Okay, so I'm sure that we've all heard about the whole Manhunt 2 debacle by now. What I'm curious about is if you agree with the ESRB or not.
I understand that the game is extremely violent and graphic (albeit to bad graphics), but what made this game stand out above all the M rated games that are perfectly fine to be released? One of the levels in the game is supposed to take place in a sex establishment to where all kinds of explicit things are seen, but isn't that an objective in GTA? At one point in the game it's optimal to buy a strip club.. What about Saints Row? A set of missions in that game consists of picking up an escort, picking up her date, and driving around while she gives him head without being in close range of a photographer. While at a safe distance she makes all kinds of noises that let you know exactly what is going on in the backseat of your car, but that's not as explicit as simply being in an establishment in a game somehow. I think this is pure b/s.
But who is really to blame about this whole ordeal, the ESRB for the unfair rating, or Sony and Nintendo for deciding to exclude any games that would be tagged with the AO rating? If Sony and Nintendo had kept their noses out of other peoples business and let the state government do it's job in carding people that wanted to buy an AO rated game this wouldn't be so much of a problem. I can understand that the wii is supposed to be a family console, but the ps2 is just a freakin ps2. By name it's a Play - Station for all ages. Does that mean that any 8 year old should be able to buy this game (or any other rockstar game for that matter) and go home and play it? Hell no.. but that's why the esrb exists in the first place... to let consumers know what the game itself consists of and let them make an educated decision because of that.
I read a blog @ ign.com earlier that made a lot of sense:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by ign blog
Imagine if DVD manufacturers like Hitachi and Samsung came out and said, "Sorry, folks, but you're NC-17 movies won't be allowed on our players." These hardware manufacturers create the platforms, but they don't police them. There is another difference between the two industries.
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This would never happen though. Why? Because manufacturers of dvd players realise that it's retarded to try and control everything that someone would want to watch with their product... this is why they have rating systems, as well as parental controlled rating blocks built in.
Also, if the AO rating had been accepted by Sony and Nintendo do you think it would have still been given the rating, or would it have been banned for other reasons? They knew that giving it this rating would essentially ban it, so they gave it this rating.
One last question is, Where the hell is Microsoft in this whole ordeal? To the best of my knowledge Manhunt was originally supposed to be Rockstar's microsoft exclusive game, which they later changed and released to the ps2. So that being said, this game should be released on the original xbox as well as the ps2 and wii, right? I've never heard of microsoft banning any rating of game.. I bet it does have the same policy, but now would be a good time to abandon ship and sell a hell of a lot of games there, Bill.. I know I'd go repo my original xbox from my cousins apartment in a heartbeat if this game was released for it, so would a lot of other people I'm sure.
in case you haven't read about the whole ordeal, here are some links:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/798/798639p1.html
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/27629/Fils...de-of-spectrum
http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id...Manhunt_2.html
and there are several more..