The Manhunt 2 Controversy is Over, Manhunt 2 gets a M Rating

New York, NY - August 24, 2007 - Rockstar Games today announced it will release Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system, and the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo in North America on October 31, 2007. This announcement follows the submission of a modified version of Manhunt 2 to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB), who has now rated the title “M” for Mature for ages 17 and older.

In June, Take-Two was compelled to suspend the release of the horror title when the ESRB issued an AO (Adults Only) rating.

“Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we’re glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience,” said Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games. “We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it.”

“Manhunt 2 is an extraordinary game, and we eagerly anticipate its release in North America,” added Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.

Manhunt 2 is the debut title from the newly formed Rockstar London studio, which is developing the game in conjunction with series creator Rockstar North. Early previews of Manhunt 2 have consistently praised the game’s original design and creative use of narrative, tone, and atmosphere to evoke an experience many consider unmatched in video games. The Wii version is being developed by Rockstar Toronto.

Video games rated Mature are for consumers ages 17 and older and are not intended for children. Along with the Mature rating, the ESRB also assigned the following content descriptors to Manhunt 2: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs.

Rockstar Games is a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO).

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Reggie Talks Manhunt 2 and WiiWare

N’Gai Croal did an interview with Reggie Fils-Aime and here are parts of it:

“Wii welcomes games rated E, T and M. We haven’t approved AO-rated games. I doubt we ever will. What Rockstar has right now is a game rated outside our spectrum, outside any manufacturer’s spectrum.”

(concerning Wiimote motions adding to the Adult Only rating in the Wii version) “That’s an issue for the ESRB and Rockstar to work through. And as I understand the ESRB guidelines, the Wii controls should not be an issue.”

When talking about WiiWare, he talked of the controls:

"Again, there's no filtering. We have not put any parameters on the control device or how the consumer will play the games. They can be remote-only; remote and nunchuk; classic controller; Gamecube controller. All of that is allowed."

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Online Petition for Manhunt 2

Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft all have a policy that they won't sell Adult Only games. There is an online petition that you can sign for them and others to change their policies and let them sell Manhunt 2, even if it has an Adult Only rating. Here is what the petition says:

This petition submitted on June 21, 2007 is hereby presented to Nintendo of America, Sony Computer Entertainment, Microsoft Corporation, Take-Two Interactive Software, Rockstar Games, future console developers, and other software developers. We hereby petition the above organizations to reevaluate the current policy towards software titles rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) to be AO (Adults Only), specifically the decision in lacking endorsement to said titles in being released. The American public has the ability to decide for themselves what software they wish to buy and would like to be given the chance to do so freely in the marketplace.

Sign the Petition Here!

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RUMOR: Manhunt 2 Not Coming in the US either?

JOELCOOL of the NSider forums found this from the Nintendo Wii site: "Parental controls for the Wii and Virtual Console games are based on the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) game ratings categories. Please note that Nintendo does not sell or license games that carry the ESRB rating Adults Only."

If Manhunt 2 gets a final rating of AO, could it not even be released here? The plot thickens...

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Manhunt 2 gets an Adult Only rating!

LOTS and LOTS of Manhunt 2 news today. For many of you that don't know already, I'll summarize what has happened so far. Manhunt 2 has been banned from sale in the UK because of its violence and other things. Then, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) called out to the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) of the US to give Manhunt 2 an Adult Only rating. Rockstar then commented and said they were disappointed at the ban of the sale of the game and wished that it could have been rated, which I perfectly agree with. And now, we have word from the ESRB that Manhunt 2 is getting an Adult Only rating. Here's the press release:

The ESRB has issued an initial rating of AO (Adults Only) for Manhunt 2.

We believe the process of rating videogames is to help people make informed entertainment choices and not to limit them.

Manhunt 2 was created for mature audiences and we strongly believe it should receive an M (Mature) rating, aligning it with similar content created in other forms of media. We are exploring our options with regard to the rating of Manhunt 2.

Sounds like the rating isn't final, which I'm glad about. Hopefully they'll change it to Mature or something, but at least we're even getting the game.

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