Alone among major video game retailers, Minneapolis-based Target has decided to stop selling the controversial Manhunt 2.

Local Minneapolis TV station WCCO covers the decision in this report. A Target press release, cited in WCCO's coverage, says:

"While 'Manhunt 2' was given a 'Mature' rating by the ERSB, we received additional information that players can potentially view previously filtered content by altering the game code. As a result, we have decided not to carry the game."

The station also spoke with Matt Helgeson, senior editor of Game Informer, also based in Minneapolis:

"It is not a game for kids, it is very much a game for adults. And any adult thinking about buying the game for their kids should really reconsider that. I would say there are probably ten movies I could walk in right now and buy in Target that are every bit as gory as 'Manhunt,' if not more..."
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A Nintendo fan site is reporting that an electronics specialist at Target has confirmed that Manhunt 2 is being removed from all of the retailers locations. Moreover, the journalist made a check at his local Target store and found that there was not a single PS2 or PSP copy of the game to be found.
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Evil Avatar is reporting that local Target stores have been pulling Manhunt 2 off their store shelves in response to the recent events where some hackers uncovered adult content within the game.

Even though the ESRB themselves remained firm with the game's M rating, it looks like Target is taking no chances and is removing the game from its stores.

According to the source, all Target managers are required to stop selling the game, including refusing shipments of the game for all systems. Also Take-Two agreed to take back all unopened copies of the game.
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Nov 2, 2007 As most everyone on the planet has heard by now, Grand Theft Auto publishers Rockstar made a game called Manhunt 2 that was so gory, they could only get it on store shelves by covering up all the nasty bits. But enterprising hackers have broken into Manhunt 2 and removed the visual filters that covered up all of that nasty stuff. And luckily for us, they're sharing. We've found a nice, long, completely uncensored version of the video lurking about the interweb's nether regions, so ... » Read More

ESRB president Patricia Vance just held a short conference call to address the growing furor surrounding the discovery that the unfiltered, Adults Only version of Manhunt 2 is fully playable on the Playstation Portable with the help of a hack.

In a nutshell, Vance said what happened with Manhunt 2 was not at all similar with what happened with Grand Theft Auto San Andreas' Hot Coffee.

"With Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, that involved a scene that was fully rendered in unmodified content on the disc," she said. "It didn't alter the content it merely unlocked it. That content was not disclosed to the ESRB... and it was easily accessible to PC users."
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California Senator Leland Yee has chimed in on the latest chapter in the Manhunt 2 flap, saying in a statement that "The ESRB and Rockstar continuously put profits before children." Yee, an advocate of legislation that would make selling violent games to minors a crime, went on to recommend that the game's original AO rating be restored, and that the Federal Trade Commission should investigate both Rockstar and the ESRB to see how the whole thing happened in the first place.
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A still-critical, but seemingly more reasoned, version of Dr. Phil made an appearance yesterday on CBS morning program The Early Show to discuss Manhunt 2.

Watching as game journalist Scott Steinberg played the "Sexual Deviance" level of Manhunt 2 on the Wii, Dr. Phil commented:

Clearly, it's not good. The research has been very, very strong over the years that when you're exposed to violence and when you actually mimic something like this the aggression can go up.

Now the truth is, if somebody plays this game and then they go and do this in their life, there was something seriously wrong with them before they got the game. But it's modeling.
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The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) condemned Rockstar Games' Manhunt 2 on Thursday, claiming the game is a "irresponsible, stereotyped portrayal of people with mental illnesses."
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Since late yesterday GamePolitics has been following a rumor that hackers had discovered a means to reveal the original, unedited content of Manhunt 2. In other words, the version rated "Adults Only" by the ESRB.

Now GamePolitics has the confirmation from a Take Two representative that it's not a rumor. It's true.

According to Take Two, the hack does not reveal the entire AO-rated version of the game, only a portion thereof.
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Following the debut of Rockstar's Manhunt 2, a former producer at Rockstar Vienna, which developed the game from 2004 to mid-2006, has spoken out as "disappointed and outraged" regarding the game's credits, which do not reference the contributions from over 50 staff at the now-closed studio.
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Nov 1, 2007 PSP hackers have discovered a way to get around Rockstar's self-censorship of Manhunt 2 and enjoy the game "the way it was intended", using illegal software to edit the game's code. It's not a simple task though. To make it work hackers are using a digitally pirated (and therefore illegal) PSP copy of Manhunt 2, PSP hacking programs and more than a little ability in reading and editing code. But, then, Hot Coffee wasn't exactly plug-'n'-play ... » Read More

This week's edition of the regular Critical Reception column examines online reaction to Manhunt 2, Rockstar's controversial stealth-action sequel that critics say is "every bit as grim and brutal as the first," though some may find it "not nearly as memorable or enjoyable."

