Not since 1997's Carmageddon has a game been banned from being sold in the UK. Well now we can add another to the list, Rockstar's Manhunt 2. It would seem the game has been deemed to violent and depraved to be saved by cuts or changes and would really be a blight on society if released. To me, I prefer to let grown adults make a decision for themselves about whether or not they'd like to purchase and play the game, but I guess that's me.

Kotaku thinks this momentum will carry over to bans in Germany and Austrailia as well, and I have to say I agree. Germany has already skittish of violent games (Dead Rising) and this decision in the UK could have ripple effects everywhere. I'm quite sure there's some people here in the States that are downright eurphoric this morning with all the new ammunition they just got in their anti-games crusade.

The British Board of Film Classification's director David Cooke released a statement explaining the decision, and while I wholly disagree with the banning of anything, I give them credit for playing the game throughly and even reading the script before making a decision. Quite a difference than the people so eager who just want to see games be made illegal. Full statement after the jump.

"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 (2)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment