Manhunt 2 Banned

BBFC refuses to classify Manhunt 2 and makes it illegal to supply the game in the UK

Manhunt 2 on Wii and PlayStation 2 has been banned after the British Board of Film Classification refused to give the game a rating due to its "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone... which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing".

Speaking about the ban, BBFC director David Cooke director said that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2 "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".

He went on to explain that it was a decision that hadn't been taken lightly and normally the board would "try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material that contravenes the BBFC's guidelines." However, because the violent themes run so deeply throughout the game the BBFC couldn't recommend cuts that would allow Manhunt 2 a UK release, although Rockstar does have the right to appeal against the decision.

Cooke 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. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

The ban may come as a suprises to some, considering the original Manhunt game - which courted much controversy and also featured violent themes and brutal killings - was given an 18 certificate by the BBFC in 2003. However, David Cooke said that the sequel couldn't be viewed in the same context. "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," he explained.

Carmaggedon is the only other videogame to be refused classification by the BBFC. The ban was overturned in 1997 after publisher SCi and developer Stainless Games appealed against the decision and the humans - which you ran over in the game - were replaced with zombies to make the experience less visceral and offensive.

IGN

Is this a righteous censorship? Should we be able to make our own minds up? Or are the powers that be correct with this bannedz0rzering?

I personally didn't care for manhunt, thought it was an average game with a few neat gimmicks, and i wouldn't have got number 2 anyway. But what about youse guys'. The peeps that did enjoy the first? Are you mega angreh because the n00bs at censorship say, "YOU NO CAN PLAY", or do you just not care? The debate rages on...

I was really into Manhunt & stealth games in general when the first one was out, with the lights off and the surround sound going it was super creepy & fun in a haunted-house kind of way. I'd be mad if I wasn't allowed to buy the 2cd chapter. There's no way it could be worse than condemned- criminal origins in it's "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone... which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing" and I don't believe that was banned on your side of the pond.

That is utter boll0cks. Why not just ban blood altogether while we're at it?

This ban isn't going to stop people smuggling it in, either. If it's banned for the other consoles, then I will get it imported.

Take that BBFC

I AM AN ANTI-CHRIST
I AM AN AN-AR-CHYST
etc

This really is bullpoo

I want to buy Manhunt 1 because i haven't played that yet lol

i downloaded manhunt one - its kl - shame manhunt 2 is banned

It's banned from the Irish now too..

That was very smart thinking if you get me..

Why do the media always try and blame other aspects of media for violence. Really it is pathetic. I mean, for someone to go out and kill someone with an industrial stapler you have to be pretty sick in the head in the first place. Another case of the goverment blaming gaming for peoples violence

Films are just as bad as games..

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That is utter boll0cks. Why not just ban blood altogether while we're at it?

This ban isn't going to stop people smuggling it in, either. If it's banned for the other consoles, then I will get it imported.

Take that BBFC

I AM AN ANTI-CHRIST
I AM AN AN-AR-CHYST
etc

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CHOON


RIGHT

NOW

hahahahahaha

CAUSE IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

WANNA BEEEEEEEEA

ANAR-KEY

NO dogsbody

OR JUSSSST

ANOTHERRR

CUNT-ry

--Post edited on 19/06/2007 23:16:54

is this the one that apparently featured or recreated ctv footage of jamie bulgers abduction?

If so thats bang out of order and deservedly banned.

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Films are just as bad as games..

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Agreed

Might email this arguement to the BBFC, to show what fudging ret*rds they are.

Thankfully, Wii is region free, so if I want it, i'll just import.

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is this the one that apparently featured or recreated ctv footage of jamie bulgers abduction?

If so thats bang out of order and deservedly banned.

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manhunt 2 doesn't feature cctv footage of jamie bulgers abduction.

law and order double or nothing features a picture of jamie bulgers abduction taken from cctv footage of his abduction.

from the daily mail website which frequently bashes videogames.

