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U.S. Senators Gunning For Videogames … Again

Four U.S. senators, Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, Sam Brownback and Hillary Clinton a current US Presidential candidate, have released a letter on Monday to Patricia Vance president of the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB). The senators are calling for a “thorough review” of the system in the wake of Rockstar Games’ Manhunt 2 receiving a “Mature” rating and not the “Adults Only” rating some say the game should have received.

The letter the senators sent also went on to claim that the motion-sensitive controller used with Nintendo’s Wii system “permits children to act out each of the many graphic torture scenes and murders” in the game and suggests that ESRB take the controller’s advanced capabilities “into consideration” in rating future games.

[source: Video Business]

My Opinion:
The video game rating system is just like kids watching cable TV. If the parents are out of the room you know the kids will most likely be watching something they should not. Everybody knows the amount of sex and violence that can be found on cable TV even during the day can be staggering. Every TV in America has a V-Chip installed and it’s up to YOU as the parent to activate the V-Chip and use it. Just like it is your job to not give your kids $60.oo or more for a video game and not monitor what they buy.

Come on they are YOUR children not the Governments. Start taking some responsibility for your lack of action.

Do you want to allow the government to control what you and your family can or can’t watch or even what games people can buy? Then continue to do nothing to fight for your rites and that day will come, sooner than you think.

You Cant Buy Manhunt 2 At Target So Dont Try

More trouble for Rockstar Games Manhunt 2, it looks like Target will refuse shipments at the store level and only sell the game online. Gee I bet they will still sell unrated edition DVD’s along side the ultra gory horror movies, BUT OMG we can’t sell manhunt 2 to people 18 and over in the store.

I just spoke to a contact at my local Target store, who informed me of an interesting internal memo. Apparently all Target stores are to stop selling Manhunt 2, going so far as to tell managers to refuse shipments of the title for all systems, with Take 2 agreeing to take back all unopened copies of the game.

Why is this action being taken? The extreme violence in the game is the given reason, but my contact (an employee but not a manager) was told that it was due in greater part to the unfavorable coverage the game got in the national press the last several days. Target stores had been selling the game since it’s launch, but it was only today that they were told to pull the product and refuse further shipments.

The listing for Manhunt 2 on the Target website shows that the item is “not available in stores.”

I’ve spoken to employees of several other large retailers (Best Buy, Gamestop and Circuit City) and none of them are, at this time, taking similar actions.

[Source Evil Avatar]

ESRB Response On Keeping Manhunt 2’s M Rating

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board now has the full statement from its president Patricia Vance on keeping the M rating for Manhunt 2 even with the hacked code on the PSP version:

Manhunt 2 was rated Mature by the ESRB for ages 17 and older for Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content and Use of Drugs.

Earlier this week we learned about a hack into the code of the PSP and PS2 versions of the game that removes special effects filters that were put in place to obscure certain violent depictions. We have investigated the matter and concluded that unauthorized versions of the game have been released on the Internet along with instructions on how to modify the code to remove the special effects. Once numerous changes to the game’s code have been made and other unauthorized software programs have been downloaded to the hardware device which circumvent 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. 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.

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.

What parents, and indeed all consumers, need to be aware of is that computer software and hardware devices are susceptible to unauthorized modification. Parents should be cognizant of whether or not their children are engaging in unauthorized modification of their games, consoles or handhelds, as those modifications can change game content in ways that may be inconsistent with the assigned ESRB rating. That being said, the vast majority of consumers have not made the unauthorized modifications to their hardware necessary to view the content at issue.

Rockstar and ESRB In Trouble In California Over Manhunt 2 PSP Hack

California State Senator and noted anti-video game critic Leland Yee has slammed both Rockstar Games and the ESRB ratings system after it was revealed that the PSP “M” rated version of Manhunt 2 could have some of the “AO” content of the game unlocked:

Not only should the AO rating immediately be reinstated on this game, the Federal Trade Commission should investigate Rockstar and the ESRB to determine how this was allowed to happen again, said Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco/San Mateo), the author of California’s law attempting to prohibit the sale of extremely violent video games to minors.

This does not even mention that the procedure to unlock the “AO” content in the PSP version of Manhunt 2 is extremely complicated and it requires making hacks in a moded PSP system. The content is not accessible when people just play the game with a normal PSP.

Still No ManHunt 2 For the UK Says BBFC

The British Board of Film Classification has announced that it has rejected Rockstar’s Manhunt 2 for a second time, following the recent submission of a revised version of the game.

An appeal against the organisation’s original decision in June was planned by Rockstar, but that was suspended while the revised game was considered for classification.

The director of the BBFC, David Cooke, explained, “We recognise that the distributor has made changes to the game, but we do not consider that these go far enough to address our concerns about the original version. The impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient. There has been a reduction in the visual detail in some of the ‘execution kills’, but in others they retain their original visceral and casually sadistic nature.

“We did make suggestions for further changes to the game, but the distributor has chosen not to make them, and as a result we have rejected the game on both platforms. The decision on whether or not an appeal goes ahead lies with the distributor.”

Manhunt 2 has only been confirmed for release in North America, where it’ll debut on Wii, PlayStation 2 and PSP on October 31, with an M rating for Mature audiences aged 17 and over.