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Rockstar has taken a long-form approach to scaring people with Manhunt 2. They've waited very quietly, very still, until everyone in the UK forgot that it was there, and then they JUMPED OUT AND ANNOUNCED A RELEASE DATE! "BOO! Manhunt 2 is coming out on October 31!"

This version of Manhunt 2 is different from the one the US got, having been "heavily reworked" (as IGN describes it) in a desperate bid for BBFC approval. They got the right to release the game in December, but by then Halloween had already passed, and what's the point of releasing a horror game on any other date?

A lengthy, to-and-fro legal battle between the BBFC and Rockstar prevented Manhunt 2 from being released in the UK, with the BBFC eventually giving up and granting the game an "18" certificate in March. Having won its right to lop limbs clean off be released in Britain, it was no surprise that the title appeared in Nintendo's latest European release schedule this morning.

But wait, for there's another twist to this twistiest of sagas! A Rockstar spokesperson contacted Eurogamer earlier today to reveal that it "has no confirmed release date set for Manhunt 2 in Europe." Ho boy. If any Europeans out there are beginning to feel particularly indifferent about Manhunt 2 at this stage, we can't say we blame you.

Following her report (which follows all of the Manhunt 2 ruckus), UK psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron sat down to discuss some things with Next-Gen. While we don't know much about her, what with us living across the pond and all, she does come off as kind of grounded and level-headed about all of this.

It seems that she's very much for adult content in games, just that the adult content in question should only be accessible by, you know, adults. "There's a huge moral debate around content in videogames," she says, "I'm very clear, that wasn't the remit of my review to pass judgment on that and I do believe that content for adults is content for adults. It should be rated that way."

She goes on further to add: "I can understand that gamers fear that there will be a 'you can't play these games anymore.' I've not said that, I'd never say that, and certainly if I heard people beginning to use my review to try and imply that I will be very quick to say that that was not and will not be a recommendation of mine."

While we're not resident of the UK, we're incredibly interested in where this is all going. Ratings improvements can be made worldwide, we're sure, and we'd like to see a world where it doesn't take an incredibly-long time to release a game because a bunch of uninformed people are too busy arguing about how it's going to train your kid to kill.

As you all probably know, following the whole Manhunt 2 thing, noted psychologist in the country Dr. Tanya Byron was knee-deep in an investigation into the effects of games and internet media on children in the UK. Her verdict? The BBFC should have a bigger role in rating games (right now, they only intervene on games flagged with violent, sexual and criminal content).

Her solution involves a new 12+ classification, as well as the BBFC handling just about all duties involving rating games. But, as anticipated, she's also endorsed the PEGI system, as well. She hopes that the PEGI ratings can go on the back of the game's box, with the BBFC classification being displayed on the front.

This is all just the tip of the iceberg, however. Her report has lots more interesting information, so for the rest, head on over to Game Politics.

[Via Joystiq]

Many folks think the ratings board should discontinue its work with video games, as they voice concerns over the decision to allow Manhunt 2 to be sold in the country. They feel the games classification process in the UK has some major issues. Many are even expecting the report of Dr. Tanya Byron, one of the country's most popular psychologists, to support a different ratings institution when she releases it later this month.

Darren Waters, editor of BBC News' technology index, rips apart the BBFC, stating "The grudging nature of the BBFC's statement, that it now has "no alternative" but to grant the title a certificate, coupled with the fact the body went to the High Court, twice rejected the game itself and tried to overturn the original judgment of the VAC leaves the organization with its credibility bruised."

Others have come through to voice their concerns, as well. General consensus seems to be that the new classification system will fall squarely on the shoulders of PEGI (Pan European Game Information), another games classification system that is completely voluntary on the part of the game developers.


