The Most Controversial Game You’re About To Hear About
It’s now official. For the first time that I can remember, a mainstream video game-- Manhunt 2, from Rockstar Games of Grand Theft Auto fame--is going to receive the dreaded AO (Adults Only) rating from the U.S. ESRB and it will be banned from sale in the U.K.
More surprising, it’s the Nintendo Wii version that’s causing the controversy.
To catch you up to speed, Manhunt 2 is the sequel to the moderately-received Playstation 2 game in which you were basically living out a variation of the “classic” movie Running Man. You’re being hunted, and you have to kill all of your hunters in order to survive.
Manhunt 2 continues the basic concept but with one major difference (on the Wii at least): gesture based control. So instead of pushing the right analog stick forward and pressing “X” to slit someone’s throat. You’ll act out the maneuver with your Wii-mote and Nunchuk.
As the game’s critics argue, that’s about as close to a murder simulation as you could get right now. So rating the game AO makes sense.
But is that enough reason for an actual ban in the U.K. and an ostensible ban in the U.S.? (An AO rating guarantees that major retailers like Target, Wal-Mart and BestBuy will NOT carry it.)
I don’t know.
I'm never a fan of censorship.
But, on the other hand, I think the idea of the game is reprehensible. And if this story, with it’s significant censorship implications, gets picked up by the mainstream media (which I’m confident it will) I’d be willing to bet it will goose the game’s sales.
The original Manhunt only sold "okay." And this game would have been similarly forgotten... but now it’s been granted an immortal spot in video game lore.
Or it least, I believe soon it will.
posted by M S Martinez at 6/19/2007 04:10:00 PM
5 Comments:
I don't really have a problem with the rating. The game will be readily available to anyone who wants it, (provided they're over 18 I guess). I'm sure you'll be able to buy online or at specialty game shops right?
Most likely. A store like Amazon.com may carry it. And then the evil EB Games/Gamestop corporation may carry it... but they may not, as they are publicly traded.
Honestly, though, I don't know that there are many options for selling the game. The AO rating is essentially the same as an NC-17, but since it's so rare there isn't really the equivalent of theaters like the Tower to sell games like these.
i see what you're saying, but people still manage to get porn in utah. even the real freaky stuff.
movies make money by selling tickets, if a theater won't show a movie the movie suffers. games aren't really the same way, they make money by selling copies.
i think your initial assessment is right on, the game will probably sell more copies b/c of any press surrounding the rating.
oh, and before i forget,
"Lights out, Christmas Tree."
um. i imagine the game would sell better if it was simply 'm'.
so how is this any different than any shooting game ever with a simulated fire-arm? or resident evil 4 for the wii where you make slashing motions with your knife? is every violent game for the wii automatically going to get bumped up to an 'ao' because of its control set-up?
all violence in this country can be traced back to duck hunt.
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