Manhunt 2 Rejected in UK by BBFC

bumnut - 922 days 3 hours ago

i have been playing violent games for years and i havent killed or mugged anyone.

violent games are not dangerous

crazy people are dangerous

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MK_Red - 922 days 3 hours ago

So it begins. This indicates that game will indeed be really good and bloody. Damn those anti-games for banning games like these. Manhunt is not only violence and mindless gore, its a psychological story with superb cinematic elements and production values.

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monoknacker - 922 days 3 hours ago

Thats a huge decision and a seriously bad one, i hope this does not set a precedent in anyway for violent videogames in the UK.

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MaximusPrime - 922 days 3 hours ago

One kid was stabbed by a fan of Manhunt. Causing big news stories in UK. So this is a possible reason why Manhunt 2 will not be allowed to sell in UK.

@ uberwleiss: I think he is 15 yrs old. I cant remember but it was like a year or two ago.

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Bathyj - 922 days 3 hours ago

Well Australia can kiss this game goodbye then. They released the 1st one briefly and then banned it once someone had time to complain which is how our arsebackward ratings board the OFLC works. I swear the God if EB games calls me and says my copy of Manhunt 2 is in, I'll be there 2 minutes later, get a PS2 and Wii version and run out the shop before they change their minds.

If you want to find something really disturbing go to a book shop, or worse yet have you heard of this thing called "The Internet?" Stop trying to do our thinking for us and let adults buy whatever games they like. There was a time A Clockwork Orange was banned for 20 years in this country, deemed to violent and now I can get it at Kmart. Those same pompus wankers probably cheer it now as one of Kubrics best insightful masterpieces.

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Havince - 922 days 3 hours ago

as i was gonna download it on psp

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Odiah - 922 days 3 hours ago

Nooooooooooo!

That was the only game I was looking forward to this Summer!

I already pre-ordered it aswell :(

Looks like I may have to spend Summer..... outside.

*Shudder*

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monoknacker - 922 days 3 hours ago

Actually i think the media sensationalised that story and it was the guy that stabbed was actually the manhunt fan not the other way around.

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consolecrusader - 922 days 3 hours ago

no matter what violent game comse out it will be shuned by any politician or anti-gaming group. Look at Don Imus? It took 2 activist to bar him from radio...

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sandip787 - 922 days 3 hours ago

WHATTTTT!!!! OMG I F***ING HATE THE UK WAY OF DOING THINGS. HONESTLY THIS HAS REALLY TICKED ME OFF, I WAS REALLY LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS GAME!!
people may think im over reacting, but this game is insanely good. man what the hell are games age ratings for?! if you dont want kids playing it, enforce tighter restrictions on retail outlets etc!!
does anyone know if i import the game fromm usa, will it work on a PAL ps3?
i might actually write a letter to these ingrates.

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marcellizot - 922 days 3 hours ago

Just so you know, A Clockwork Orange was banned at Kubriks request and only re-released after his death.

Also I have to say I am far from pro-censorship but to universally damn this sort of decision without knowing specifically what content is included in the game, merely propagates the notion that games players
are unthinking brutes who wouldn't know a moral boundary if it killed and maimed their family.

I personally have no problem with violent games and enjoy the likes of GTA but I do think that there is a serious difference between a genuinely worthwhile piece of work that has something to say and pure titillation.

Porn is strictly controlled in the UK with specific things banned from unlicensed commercial sale, and very few complain. As soon as it is videogames that are in the firing line the players start yelping like wounded animals whose rights have been trampled on which comes over as a slightly thoughtless knee-jerk reaction.

If we are to avoid needless censorship then we the gaming community need to be very careful when speaking out against it if we are to be taken seriously. I wouldn’t condone any racial prejudice or the glorification of rape in games and there are several other acts which although not as clearly defined as these fall into a similar category and without an appropriate context, serve no function in the arts but to denigrate whichever media form they are a part of.

I for one don’t want the hypersensitive game hating media to lay claim to any more ammo than they already do, and Manhunt 2 looks like it could have been a very useful argument for them and in that case we are better off without it (in its current form anyway).