[Via Go Nintendo]

Well, for those of you in the UK who wanted to enjoy the murder sim latest game from Rockstar, your time will come. Even with all of the fuss about the game going down in the UK, the BBFC's decision to ban the game in the country has somehow been overturned by the VAC (Video Appeals Committee), who have decided to affix an age 18 certificate to the title (meaning you have to be that old to purchase it).

Although we've really heard nothing but bad things about Manhunt 2, surely some of you in the UK are happy to hear about this new state of affairs involving the game? Not like it matters, because thanks to the Freeloader, you could have just imported the game from North America.


[Thanks, Jon!]

If you're familiar with the Manhunt 2 saga, you'll know that things were looking good for Rockstar. The company recently won an appeal against the BBFC, meaning that the controversial game could finally be rated and sold in stores in the UK. The BBFC had one last trick up its sleeve, however. The board essentially appealed the appeal by bringing the Video Appeals Committee's decision under judicial review. That's where we last left off.

Unfortunately for Rockstar, the High Court sided with the BBFC. The VAC must now reconsider its appeal, which for all intents and purposes probably means, "Change your decision to agree with the BBFC, or else."

During the trial, the BBFC argued that the VAC's decision undermined the board's role as the watchdogs of entertainment. This may be true, but what is the point of having a Video Appeals Committee if it's not able to uphold appeals? This is also a huge blow to Rockstar, because it gives the company little hope of ever being able to sell the game in the UK.

Rockstar is also currently dealing with criticism in the UK for its new rendition of Bully, which is coming to the Wii and Xbox 360 later this year.

[Via Games Industry]

Although Rockstar won the appeal to get the controversial Manhunt 2 rated in the UK, the battle is far from over. The BBFC is now challenging the verdict by applying for a judicial review of the Video Appeals Committee's decision. The BBFC is adamant about its course of action, stating, "The VAC judgment, if allowed to stand, would have fundamental implications with regard to all the Board's decisions, including those turning upon questions of unacceptable levels of violence." Won't someone think of the children?

The BBFC is also trying to have the VAC's decision suspended, so that the Board doesn't have to rate the game until after the judicial review.

While it seems no one cares about playing Manhunt 2 anymore, the final outcome is certain to have repercussions for rating games (in the UK, at least) in the future.

[Via press release]

You may remember that Rockstar appealed the BBFC's decision to refuse to rate Manhunt 2. Well, things seem to be finally going Rockstar's way, for once, as the Video Appeals Committee ruled in favor of the publisher by four votes to three.

So, does this mean that this whole fiasco is over and Manhunt 2 will finally get its 18 rating? Not exactly. The BBFC can still take the case to the High Court in order to try to keep the ban on the game.

Whether you care about Manhunt 2 or not, we've already seen how the decision to ban the title in the UK has affected other games. At least this appeal is a step in the right direction regarding video game censorship.

With all of the appeal going on right now, the BBFC has admitted that there isn't any definitive evidence linking violence and video games together. In accepting that there isn't enough out there to prove a link between the two, they have said that they believe more research is needed to determine if the possibility between the two being related exists. So, it isn't a final determination, by any means.

At yesterday's appeal hearing, BBFC spokesperson Andrew Caldecott stated "The board's position is that there is insufficient evidence to prove, as a fact, there is a causal connection between violent games and behavioural harm." Caldecott goes on further to say "It's a perfectly fair point, and one which we accept, but it's not by any means a complete answer to the question the [Video Appeals Committee] has to decide."

Caldecott further explains that the lack of a definitive link isn't enough to rule out the possibility of one, saying "The research certainly achieves the objective of establishing that research does not demonstrate that there is a causal link. But what it certainly does not establish is that there isn't." No matter how you look at, this is definitely an argument that isn't going to go away for quite some time.

Today begins the official start of Rockstar's appeal to the BBFC decision to provide Manhunt 2 with no rating, effectively banning the game in the country. GamesIndustry.biz is on-hand to provide the blow-by-blow for us, with Geoffrey Robertson representing Rockstar. Robertson thinks the BBFC is "simply ignorant of the gaming experience." Robertson went on to say that "There's no evidence that playing interactive videogames leads to a propensity to act them out in real life. We wonder why Manhunt 2 has been singled out for special treatment."