A computer game which appears to show a CCTV image of murdered Liverpool toddler James Bulger being abducted has been withdrawn from sale
James's mother has attacked the game after it used the haunting image of her son.
Denise Fergus yesterday called for a boycott of the game over the "vile" use of the picture, which shows the two-year-old being led away to his death.
She called on shops to stop selling the game, which is called Law And Order: Double Or Nothing.

The infamous still photo shows James being abducted by his ten-year-old killers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, from a Liverpool shopping centre in February 1993.

It is used as a visual clue in the game - which is based on the Channel Five television series of the same name - which asks players to help solve a murder in New York.
A fictional detective refers to the image of James, which is pinned on an office wall, when asking gamers to investigate a kidnapping.

Speaking from her home in Kirkby, Merseyside, 37-year-old Mrs Fergus said: "Using that terrible picture of James as part of a game is sick.

"To know that he has been turned into a clue in a game makes me very angry.

"The people who made this game have treated James as though he is public property. It is like they think he is some kind of fictional figure.

"It dehumanises the memory of my lovely son. I want it stopped immediately.

"What on earth they are thinking of when they do this beggars belief.
"I don't want to stir up more interest in it and I wouldn't waste my breath on it if I did not have to.

"But I can't risk ignoring it for fear that the game makers will think I don't care and somehow take that as approval for the vile thing they have done.

"It is bad enough that books and plays have been written around James's murder but to use him in a game is below contempt.

"It is hurtful to me and my family and I am determined to do everything in my power to get the picture of James taken out of this game.

"All copies in the shops should be scrapped and I would appeal to anyone who has got the game to destroy it or demand a refund."

Thompson and Venables, both then aged ten, lured James away from his mother while she was shopping in the New Strand Shopping Centre in Bootle in February 1993.

They dragged the toddler two miles through the streets to a railway line where they sexually assaulted, tortured, and battered him with an iron bar and bricks. He died on the track, before his body was struck by a train. The killers spent almost eight years in jail but were released with new identities after winning early parole in June 2001.

Retired Detective Chief Superintendent Albert Kirby led the investigation into James's murder and allowed the CCTV images to be released to help police catch his killers.

He said that the picture should be removed from the game immediately.

"It is thoughtless, inconsiderate and lacks any form of decency to choose to use such emotive images in a game," he added.

"This was a horrendous crime that appalled not just the people of Merseyside but the whole of the UK.

"I would appeal for the game makers to save any further distress to Mrs Fergus and her family by withdrawing the images immediately"

Robert Wareing, Labour MP for Liverpool West Derby, also backed calls for the game to be scrapped.
"Why anyone would seek to use images of James's terrible abduction as part of a moneyspinning computer game is beyond me," he added.

"They are thoughtless and clearly couldn't give a damn about the family of the victim of what was a horrific crime."

The game's manufacturer, Global Software, was unavailable for comment.




--Post edited on 20/06/2007 14:50:58

oh right ok, law and order deserves to be banned then (and rightly so) manhunt is fine...

its look like rockstar r going 2 have to cut it as nintendo & sony don't let AO (usa rating) be on there consoles

Yeh. meaning it isn't going to come out in the US either..

It will, but not as it is now. Rockstar are gonna have to edit the game (a lot) and bring it down to an M rating. That's the US.

In this country, they have 6 weeks to appeal the classification board's decision to ban. It may be overturned if they agree to edit a bunch of the game (less gore, less sickening kills, etc).

Either way, i bet rockstar are wicked-p!ssed as this will be a huge financial loss to them. Ahh well, there's always GTA4.

Not happy about that comment made by Tomstoon ^^^
Discrimination to Irish people, my Grandad was Irish and a smart man he fought in the war for Britain, and then retired as a managing consultant at a Mental Hospital

--Post edited on 21/06/2007 15:56:25

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Not happy about that comment made by Tomstoon ^^^
Discrimination to Irish people, my Grandad was Irish and a smart man he fought in the war for Britain, and then retired as a managing consultant at a Mental Hospital

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