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codeazrael - 922 days 2 hours ago

Bottomline, however tasteless Manhunt may be to some people, as a free person I demand the right to make my own decision to play the game or not. I think American Idol is tasteless, I think Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Britney Spears are tasteless. Their actions influence young girls everywhere to do drugs, dress like a whore, try things that little girls shouldnt even be thinking about trying as an adult, let alone a teeny bopper. So why arent the Brits banning people from viewing this useless garbage? When I legally became an adult, my rights as far as what I can do passed from my parents to me, and I will decide what I will and won't do as an adult. Manhunt is only news to give certain politicians and special interest groups "purpose" and don't get me wrong, Manhunt one was garbage to me, but you know what they say, one man's garbage is another man's treasure.

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mcintosh233 - 922 days 2 hours ago

i may import just to piss them off

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paul_war - 922 days 2 hours ago

Its called import from Ireland. Its Pal & English!

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Rooted_Dust - 922 days 2 hours ago

It's not even the UK anymore, it's the British section of the European Union. Goodbye Uk...hello Police State.

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marcellizot - 922 days 2 hours ago

As stated I don't condone censorship and I do believe that adults should be entitled to make their own choices on these sorts of things.

I don't condone the banning of Manhunt 2 outright, but I don't see it as necessarily a bad thing in light of how little it would bring to videogames besides a big dumb smile on the faces of mysoginistic teens who, let's face it, are the most likely audience for this game in spite of whatever rating it might have got were it to be granted a release.

I agree with your comments about Linsay Lohan and Paris Hilton, I think society has become tremendously skewed and to hold these horrible people up as idols is offensive and potentially harmful. However as they say, two wrongs don't make a right.

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nice_cuppa - 922 days 2 hours ago

the hot coffee thing isnt even a slight problem here.

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deep - 922 days 2 hours ago

Disgusting. Manhunt was one of the best games I played....this is a huge failing, since was an intelligent attack on the state of entertainment, and the lengths it goesforit'sbig brother reality TV show movements.

Plus, it's one of the only games that makes you feel strange when you're killing another...something that other games do not even come close to approaching...just kill kill kill.

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ITR - 922 days ago

Note to self...buy MH2 for Wii before some asshat tries to ban it in the US.

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marcellizot - 922 days ago

The thing is Politicians didn't ban this game, politicians haven't even been anywhere near it yet (in the UK anyway).

It was the BBFC, the BBFC is a ratings board completely seperate from the European games specific ratings board ELSPA, and usually deals with rating films. If however a game is suitably extreme the developers can choose to voluntarily submit it (as an aside all games ratings are not compulsory, they are volunteered by the developers out of good will, though some shops may refuse to stock games that have not been certified by a recognised body) to the BBFC to obtain a more severe rating.

The fact that the game was even in the hands of the BBFC shows that Rockstar themselves were concerned about whether their game would pass the ELSPA ratings and so took the initiative to secure a water tight rating that nobody would be in a position to complain about.

Unfortunately this has backfired and it looks as though Manhunt 2 must contain some truly gruesome content. If you have a look at some of the things that tend to be banned from games it is things of a sexually violent nature, I am not sure but I am sure I read somewhere that Destroy all Humans 2 had some sort sexually suggestive scene coupled with violence removed by the ratings boards before it hit the shelves.

I am not saying that this is definately the nature of the content that casued the BBFC to reject Manhunt 2(and if it is they were kind to spare Rockstar a media hellstorm by failing to cite it in the reasons for the game's rejection) but I would guess it wasn't simply because the game involves arbitrary slaughter.

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marcellizot - 921 days 22 hours ago

Erm, not sure if you are 100 per cent accurate there. BBFC ratings are not compulsory for all games (only those containing certain content) neither are they even terribly common (although more and more games are rated by them these days).

Games in Europe are typically rated by ELSPA (except in Germany where the much more stricet independant USK does the business)which again is voluntary on the part of the publisher. As you correctly stated, the voluntary aspect is pretty much moot as very few retialers (if any) will stock content that has not been regualted by a recognised rating authority.

You are correct about the BBFC having close ties to the government but it is still an independant body and as stated before is not a compulsory visit for games publishers (unless the content falls under the Act that the BBFC upholds). ELSPA may often reccomend that games be sent to the BBFC for further clasification or the publishers themselves may submit of their own accord.

Typically submissions are taped and viewed rather than played (as crazy as that sounds) which shows the lengths to which the BBFC went to scrutinize Manhunt 2 thoroughly.

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codeazrael - 921 days 16 hours ago

I may just go ahead and buy a ps2 and buy this game and god of war II. I know they have to be dirt cheap by now.

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codeazrael - 921 days 16 hours ago

Really, there needs to be an attack on this ignorant crap you see on tv everyday to dumb down everybody to the point of retardation.

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