The Manhunt 2 mess

A bit aside from my planned entry today (the Angels/Demons extract will come next week, don’t worry) – really just wanted to focus on the whole Manhunt 2 ban issue/debate that’s managed to span across the mainstream press this week.

I’ve written a column over at Wii Chat regarding it:

‘I didn’t want to write about this.

But the topic seems to have blown up to epic proportions, and it would seem a little churlish to avoid it.

So, the Manhunt 2 ban. Good lord, what an unholy mess. While I’ve seen games come and go, hit over the head with the ‘ban-stick’ across numerous territories and generations, I can’t remember a time where things have turned into a total landslide of chaos as we’ve witnessed with Rockstar’s super violent action thriller.

For those who’ve been sleeping soundly under a very large rock the past week, let’s quickly review what happened. First, Manhunt 2 gets banned in the U.K for both Wii and PlayStation2 (bizarrely, no mention was made of the PlayStation Portable version).

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) rejected the game for release after going through its content and deciding it crossed a moral line via its “unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing”. In other words, it showed ‘immoral behaviour’ that, while fitting within the game’s story and established tone, was relentless and more than likely beyond what the medium has asked a player to actively participate in before. True to the first Manhunt, then, it would seem…’

You can read the rest here: http://www.wiichat.com/nintendo-wii-articles/30606-manhunt-2-ban-explained.html