Hey guys Pooch (Will D’angelo) Here! I run a website and weekly videogame show for Mtv called “The Wiicast“. I’ll be bringing you loyal readers videogame news updates every week. The bear community is no stranger to the world of videogames and there are very few websites/blogs focused on “gaymers”, let alone bear gamers. So to kick off this new column, we’ll be talking about the controversial new game for the Nintendo Wii and PSP, Manhunt 2.
For those not familiar with the Manhunt Franchise…no, not THAT Manhunt, here’s a brief history. Manhunt is an incredibly violent videogame for the Playstation 2 and Xbox systems. You play as an escaped convict and are trying to evade your pursuers. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Wrong. The purpose of the game is to hide in the shadows and sneak up on your enemies. Once that is accomplished you have to kill them……gruesomely. I’m talking broken bottle to the neck, plastic bag over the face, axe to the spine. You know, that sort of thing. all the while receiving instructions from a mysterious man telling you who your next target is. Owners of the game could attach an optional headset/microphone to their respective systems which would pick up voice, background noise and even the players breathing. Breathing too loudly would draw attention from enemies.
Fast forward to 2005. The Manhunt franchise is made by Rockstar Entertainment who are responsible for the Grand Theft Auto Franchise and also….Rockstar Table Tennis. Yes, Table Tennis. After the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board) found a hidden sexual mini-game in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the game’s rating was changed from “M’ (Mature +17) to AO (Adults Only +18). This is the first time a game’s rating has ever been changed after release. It’s important to note that the minigame was not accessible to the general public, only to people who hacked the game on a computer. Even still, the rating was changed. AO rated games are the equivalent to NC-17 rated movies. Walmart, Gamestop, Blockbuster etc. will not carry any software rated AO. Even worse, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony will not allow AO rated games on their systems.
This year, Rockstar Games announced that Manhunt 2 would be coming to the Nintendo Wii console. If you’re not familiar with the system, the Wii uses a motion controller which reads the users movements and transfers those motions to the game in real time. You can just imagine how a game like Manhunt 2 would be played…Swinging the remote like an axe, making a stabbing motion, etc. Because of this (and the fact that you can actually castrate someone with a pair of pliers in the game), the ESRB had given Manhunt 2 an AO rating. However, after heavily censoring the game, the rating was dropped to an M (+17) rating. Now, instead of seeing your executions take place on-screen, the camera blurs and fades making the action impossible to see. In the short run, this seems like a good idea if the game is somehow going to get into the hands of minors. On the other hand, since the “payoff” is now completely censored, will that deter right-minded adult gamers from enjoying the game and getting their gore fix? We’ll just have to wait and see when the game is released on Halloween day.
Here’s a “trailer” for the edited version of Manhunt 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeNZddgSgZE
