Manhunt 2 receives AO rating

Maybe instead of going out and leaving the T.V. and games as a childs babysitter, you wouldn't have this problem, I wish they don't change anything and if it gets an AO, oh well, I'll buy it. I'll stand outside of stores and offer to buy it for 5 year old's, just kidding.

wow people......if you want your kids to not play these games then why dont you just dont buy it for them.......i swear parents and games.......it's their fault and they look for others to blame.....my mom is one of these people that complain like these people and i REALLY WANT TO TELL HER " you dont understand....you dont play video games nor do i beleive that this is reality. It's just a fircking game for pete's sake!" People if you let your children watch R rated movies with you then you might as well let them play M or even AO games because guess what? there is a 1 year gap between the 2 ( 17+ and 18+)

I don't know I would say it kind of deserves the AO rating. It's a pretty screwed up game, I mean I don't think it should be banned or anything, but I wouldn't ever want to play it. But really parents shouldn't just control what their kids play, I mean sure this game isn't for kids, that's obvious but it's the parents job to not let their kids buy it, it's rather simple.

We can all scream personal responsibility all day, and while I am in complete agreement that personal responsibility needs to play a bigger role, at the end of the day, we all know that there will be parents who simply feel like they need to have others constantly help them raise their child/children. I'm not saying that these family-media watchdog groups are a bad idea; on the contrary, they are quite helpful, but like many parents, they are misinformed in many ways (partially because they are made up of parents themselves) and they should work with the various media outlets and retailers to help parents make the right choice. These groups have been taking a combative stance against violence, sex, etc. in the media since day one yet they barely do much to promote the fact that there are ratings out there on games and movies that inform parents (I won't get started on the music industry and it's ratings that don't exist; not saying it needs to be rated, but clearly more can be done to inform parents). Also, I'll repost this so people understand why this is possibly rated AO at this point. From the ESRB: "Titles rated AO (Adults Only) have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity." For those of you who scream the ESRB doesn't work, need to wake and smell the coffee. The ESRB works, but like movie and TV ratings, if they get ignored, they don't work. That is the responsibility of the consumer; in this case, the parent buying the video game. All the ESRB needs to do is now is just promote itself and the ratings they have like gangbusters. The console developers can easily help by making it so there is a set of options preventing certain rated games to be played; heck they have those settings for movies and TV shows, so they can do it for video games.

i hope they sell it anyway with the AO rating. I'll buy it out of sheer principle.

For some reason this wants me want to buy this game even more.... :P But yeah that's BS. Labeling it AO is like calling it a porn or something.

I dont think this is fair for the PS2 version of the game. Throughout the article they say that a main reason of its AO rating is the Wii motion sensing controller. The PS2 version should get an M already without Take-Two having to change anything.

come on if your a good enough parent to teach your kids videogames are fake then there is no too violent game and besides why should adult gamers get less access to a game because it's bad for children how is that fair this country is becoming to babyfied

Its interesting that most people that are "anti-video game" have never actually played a video game...

gears6180 i totally agree with you, parents need to stop blaming everyone else and start with themselves. Parents need to take responsibilty and restrict their kids if they don't want them playing this stuff, plus retailers don't sell these games to underage kids, and even if they get a hold of this all it days is a little active parenting and being involved.

only recently have video games become so violent, so i can see why. however maybe part of the problem is that when you are the one doing the violence, you don't have a problem with the violence. in a movie, its all third person, and you're detached.

Just curious, how mant AO games have actually been released?

Would it be possible for Rockstar to release this as "unrated"? Sure, many family-orientated companies and stores would probably not carry it. But think about it. DVDs and movies release movies as "unrated" so why couldn't games? This is extremely annnoying for me! We keep repeating history over and over again. When violent movies came out we protested them until they became part of normal life. When we had explict movies they tried to limit them, but that soon became just a normal part of music. And now we have to deal with video-games! I'm going to agree with people saying that today's youth is impressionable. But half the problem is society! They are being hypocritical with baseless accusations of the influence of people playing violent video-games. But listen to me; soon we will come to accept that cencorship is wrong and soon video-games will go the way of the violent movies and explict music.

this game is goin tocause more propblems. to tell you the truth,they should just scrap it.the game is piontless to me.