Manhunt 2 finally saw U.S. release earlier this week, having previously being delayed due to its violent content. This violence was determined to be explicit enough to warrant an AO rating by the ESRB, making the title unreleasable on all major platforms and unsellable at several retailers. After seeing a number of required changes in order to reduce its ESRB rating to an M, the Nintendo Wii version of Manhunt 2 arrives on store shelves to a Metacritic-averaged score of 70 out of 100...

With such a large divide between review scores, it's debatable as to whether Manhunt 2 will appeal even to fans of the original title. Critics note that its inconsistent gameplay and censored content might be an immediate turnoff for many interested players. However, other reviewers feel that the experience is decent enough to warrant a playthrough, and if its shortcomings can be forgiven, Manhunt 2 could be a worthwhile purchase.
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Child advocates are urging parents not to buy "Manhunt 2," a video game whose characters kill and torture using implements ranging from glass and shovels to a fuse box and a toilet. The title goes on sale Wednesday -- Halloween -- rated "mature," appropriate for people 17 and up, for about $28. In the first-person killer fantasy, the players take on the role of a man escaping from an insane asylum.
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As the Manhunt 2 launch draws near, the hurly-burly over the controversial game shifts to San Francisco where watchdog group Common Sense Media will hold a 10AM press conference at City Hall.

On Friday GamePolitics reported that the organization was urging parents to boycott Manhunt 2. The game is scheduled to arrive in stores tomorrow.

There was a bit of an oops in CSM's Manhunt 2 bashing, however, as GP's Friday coverage pointed out. At least one gory scene detailed by the group - that of a police officer being decapitated by a shovel - apparently came from an early build of Manhunt 2 which was leaked online by an SCEE employee in September. A Rockstar press representative told GP the scene did not appear in the M-rated retail version of the game.

At today's press conference in San Francisco, CSM will be showing video clips from the leaked version. From the CSM press release:

Common Sense downloaded a version of the game that is available online, and will be showing illustrative clips of that version to the press a day before the official title is scheduled to hit stores on Wednesday.

GP asked CSM if the location of the press conference at City Hall indicated that the San Francisco government was somehow getting involved, but a CSM representative nixed the idea. However, another source told GamePolitics that SF Mayor Gavin Newsome's press secretary is a former Common Sense Media employee.
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Jeronimo Barrera, Rockstar's vice president of product development, has stated that Manhunt 2 wasn't neutered in order to receive a revised rating and secure a US release.

The controversial game, which went on sale on Tuesday in the US for Wii, PS2 and PSP, was initially given an Adults-Only rating by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB), effectively barring it from release on Sony and Nintendo platforms, and blocked from sale in the UK after the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) failed to grant the game a rating due to its "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone."

In Manhunt 2 the player assumes the role of Daniel Lamb, a tortured man who wakes up to find himself in a mental institution he must escape. What follows is a murder spree using weapons including guns, plastic bags and shovels, in locations such as graveyards and red-light districts.

While a revised version of the title was granted an M for Mature rating (17+), Barrera told MTV that the company's artistic vision wasn't compromised by the revisions, and insisted there was more to talk about than just the violence in the horror title.
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The title that was banned by the BBFC hits US retail today.

For the time being there seems little chance of Rockstar's Manhunt 2 arriving in the UK, but US gamers will from today be able to purchase the controversial title in games stores following its official release.

After initially being granted a restrictive Adults Only rating by North American trade body ESRB, the title was instead given a more lenient Mature certificate on appeal, meaning it will be widely available to the public.

In the UK, however, the same version that hits US retail today was denied a release by British body the BBFC.
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GamePolitics writes: "Not suprisingly, watchdog groups are weighing in on Manhunt 2 as the game's Halloween launch draws near.

San Jose Mercury-News scribe Mike Antonucci reports that Common Sense Media has issued a press release urging parents to boycott the game. Not bad advice, actually, since no one under the age of 17 should be playing Manhunt 2, anyway".
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Oct 25, 2007 Rockstar's Manhunt 2 could release in the UK, but as a digital download, it's emerged. It's all to do with a legal loophole in the UK's 1984 Video Recordings Act, which only covers physical products. An age-certification rating is apparently not required for online digital ... » Read More

Oct 25, 2007 We're still waiting to discover if the BBFC will ever allow Manhunt 2 to be released in the UK, but our lucky (or unlucky?) American bretheren can indulge in Rockstar's murderous romp this Halloween. Which is why this new trailer is doing the rounds. Feeling ill yet? No doubt Rockstar is working on a way to release Manhunt 2 in Europe, but until it announces its plans, or the BBFC relents in its refusal to offer a certificate, we'll all just have to watch on with interest as ... » Read More

Oct 22, 2007 Rockstar parent Take Two Interactive has released a statement concerning the recent leakage of Manhunt 2 to the internet. Back in early September we reported that a version of Manhunt was cracked by hackers and leaked to the internet. Question was, where did it come from? Seems like Sony was to blame and not ... » Read More