The rest of today's proceedings went as one would imagine, with Rockstar pleading their case and the BBFC intently paying attention. We'll bring you more as the story develops.

[Via Joystiq]

Some high-profile U.S. Senators, including Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Joe Lieberman (ID-CT), have made attacking the ESRB their new pet project. The cause of this controversy is, of course, Manhunt 2. You may recall that Rockstar was forced to revise the game in order to remove the "Adults Only" rating given to it by the ESRB. These tactics may have worked in the U.S., but the British Board of Film Classification was unimpressed and still refused to issue a rating for the title.

The Senators are pretty ticked off at the ESRB for not being as censor vicious as the BBFC. But the ramifications of the Senators' attack on the ESRB go deeper than Manhunt 2, and may affect the video game industry in general if the ESRB is put under the "thorough review" that they are demanding.

Even worse, the Senators are calling for more extreme ratings on the Wii, due to the console's motion-sensitive controller. They argue that the Wiimote "permits children to act out each of the many graphic torture scenes and murders."

Of course, they don't acknowledge the fact that children shouldn't be playing Manhunt 2 at all, since the game was given a "Mature" rating by the ESRB, and one of the few ways they can even play the game is with parental permission. If children playing mature games is really their concern, perhaps the Senators should be putting parents under review, and not the ESRB. Those old enough to play violent games can differentiate between using waggle and using real weapons, making separate Wii ratings unnecessary.

At times like these, we really yearn for Stephen Colbert to make a political comeback.

In other Manhunt 2 news, this Aeropause post brings up an interesting loophole that Rockstar could use to sell Manhunt 2 in the UK. While the BBFC banned the game from being sold in stores, the ban apparently doesn't include games sold in not-stores. It covers physical media only. Therefore, if Manhunt 2 were to be released as a download, it could be sold even in its unexpurgated form! That's a neat idea, but we doubt Rockstar will take advantage of it. Especially since the Wii's storage space is so limited (and the PS2's hard drive is in so few households.)

Well now, color us shocked that the recent version of Manhunt 2 that was cleaned up for our friends across the pond turned out to be the same exact game that received a "Mature" rating by the ESRB here in the states. So, what's mature to us is absolutely intolerable to them, apparently.

This might cause one to think that the BBFC is tougher on games than, say, movies, as the country had no problem allowing films such as Hostel and Saw into the country. BBFC spokesperson Sue Clark says otherwise, stating "If we were more tough on games than any other medium, don't you think we'd be banning far more titles? Manhunt 2 is the second game we have rejected in 23 years. I'd hardly call that draconian." She goes on further to add "Manhunt 2 went beyond our guidelines when it came to gross violence and we had a public duty to reject it."

Looks like there is still a lot of debate left here.

See also: Croal goes on CNN to discuss Manhunt 2

The saga continues, as word hits that the latest version of Manhunt 2 hasn't received the A-OK from the BBFC. Turns out, the game is still too violent for the UK, as David Cooke, director of the BBFC, recognizes the changes made, but says the game's content is still far too violent. Cooke explains "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." He goes on further to add that the "impact of the revisions on the bleakness and callousness of tone, or the essential nature of the gameplay, is clearly insufficient."

Rockstar isn't taking this lying down, however, as they are appealing the decision. Fat lot of good their appeal is bound to do for them, as it looks like the suggestions made by the BBFC for how the game should be changed are "unacceptable" to Rockstar. Rockstar further commented that "The BBFC allows adults the freedom to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in movies and we think adults should be similarly allowed to decide for themselves when it comes to horror in video games, such as Manhunt 2."

Read: BBFC rejects Manhunt 2 again
Read: Rockstar to appeal