I dreamed of this day.... when a blockbuster AO game would be released... I hope it does come out...

Regarding that study, thicknick, that was interesting. Personally, violent movies bothered me more than video games because video games are usually animated...

Soooooooooooooooft.

<< LINK REMOVED >> According to the American Psychological Association, violent video games are more damaging than movies because they are interactive and require to player to identify with the protagonist, who most likely is committing the most on-screen violence. Also, this article outlines the negative effects of video games on high school and junior high youth.

man i was wantin' to play this game. now i am not goin to be able to find it in most places. if a parent does not want their child to play a certain game than that is up to them. most paretns are letting their kids play game such as gta and hitman. a parent could just read the name of a game and read what it is rated "m" for that should be enough. if the picture looks like my icon that should be proof enough. no need for all of this controversy and slapping an "AO" rating on a game if a person does not like what is in a game then DONT PLAY IT. if parents are worried about their children being exposed THEN DONT LET THEM BUY IT. to wrap this up i think that it is all up to bad parenting. oh yeah good point lithus about the uk and european tv shows

I realize that the ESRB is independent of the movie rating people. I'm just saying that a movie like that can be far more damaging to a child, and yet it is easier to watch than it is to buy Manhunt? I don't think believe in restrictions...everyone can make their own decisions and take the consequences of them.

For those who aren't already, we all may be parents in the next 15 years or so. We have to remember that this generation of parents didn't grow up as kids with video games, they aren't as familiar with games as we are. So that just goes to show that we need to keep things like this in mind when we grow up and have young ones of our own.

Take Two is probably hoping for this kind of thing to get publicity and play the victim.

MM555: Good question. Take it up with movie ratings people. The ESRB is just doing their job, independently of the movies.

they always do things like this any way. I don't care once i get my copy

sounds like fun

"harmful effects of ultra-violent video games on children will be magnified by playing them on the interactive Nintendo Wii system." This quote bothers me. Even if the game was rated M for Mature, that means the game is still only approved for audiences 17+, not children. It's not like the ESRB was about to hand out an E rating.

the game probably does nothing new, except instead of doing it to zombies, or aliens, or something, you're doing it to humans in a game designed to give you a bad vibe.

just don't buy it for a kid... problem solved

How come they can show "hostel" in movie theatres, but they won't let a game that is less violent be put on the market?

As long as they don't put on the label "that buying this game for underage people is illegal" than im cool about this, and whats with this parents must monitor their childern my parents don't monitor me and i'm a normal child im only 14, i've been playing violent games since I was 3, and it has never caused me to think to kill someone. Cause I know that everyone has family or someone important in their life that they want to see, and that what I fear most death. and I know most off all of you also fear it. so why go kill someone unless you don't have a sense of any feeling at all. just like what happen a week ago down here at Nashville, TN. A soilder just came 3 days from iraq and was killed here at a local bank. a guy just came from a war in a diffrent country and just bascily came home and got shot 2 times. so what wrong with people now a days and it isn't just games it beyond that.

Don't worry. If you want the game in UK, just buy it off the internet.

i wonder what seperates this game from every other violent game tho. personally, i don't think i'd be phased by the content in this game because i've grown up playing violent games since i was in grade school. but...my mom did ban me from playing mortal kombat 1, although i did anyway. but what could this game possibly offer to raise the bar in violence?

All of these organizations don't want people to take personal responsibility for their actions. Its the same mentality when people sue fast food resturants when they get fat...STOP EATING THERE STUPID!!! Besides, the only way a minor is going to get this game is if an adult buys it for them...

MM555 I will make a bet with you for 100 dollars that in the next 10 years Mario will not be banned (for that reason. Maybe, if Super Mario Rape Party is released we'd see a ban).

