Despite calls from the Parents Television Council and California State Senator Leland Yee for the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB)to revert to the rating of Manhunt 2 to its original ‘AO’ rating because hackers have unlocked the uncensored version of the game, ESRB has stated that it will not revoked the game’s ‘M’ rating.

The ESRB has investigated the matter and confirmed the existence of unauthorized versions of the game on the Internet.

“Once numerous changes to the game’s code have been made and other unauthorized software programs have been downloaded to the hardware device which circumvents security controls that prevent unauthorized games from being played on that hardware, a player can view unobscured versions of certain violent acts in the game.”

ESRB President Patricia Vance in a conference call with reporters, said that “Contrary to some reports, however, we do not believe these modifications fully restore the product to the version that originally received an AO rating, nor is this a matter of unlocking content.”

Vance also said Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive were not responsible for what they described as unauthorized uses of the software.

“Our investigation indicates that the game’s publisher disclosed to the ESRB all pertinent content in the authorized Mature-rated version of Manhunt 2 now available in stores, and complied with our guidelines on full disclosure of content.”

Likewise she also stressed that “Parents need to be vigilant about monitoring what their children are downloading on the Internet and ensure that they are not making unauthorized and oftentimes illegal modifications to software and hardware that remove the controls the industry has so diligently put in place for their own protection.”

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Entry was posted on Saturday, November 3rd, 2007 at 3:12 am under Uncategorized.

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