For anyone who wanted Manhunt 2

[Larzuk]

http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/news/2007/08/esrb

We arent going to be able to play how it was originally made. We all have to now play the censored version because the ESRB wont allow them to have the game as a AO rating. Because of that now they have to go through and censor alot of crap to make it a M rating.

Bleh to ESRB...

[Maes]

I think I'll stick to good old Postal 2 and wait for Postal 3. Now THERE'S something obviously oblivious to censorship :-D

[Technician]

I'm looking forward to postal 3 as well. But sadly with the size of Running with Scissors team, we could very well have a long wait ahead of us.

[deathbringer]

I should think the "censored" edition is actually how it was intended. They simply made the first review copies extra, super, mega violent and nasty so it would get banned. No such thing as bad publicity and all that

[SYS]

They really need to release an A/O limited directors cut which they never will. Bleh

[Richo Rosai]

Hopefully a disgruntled employee will leak the real version.

[GGG]

deathbringer said:

I should think the "censored" edition is actually how it was intended. They simply made the first review copies extra, super, mega violent and nasty so it would get banned. No such thing as bad publicity and all that

It comes across as bad publicity in this case.

[TheDarkArchon]

All publicity is good publicity.

[Alboroto]

[deathbringer]

It comes across as bad publicity in this case

[history lesson]In 1997 a little-known, top-down driving game was coming out, even by the standards of the day it was rather crude and simplistic, being a cancelled Amiga project after all. So the company hires this PR guy to write to a select few tabloids posing as some outraged member of middle England who has heard about this game and wants it banned for the chaos and destruction it will unleash upon society. This eventually leads to questions in parliment and one of the first ever times a videogame is sent for rating by the BBFC (which has legal powers as opposed to the 'merely advisory' ELSPA of the time). The name of this game? GTA.

[TheDarkArchon]

Really the first time? My original Doom II CD box (and Final Doom CD, IIRC) had a 15 rating on it.

[Larzuk]

Nah, the first game was Splatterhouse. The game that was on the arcade in 1988 and wasnt here for to long before it got banned, for being extremely bloody and satanic. Well was the first game to get a parental advisory before they made all this ESRB crap.

[TheDarkArchon]

Larzuk said:

Nah, the first game was Splatterhouse. The game that was on the arcade in 1988 and wasnt here for to long before it got banned, for being extremely bloody and satanic. Well was the first game to get a parental advisory before they made all this ESRB crap.

Except I'm referring specifically to the BBFC, not just any kind of warning.

[Inferno]

Splatterhouse is awesome, the excess gore is what makes that game great.

[Larzuk]

TheDarkArchon said:

Except I'm referring specifically to the BBFC, not just any kind of warning.

Heh, I read it wrong. I thought you were meaning doom2 was the first game to get rated for some reason.

[Scuba Steve]

Special FREE mission pack for PC Users... it adds more gore, more violence and more gratuitous nudity! In fact... it adds the real game!

[deathbringer]

It was one of the first times the BBFC rating was given to a game, i know some earlier ones also got rated, i think there was talk of one of the Mortal Kombats having to have a rating, and there was some BS rumour that the first Tenchu was so violent it was going to be given the R18 rating, which meant it could only be sold in licensed sex shops (as the rating is normally reserved for very explicit porn).

[Enjay]

Ooooh, Imagine a Rockstar game falling foul of ratings and companies willingness to stock/make game at that rating. That's never happened before.

This is clearly publicity stunt bullshit.

[Ralphis]

Larzuk said:

We all have to now play the censored version because the ESRB wont allow them to have the game as a AO rating. Because of that now they have to go through and censor alot of crap to make it a M rating.

Bleh to ESRB...

I don't know what you're talking about and why you're blaming the ESRB. It was Sony and Nintendo that said they would not license an AO rated game. This has nothing to do with an ESRB's decision to not allow an AO rated game because it WAS rated AO by the ESRB.

Besides, how much do you think really needed to be censored to jump from AO to M. Not enough rape or something?

[Jello]

Complain to Nintendo and Sony for not allowing AO games on their systems. The ESRB is doing it's job, however shady. Rockstar knew they would be scrutinized far more than any other company after the San Andreas fiasco, and they pushed. From what I've read there was a scene in a porn theatre with an adult film on screen, and if true I would assume that's what would've gotten them an AO. AO was designed for games of a pornographic nature, that's why San Andreas didn't get the rating until the hot coffee thing was uncovered. I'm sure the game had some pornographic material, or otherwise sexually unsuitable material. Which isn't wrong in and of itself, especially in the context of the game, but I wouldn't blame the ESRB. They only give the ratings, in the end it's the company that owns the console that decides if it gets published or not, and the outlets that won't sell the game because it's AO that are at fault. Write nasty letters to Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, Walmart, Bestbuy, and EB Games if you want to get upset. I'll be fine playing a watered down version of the game, because if it was vulgar enough to warrant an AO, the stuff they put in it probably wasn't that important to the gameplay and story line, it was probably just put in for shock value. I'm sure everyone will find out what it was supposed to be like in a year or so when the computer version is released anyways. I'm still really looking forward to playing it, even if they did cut out some porn and testicle ripping.

Oh yes, and it might very well be a publicity stunt. I never really heard that much about the first manhunt, Rockstar's main draw after all is GTA. Maybe they just wanted a bigger launch to this one and made it far too over the top, knowing it would make headlines, and now they're censoring it down to what they originally planned anyways. Wouldn't suprise me, they like pushing all the wrong buttons, and they certainly like making money. Just so happens that they also make some really good games in the process.

And yet another edit, Postal 2 is an awesome game :-) And really, you don't have to kill anyone... except in the mission where you're kidnapped by the rednecks and put in a gimp suit and locked in a box. Some of the humor is far too juvenile, but it's like GTA in first person, without all the hassle of stealing cars. I'm glad it was made for PC, there's no way in hell that game would've made it to consoles.

[Nightmare Doom]

Why not just release the uncensored version on the PC?

[Jello]

Nightmare Doom said:

Why not just release the uncensored version on the PC?

It wouldn't surprise me if they do, however the fact still remains that most major retailers won't sell any game rated AO, as far as I know regardless of platform, so they'd have to rely on internet sales for the most part. Maybe they'll release it as a downloadable patch if they do a PC version.