The parents of Britain's most violent teenager has spilled to News of the world that the computer game Manhunt turned their son into a killer. The killer was supposedly a 'quiet and reserved' boy with a 'promising future' but every night he'd turn into some kind of twisted murderer as he used Manhunt to practice his potential murders. His mom claims that he never did anything to make her worry in the past and implies that his casual Playstation addiction was the sole cause for the murders that her twisted killer of a son conducted.
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Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick has said that the firm is "evaluating its options" regarding the release of the "adults only" rated Manhunt 2. "We're determined to bring Manhunt 2 to the consumers for which it was intended, and to do so in a responsible fashion," he stated during a conference call today. Zelnick also questioned the point of having an "adults only" rating when it effectively bars a console game from release. The Entertainment Software Rating Board recently gave the game an ... » Read More

Recently delayed Manhunt 2 for the Wii and PS2 will have multiple endings that are determined by the player's choices.

More details provided by Kotaku.
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In the midst of the Manhunt 2 rating fiasco, Take-Two management questioned the point of having an "adults only" rating when it effectively bars a console game from release.

During a conference call today, Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick said that the firm is "evaluating its options" regarding the release of the "adults only" rated Manhunt 2.

"We're determined to bring Manhunt 2 to the consumers for which it was intended, and to do so in a responsible fashion," he stated.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board recently gave the game an "AO" rating because of intense violence. Many large retailers don't carry games with an AO rating, and console manufacturers don't allow such rated games on their machines.
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America could learn a thing or two from the UK's games rating system, according to US attorney and notorious industry agitator Jack Thompson.

In the wake of controversy incited by Manhunt 2's violent content and the UK's banning of the game, Thompson has praised the BBFC's stance and the system by which games are classified in Britain.

"The UK does it much better than the US, which rates a game that's inappropriate for minors and then sells it to them," he told MCV. "I think the UK has got it right. You rate a game and you can't sell it to people if it falls in a certain category ¿ the rating actually has a sanction, whereas in the US the rating means nothing."
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Despite being banned in the UK, our sister mag from across the Atlantic, NGamer, had the exclusive Wii review for Manhunt 2. We may never get to experience the game that they played now that Rockstars gone back to the drawing board. However, when perusing the tip book that comes packed with NGamer, we came upon a little nugget of information regarding not only alternate endings, but completely different final levels depending on how you played the game. “The final level you see depends ... » Read More

Roger Bennett is sorely missed. The ex-director general of UK games regulator ELSPA has come out strongly in favour of Rockstar over the BBFC in the case of the recent Manhunt 2 ban, while strongly criticising ELSPA's decision to quickly jump to the support of the censors.
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Rockstar Games has sent out an email to the Manhunt community, thanking it for all its messages of support over the ban. The email also says that Rockstar hopes to have more information on the status of the ban soon. As we revealed last week, Rockstar is appealing the decision. "We wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to contact us about Manhunt 2, which we had been planning to release on PlayStation 2, PSP and Nintendo Wii," says the email. "As you know, Manhunt 2 was effectively ... » Read More

The Rockstar team have been sending out an e-mail of thanks to all those gamers who offered support to them over the controversial Manhunt 2 games title. The e-mail states that the team hopes to have more information on the status of the game soon but overall thanks the gaming community for messages of support.
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Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime has spoken out for the first time on the controversy surrounding Rockstar title Manhunt 2.

Speaking to Newsweek Fils-Aime said, "This is not an image issue. Wii welcomes games rated E, T and M. We haven't approved AO-rated games. I doubt we ever will."

