Lewis-Jones. Under the terms of the Video Recordings Act the game's distributors have the right to appeal the Board's decision.
This ruling will certainly set a precedent, and Manhunt 2 is unlikely to clear censorship in Germany and Australia. Hit the jump to read Director David Cooke's full statement.
"Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."Although the difference should not be exaggerated the fact of the game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game. That work was classified '18' in 2003, before the BBFC's recent games research had been undertaken, but was already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category."
"Against this background, the Board's carefully considered view is that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2, on either platform, would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors, within the terms of the Video Recordings Act, and accordingly that its availability, even if statutorily confined to adults, would be unacceptable to the public."
Comments
Sucks to be a UK citizen I guess. Now I just HAVE to play it :D
As predicted. Awaiting the Australian ban now.
All they have to do is give games an R18+ rating like they do in movies, instead of capping it at MA15+
They can police it any way they want, just stop with the fucking censorship. You do not speak on my behalf.
Also,
"...and accordingly that its availability, even if statutorily confined to adults, would be unacceptable to the public."
How about letting the adult public decide that. Isn't the government supposed to work for the people?
Although I don't really like the sadistic trends seen in games like manhunt, banning it is just idiotic.
I wonder, will there even be a PAL version of this game?
Interesting... No Manhunt 2 for me I guess...
I wonder if cuts will have to be made in territories other than Australia and Germany aswell... Maybe even US...
The BBFC are not a bunch of wimps who ban anything without good reason*cough*USK*cough*... The game must have been pretty damn bad to be banned....
I expect it might be bad enough to warrant cuts in almost every territory.
i kind of saw this coming, but it sucks all the same, however, i just dont the point in completely banning something.
why couldnt they just do a germany and like only sell it over the counter?
or perhaps, yer know, STOP LETTING PARENTS BY IT 12 YEAR OLDS?
just a suggestion =)
man...Europeans just get shafted in gaming...
sorry for the gamers in Britain...
my condolences...hope you can at least import them if you're willing to play it...
but is it illegal to own and play it?
Piss, balls, sh*t, bollocks, crap, arse, bollocks, horse, bugger.
-_-
That was really one of the only games I was looking forward to on the Wii. I hate you UK!
*shakes fist*
@WouTar:
Well, my guess is if you had a referendum on it, most countries would ban games like this.
The thing is that in the last few years the BBFC have completely relaxed in terms of censorship, becoming a lot less draconian and leaving it increasing up to the consumer.
In other words, this game must be fucked up.
@Gian: Probably in France, and they'll probably bundle an English soundtrack with it too to encourage imports.
Surprise surprise.
Wow, first time i have heard anything out right banned. Makes you wonder considering we have movies like Hostel pt2 coming out this month which in many ways are just as bad, if not worse.
This shouldnt be too much of a problem, as long as it gets through in one EU country and they put all the languages on it. Most people I know got Rule of Rose through import from Italy and usually by some bizzare Euro-Pound conversion and next day shipping it works out at the same cost for us in the UK.
Well, actually... you see, on the one hand, I'm kinda against all forms of censorship, because it's just not what a democracy is about. On the other hand, and in my humble opinion, Rockstar took one step too far with Manhunt 2. For all intents and purposes, the game looks like a turbo-tough horror movie to begin with and it adds a level of interactivity that might be called "ahead of its time" or just plainly "sick". Either way, I think I would have made the same decision if I was on the BBFC panel (Of course, this is based on my current impression of the game; I don't like bashing a game I haven't played yet).
Since I live in Germany, I'm especially interested in the decision here. But it might become the first case in which I support the banning of a game. I'd really love to hear the opinion of the kotaku community.
"All they have to do is give games an R18+ rating like they do in movies, instead of capping it at MA15+"
The BBFC have frequently given 18 ratings to games in the past as can be evidenced here:
[www.mobygames.com]
Notably, this includes pretty much every GTA title ever released. The BBFC rarely outright ban anything, unless it is considered to have no redeeming content at all and purely be for the sake of exceeding what is reasonable.
I would understand if it was just the Wii version, but not the PS2 version.
Ah well. There's still Resident Evil 4 to look forward to.
Because of crap like this, I'm still a faithful importer today. Still, I wonder if they're going to make a gimped green blood and zombies version of the game now..
Ugh. If Manhunt was a movie I bet it wouldn't of been banned. Not that I was gonna play it or anything, but this pretty much sucks.
Ugh, stupid stupid stupid. Enforce the law, encourage better parenting, but please don't outright censor and ban things.
I'll definitely have to import this then. Does anyone think that the banning will lead, somehow, in a bizarre fashion, to an irregularly large number of sales of Manhunt 2 in countries such as France and Italy? There is no way in hell this game will ever be released in Germany.
@Gian:
I don't know. Maybe. I just feel, that as an adult, I am allowed to play a game if I want. It's not like I'm hurting anybody with it.
I'm glad I live in the Netherlands. Let's just keep it at that.
Well this will hurt the games sales to lose a whole territory like that. Sadly this will cause bunch of people to seek out the game now just cause it's banned, and Manhunt was a really shitty game in the first place.
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! And ps2 and wii isnt region free, why dont they bring it out on ps3, at least i can import it in *crys*
In-Fucking-credible. I really don't know what to say.
A sad day for British freedom... Oh well import time ^^
It's a bad, bad precedent to set. Now I worry that scenes will be edited from the U.S. version. But at least we'll have a version (even if it is unjustly edited).
