The police rejected the link and instead suggested robbery as a likely motive for the murder. It caused controversy in the UK when the media linked the game to the murder of Leicester schoolboy Stefan Pakeerah in 2004. The first Manhunt game was released in 2003. 'Manhunt 2 is an extraordinary game, and we eagerly anticipate its release in North America,' said Strauss Zelnick, chairman of Take-Two, in a press release. Under that less restrictive rating the game will be released in the US in October. ESRB president Patricia Vance said: 'Manhunt 2s rating makes it unmistakable that the game is intended for an older audience. The game was originally rated 'Adults Only' by the ESRB in the US.Īn 'Adults Only' rating is effectively a US ban because Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft refuse to allow games carrying that rating on their consoles.īut a modified version of Manhunt 2 has now been rated 'Mature' by the ESRB. Rockstar was unable to comment on the implications of the latest developments in the US for that appeal.

On 1 August, Rockstar filed an appeal with the Video Appeals Committee to contest the BBFC decision. In June, Take-Two suspended the release of Manhunt 2 after the game was banned by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), and rated 'Adults Only' by the US Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).ĭavid Cooke, director of BBFC told the BBC at the time: 'There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.' Rockstar Games is responsible for other controversial games such as Grand Theft Auto and Bully. Update: A Nintendo representative has returned Shacknews request for comment on the issue with a statement defending the ESRBs rating of Rockstars Manhunt 2 on the Wii as a mature title. Manhunt 2 is made by Rockstar Games, a development division of games publisher Take-Two Interactive. 'We're glad can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience,' said the game developers.

In June, it became the first game to be banned in the UK in ten years and its release in the US was delayed. The game is set in an asylum for the insane in which the player survives by executing fellow inmates. Manhunt 2, a computer game banned in the UK for its extreme violence, is to be released in modified form in the US in time for Halloween.

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