CCFC Statement on ESRB Decision to Downgrade

[wraggster]

Heres the press release:

In June, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board gave Manhunt 2 an Adults Only rating. The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood had urged the ESRB to give the game an AO rating because of concerns that harmful effects of ultra-violent video games on children would be magnified by playing them on the interactive Nintendo Wii system.

CCFC’s concerns about Manhunt 2 were based, in part, on reviews of the game which described players sawing their enemies’ skulls in half; mutilating them with an axe; castrating them with a pair of pliers; or killing them by bashing their head “into an electrical box, where raw power surges through it and eventually blows his head apart.” CCFC noted that on Wii, players will not merely punch buttons or wield a joy stick, but will actually act out this violence. A reviewer for the gaming website IGN described using a saw blade to “cut upward into a foe's groin and buttocks, motioning forward and backward with the Wii remote as you go.”

Today, Rockstar Games announced that Manhunt 2 had received a revised rating of Mature after they submitted a modified version of the game. On a phone call with CCFC’s Dr. Susan Linn, ESRB President Patricia Vance refused to comment on what changes Rockstar made or whether any of the content described above was still in the game.

Below is the statement of CCFC Director Dr. Susan Linn on the ESRB’s decision to reverse their earlier ruling:

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is extremely concerned that the ESRB has downgraded its rating for Manhunt 2 from Adults Only (AO) to Mature (M). Despite industry claims to the contrary, M-rated games continue to be marketed and sold to children under seventeen. The ESRB’s reversal of its earlier decision dramatically increases the likelihood that Manhunt 2 – the most violent game to date produced for the interactive Nintendo Wii platform – will be marketed and sold to children.

Just three months ago, the ESRB felt that Manhunt 2 was so violent that it took the extraordinary step of giving a game an AO rating for violent content for only the second time in its history. We urge the ESRB to make public their rationale for changing Manhunt 2’s rating, including detailing any content that was removed from the game.

We call upon Rockstar Games to allow the content of Manhunt 2 to be reviewed by an independent review board with no ties to the video game industry.

We ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the process by which Manhunt 2’s rating was downgraded from AO to M.

CCFC’s initial press release and letter to the ESRB are available at http://www.commercialfreechildhood.o...s/manhunt2.htm.

[stevo11185]

I hate games like this. People who say games like this dont affect you or make you violent are retards. What about the kids that copy things from this game and kill other people. Its not so much fun then is it. What if that person that was killed was a relative. You wouldn't have such idiotic objections to the game being banned.

You lot would rather have the game than save a few lives? To me that is unforgivable.

And to retards that say video games don't affect you, just stfu. It has been proven in mulitiple scientific studies that they do. So stop being selfish and think of the families that are affected by video game related violence and dont be so narrow minded and say that im speaking rubbish.

[SigmatiC]

I hate games like this. People who say games like this dont affect you or make you violent are retards. What about the kids that copy things from this game and kill other people. Its not so much fun then is it. What if that person that was killed was a relative. You wouldn't have such idiotic objections to the game being banned.

You lot would rather have the game than save a few lives? To me that is unforgivable.

And to retards that say video games don't affect you, just stfu. It has been proven in mulitiple scientific studies that they do. So stop being selfish and think of the families that are affected by video game related violence and dont be so narrow minded and say that im speaking rubbish.

haha please.. It started with doom when I was 6 years old and then with more or less violent games.
I am 20 now and I have never felt temptation to kill another human/animal or plant

So you can shut up and go and buy your kids manhunt 2 when it's released. (if you have any)

It's just a game

[stevo11185]

17 and kids? O.o

I'm not saying every violent game is bad, because if that was the case space invaders would be bad lol. i play games like doom, quake etc but i don't get violent.

I'm talking about a minority of people. I'm talking about 'chavs' who imitate the things that happen in games. I dont think sawing someones penis off is entertainment or even remotely funny even if it isnt real life.

Other games are mainly you fighting against monsters and aliens not humans. But everyones entitled to their own opinion. I just think that this game is gonna cause some bad things to happen. Id rather it didn't come out but it will because game makers are greedy and know that people will buy this game because they are sick in the head.

[devdj]

hey stevo11185 you stupid noob games are games and thats it they are there to be played not to be controlled by some ***got rating system so just shut up and shove your head up jack thompson's ass ya jack thompson wanabe.

[stevo11185]

hey stevo11185 you stupid noob games are games and thats it they are there to be played not to be controlled by some ***got rating system so just shut up and shove your head up jack thompson's ass ya jack thompson wanabe.

Come back and try to insult me when you can use proper spelling and punctuation.

[cas2007]

hey stevo11185 you stupid noob games are games and thats it they are there to be played not to be controlled by some ***got rating system so just shut up and shove your head up jack thompson's ass ya jack thompson wanabe.

WTF are you trying to say

Manhunt 2 its still banned in uk and ireland so they lost half of thier profits already

[mavsman4457]

Normally I would think that people are making too big a deal of violence and video games but this one for the Wii actually sounds pretty bad. Castrating people? Mkaing the actual motions that would be required to saw someone's head in half? That sounds kinda bad. It also sounds pretty suspicious that it was changed from AO to M. I'd say give it an AO and stick with that otherwise there had better be some pretty good reasons for switching it.

[sonofsamus]

I hate games like this. People who say games like this dont affect you or make you violent are retards. What about the kids that copy things from this game and kill other people. Its not so much fun then is it. What if that person that was killed was a relative. You wouldn't have such idiotic objections to the game being banned.

You lot would rather have the game than save a few lives? To me that is unforgivable.

I smell a communist.

[.:}<3\/!}\{:.]

Normally I would think that people are making too big a deal of violence and video games but this one for the Wii actually sounds pretty bad. Castrating people? Mkaing the actual motions that would be required to saw someone's head in half? That sounds kinda bad. It also sounds pretty suspicious that it was changed from AO to M. I'd say give it an AO and stick with that otherwise there had better be some pretty good reasons for switching it.

I agree, i'd say stick a AO rating on it and leave it , athough i do think if the Manhunt 2 for Wii requires you to do the actual action, It could probly cause some kids to get violent, like "chavs" . I hate chavs , you can see alot of them in Newcastle and thats where I live! .........meh