Suddenly this "First Amendment" thing isn't all that bad (actually, it never has been). Maybe we should auction it off to pay for Bush's tax cuts for the rich.
But in all seriousness, any country that PREVENTS ADULT gamers from playing whatever game they CHOOSE to play is a sad country and a country I would not want to live in, no matter how superior the health care is.
This "banned" info. is going to put me in a foul mood the rest of the day. Possibly the rest of the week. And if I happened to live in the UK, I'd quit my job and devote my life to protesting this violation of my rights.
So, any of you UK residents planning anything like that? Or, does being a grown-up with the rights of somebody who has grown-up really not matter much to y'all?
I agree that they should put an adult rating on it. Gives a lot of pirates another reason to download it for their modded systems, which makes it even more popular.
Guys,
don't let this stop ye, just import it from Ireland, to me that's the wisest thing to do, if you want to play Manhunt 2.
This is going to be an import gem. Way to go, UK, for dictating what's proper for your people and therefore bolstering sales elsewhere.
The BBFC in my opinion, are very fair in the ratings they give in relation to British law.
I am sure they had good reason to ban the game if they deemed it necessary. It indicates a lot more about the lack of taste in Manhunt 2, than the BBFC not doing their job properly and fairly.
living in germany we are usualy in poleposition when it comes to videogame censorship and i obviously don't endorse it but in the case of mahunt i realy don't see a point in arguing it. that game just had it coming from the start.
i haven't played the first and didn't intend on playing the sequel anyway so i might not be the right person to judge it but what's the point in creating a snuff game in the first place?!?
after releasing a brilliant "bully" i just don't see how rockstar can be so balls out stupid for any other reason than publicity. which, quite frankly, makes sad.
One game I just have to get.
Having censors tell me what I can or can't consume in terms of media really pisses me off - its a veiled insult in the sense that they're assuming that we don't have brains with which to judge right from wrong, and that we lack self-control, our brains are made from mush that is putty in the hands of the media, we're naive, gullible, easily swayed and suggestible; and hence they have to decide what we can or can't be exposed to. Their justification is basically that they're protecting us from ourselves.
What a load of bollocks.
They have ratings for youngsters, which is fair enough, as they're in their formative period, but mature adults don't need such protection. Its an insult to our intelligence really.
@Lu-Tze:
I'm pretty sure that was another aussie saying that. We don't have R18+ games, just MA15+ so anything that's R Rated either gets bumped or heavily edited.
That does indeed suck.
At least this will cut down the amount of kids that get hold of it over here and save us from the inevitable Daily Mail shitstorm when one of them kills their mate.
People remember by banning it they have decided that even with cuts the whole contect of this game is messed up and i agree..
Anyone got a link to an irish import site?
Wow, I did find the entire idea of the game obhorent, especially on the WII where you do the killings through actions not just button pressings. However I wasn't expecting an outright ban. Their comments on the banning are very well thought out and don't appear to be knee jerk reactions.
I wonder what Rockstar will do. I was just planning on ignoring the game like I did with the first, looks like I'll have to pick it up now NAAAAT ;)
The first Manhunt was a terrible game and only sold reasonably because of all the press about it and the short banning it got.
I haven't seen anything that would make me think this second one will be worth spending my cash on.
@platinum:
The first wasn't a "snuff" game and, from what I've read, the second won't be either. As a matter of fact, I KNOW the second won't be a "snuff" game, and if you doubt that, why not look up the definition of "snuff"?
It's rather pathetic that you claim in one sentence that you've never played the first and won't play the second and then go on to describe the content of the first, which you admit you've never played. If you've never played the games and don't have a clue as to what "snuff" content actually is, I'd suggest keeping your opinion(s) to yourself.
PS3 is region free on both BluRay and dvd as far as im aware, the EU release version has no emotion engine and i think initially that was the only restriction on it, so I think an NTSC copy of manhunt 2 will work on the PS3's emulator (since thats pretty much all it is)
So this news is annoying but not as devastating to me as to others.
I'm just lol'ing to myself that the first decent game on the wii gets banned i enjoy your mario tennis or w/e the hell Nintendont come up with next.
"This ruling will certainly set a precedent,"
No. No, it won't, because the precedent was ALREADY SET - you said so yourself, the last time they banned a game was Carmageddon. Meaning this has happened before, meaning this is not the first game they've ever banned. Manhunt 2 is setting no precedent here.
@Chippo:
"I haven't seen anything that would make me think this second one will be worth spending my cash on."
So your lack of interest makes a Government ban okay?
Wow.
I'm suddenly really, really glad I don't live in Europe.
thank god they have that 50 million to cover this hit ;)
@Plum: Setting the precident for this particular title is how I read this.
I blames Wii, cos it has more murder simulation than other systems..
Makes sense, the thing has to be really horrible for it to warrant a ban like this. They aren't going to ban a game for no reason. And I guess that if torture is illegal, a game with such a heavy focus on it should kinda be as well.
I mean they were just asking for it. The purpose of the game is to kill as brutally as you can. That's not sensible development.
What was so bad about Carmageddon?
never played it personally
But I agree, I think the ratings the BBFC give are actually quite justified.
I am however quite interested to see what qualifies as a ban worthy game
Seems like quite an informed decision.
Saying that I think banning anything is unlawful. Who are these people to say what we can have. They should just rate it 18 and let the shops and people choose what they want to buy.