Let me put this in simple terms. There is no bonafide study related with childhood violence and video games, end of story. ALL studies published have been ordered by interest groups to create panic and move their agendas. The CFCC is the same people that called educational programs broadcasted on TV "deceptive", These are the same people that are affiliated with the "food police" called the Center of Science in the Public Interest, an entity created to sue the living daylights out of Fast food joints and food companies. People like that cannot, should not and will not be trusted because they have hidden agendas.

OK, its the parents fault, so you're punishing the kid by letting him/her be subjected to the violence?

Next, they will start outright banning AO games. Then its only a matter of time before they start banning violence in video games, then mario will get banned because "he makes kids want to crush small creatures with their boots" Damn, Take-Two rockstar needs to calm down...and stop trying to be a hero...

As far as the banned topic, I also agree that nothing should be banned. Under no circumstances should a group of people be able to deny anyone anything, EXCEPT parents to their own children. If a parent has been responsible and raised their children as best they could and hold off on exposing them to things like Manhunt, South Park, Target shooting, etc. then there really shouldn't be any problems. The idea of keeping a child sheltered from certain things slightly disgusts me (because I have seen too much over-sheltering), but still no matter how much you teach a kid, maturity still has to be develpoed, and that takes time not lessons.

1. Definitely. 2. So would I.

this is really stupid limiting a games sales because its gory. if a game is rated M then why would a kid play it it makes no sense once again its the parents fault because they buy these game =s for their kids and then they complain about it. if you dont want your children playing the game then DONT BUY IT FOR THEM

1. Take-Two Rockstar intentionally pushes the envelope with this stuff so they should never be surprised. 2. I'd buy Super Mario Rape Party.

shark_trager, I'm glad you're a responsible parent. There aren't enough of those these days. I used to work for a major retailer and I'd see parents come in and buy their 10 year olds GTA or the original Manhunt or Mortal Kombat Deception and I would be appalled. That is not responsible parenting. So despite your existence, the reason we keep saying "children" is because, actually, at least 50% of the people who play manhunt 2 (if it is Mature) will be under 18. Probably under 17.

Super Mario Rape Party.... I think, somewhere in the far east, one Miyamotosan just had a heart attack.

No damn wonder. AO is what it deserves

NOTHING should be banned. I don't care if its Holocaust: The Video Game or Super Mario Rape Party. I just think the sales should be monitored. Children are a no-no, and I would HIT the mom that bought Manhunt 2 for her 13 year old son if I witnessed it myself. You just shouldn't let kids play these games. Since parents can't do their jobs anymore, someone has to do it for them for the betterment of society. Since the rest of us are adults capable of making our own mature decisions, I personally would decided Manhunt 2 is not for me.

I didn't say the ESRB was a watchdog group, but a watchdog group did demand that they rate the game AO.

Why do they keep saying 'children' when this game is clearly aimed at adults? (from a responsible parent and gamer!)

wow never played the first one, but this one sounds interesting. I may get it for both counsles : )

Well we should ask ourselves "Is it really worth the damage to the image of gaming media for us to have a Manhunt sequel?" I mean now it just seems like Rockstar (or Take Two or whoever) is TRYING to make gaming a lightning rod for all the Jack Thompsons of the world to blame. They're just going to keep raising the heat until some serious legislation comes out and ruins game development for everyone else.

for all the people who hopes the ao sticks, goodluck on findin a retailer. personally i dont care which rating it recieves, they can give it a t for all i care, the fact in the matter is, if ur kid isnt a idiot they wont repeat whats goin on on the tv. when i was little my mom took me to see boyz n the hood, to show us how the world was in some places, and im not runnin around gangbangin and whatnot. just raise ur kids, dont let them raise you.. ohhh wait parents arent here reading up about the videogames their kids are playin.. theyre just buyin them blindly so everyone else can suffer :P anyway its funny how people blame videogames for this non-sense instead of a cartoon, which involve anvils being dropped on animals, explosives detonated on animals, and whatdayakno? a hunter shootin at rabbits and ducks. youve seen em all.