According to Fils-Aime, Manhunt 2 is "a game rated outside our spectrum, outside any manufacturer's spectrum".
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Tuesday 27 June 2007 Before it was banned, Manhunt 2 was one of the most exciting titles to feature on the PS2, PSP and Wii release schedules. Now, after receiving a right royal battering by the 'we know best' boots of the censors, no one - and that means no one - will ever be able to play it. And we think that's a real bummer. Could we - as gamers - ever get it un-banned? Well, there might just be a way... Strewn around the internet are numerous petitions all fighting for a common cause - to ... » Read More

Never mind being under fire, Rockstar has had to endure a media carpet bombing this week (if you haven't been paying attention, you can catch up with the entire Manhunt 2 saga here) and now the publisher/developer has announced the postponement of Manhunt 2 's release while it considers how best to proceed in the light of the decisions made by the BBFC and ESRB. We're sure there are plenty more twists in the tale to come, though... To help keep you up to date with the story as it continues to ... » Read More

Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter believes that modifying Manhunt 2 so it would receive a lower rating (or at least get a rating in the UK) could cost Take-Two anywhere in the region of $1 million. Last week Take-Two temporarily suspended its plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for both Wii and PlayStation 2. The company said, "Take-Two Interactive Software has temporarily suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for the Wii or PlayStation platforms while it reviews its options with ... » Read More

Financial analysts are certainly having a field day with Manhunt 2, with its recent banning and all. They've tried to predict what Take-Two will do regarding their ultra-violent title, they've guessed as to why the publishing firm is getting all this bad rap - and now, they're saying that Manhunt 2's suspension could actually end up boosting the game's sales.
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NIMF appears to be quite happy with the news."Take-Two's decision to temporarily suspend distribution of Manhunt 2 is a victory for parents and children," the statement reads. "Because of the their thoughtful decision to give Manhunt 2 its strongest rating, 'Adults Only,' the ESRB has sent a strong message to Take-Two and other game makers that they no longer can push the envelope on gratuitous violence in videogames. The ESRB showed real leadership in assigning this rating and further evidence it is making significant progress in keeping extremely violent and graphic materials out of children's hands."
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By now everybody in the world has probably heard about the Manhunt 2 ban. The BBFC has refused to rate it in the UK and the game's been given an Adults Only rating in the US, meaning Sony and Nintendo won't go anywhere near it.

Of its decision the BBFC said, "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." Basically you don't do anything apart from killing people all the time.
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Take2 has suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 on the three platforms it was due to be released on following the BBFC ban in the UK and the Adults Only rating it received in the US. Of its decision the BBFC said, "Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end videogames by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing." Basically you don't do anything apart ... » Read More

Rockstar/Take 2 has recently hit a snag with the various ratings boards regarding their upcoming game Manhunt 2, sequel to their 2003 game which was surprisingly named Manhunt. The ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board for the one of you that didn't know) has given the game the retail death sentence rating of AO, or Adults Only. I say retail death sentence because that means just about any large retailer either will (or has already) cave under public pressure to not carry and support such sexual/violent/explicit material that many see squarely aimed at teens and children.

How bad is Manhunt 2? It's bad enough that one scene was described as a rape and decapitation of a woman where the man then attempted simulated sexual intercourse with her bloody "neckhole". That's pretty bad on multiple accounts.
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"Take-Two Interactive Software has temporarily suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for the Wii or PlayStation platforms while it reviews its options with regard to the recent decisions made by the British Board of Film Classification and Entertainment Software Rating Board," a representative told GameSpot. "We continue to stand behind this extraordinary game. We believe in freedom of creative expression, as well as responsible marketing, both of which are essential to our business of making great entertainment."
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Manhunt 2's 'Adult Only' rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board in the United States has seen all three platform holders ¿ Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft ¿ stating that games with this certification will not be published on their hardware.

Does this mean that the game will never see the light of day?

What happens to an AO'd game in this case? SPOnG looked back into history all the way to 1998 and Virgin Interactive's Thrill Kill.

As you can see from the packshot to the right of this story, Thrill Kill was given an AO rating. However, it never got close to release as Electronic Arts acquired the property as part of its purchase of Virgin ¿ and pulled it from release on the PlayStation.
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