Rockstar Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, has filed an appeal with the Video Appeals Committee to bring back Manhunt 2 after it was banned in the U.K. by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).

The BBFC had not banned any video games in the prior 10 years to Manhunt 2, citing it as “disturbingly-violent” and stating that there is a “sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.”

“Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly,” BBFC director David Cooke stated. “Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board’s published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible.”

The last video game to be banned in the U.K., Carmageddon, in 1997, was also appealed to the Video Appeals Committee with a successful overturn of the BBFC’s ban.

The original Manhunt game received a classification of ‘18′; however, the BBFC said Manhunt 2’s predecessor was on the line of not even being acceptable for adults.

“Although the difference should not be exaggerated the fact of 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.”

Cooke stated that releasing Manhunt 2 would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks to adults. Apparently, the BBFC feels that they must govern the content that is exposed to U.K. adults.

Sue Clark, BBFC’s press officer stated that the appeal will be a long, drawn out legal battle that will last well into the future. The Manhunt 2 appeal is the 20th appeal to the Video Appeals Committee since 1984.

Sue added that nearly 50% of all appeals are successful, but past appeals have been centered around pornographic videos and not “disturbingly-violent” video games.

MCV, who first learned of the news, said the chairman of the Video Appeals Committee, John Woods, will ultimately decide the fate of Manhunt 2 in the U.K.

Manhunt 2 has not been released in the U.S., as the ESRB has given the game a rating of adults only (AO). This would be acceptable in the U.S., except that Sony and Nintendo will not allow AO games to be released for their consoles.

The ESRB noted that Rockstar has the option to appeal, or change the content of the game and resubmit it for a mature (M) rating; either way, we probably won’t be getting our hands on the good version of Manhunt 2.

Now may be the ideal time for Rockstar to contact Microsoft about releasing  Manhunt 2 for the Xbox 360. Should Sony and Nintendo really care if you have to be 18 instead of 17 to purchase a video game?

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 at 2:35 pm under Uncategorized.

Read more entries by George Gardner.
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