Legal loophole allows Manhunt 2 to be sold in UK
Posted by mlauzon76 on 25 October 2007 - 13:46 · 7 comments & 5265 views
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(3 replies)
#1 Posted by The Walker on 25 Oct 2007 - 14:43
- Screw consoles, at least this gives PC users the opportunity to get any games they want regardless of "classification".
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#1.1 Posted by chicken-royal on 25 Oct 2007 - 15:19
- Yep, get it out on PC and stick it on Steam.
Actually, that'd be a pretty good idea. -
#1.2 Posted by m-p{3} on 25 Oct 2007 - 18:29
- Quote - (chicken-royal said @ #1.1)Yep, get it out on PC and stick it on Steam.
Actually, that'd be a pretty good idea.
Unless Valve decide to apply censorship as they did for they German releases. -
#1.3 Posted by chicken-royal on 26 Oct 2007 - 19:42
- Quote - (m-p{3} said @ #1.2)Unless Valve decide to apply censorship as they did for they German releases.
The UK seems to be the only country making it difficult for Rockstar to sell Manhunt 2 at the moment. And I'm pretty sure the German versions of games have to be different because of some German law.
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#2 Posted by Stevieboy84 on 26 Oct 2007 - 11:53
- They should just host the 'Original/Uncensored' version on a server in a country that doesn't care and offer it as a download for all the stable-minded people who won't start killing random people just because I saw it in a game once...
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#3 Posted by Nose Nuggets on 26 Oct 2007 - 17:47
- ^^^^
exactly, if thats the case then they should absolutely sell the original unedited version for download with no board review.
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#4 Posted by CrimsonBetrayal on 31 Oct 2007 - 07:20
- Not true, last I heard here in Aus it's been banned too. Bummer.
I guess the government thinks that we grown adults don't play video games. Might as well stop spending my hard earned money then.
The latest twist to the tale of the controversial title is the result of a loophole in the UK's 1984 Video Recordings Act, spotted by Phill Carnell, a lawyer with legal firm CMS Cameron McKenna, and revealed to Register Hardware.
Downloaded games, he said, do not need an age-suitability classification, such as 15 or 18, because the Act, which mandates the BBFC's certification programme and forces retailers to obey the classifications, only covers physical products.
A BBFC spokeswoman confirmed that if Manhunt 2 publisher Take-Two Interactive chose to sell the game online as a download then “that would be legal and not contravening the Video Recordings Act”. She added that some games are already sold this way without a BBFC rating, but that most developers choose to have their games classified because selling a physical product is more profitable.
Carnell said the loophole is "ridiculous and dated", but that Take-Two is probably aware of it. However, he claimed the company may choose not to exploit the opportunity because the likes of Sony and Nintendo are likely only to allow onto their consoles games that carry a BBFC rating.
Manhunt 2 has been refused a classification by the BBFC on two occasions because of its “unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone”, combined with encouragement of “visceral killing” and “casual sadism”.
However, the game was granted a Mature (M) rating – for gamers aged 17 or over - in the US, where it goes on sale on 29 October.
Take-Two and the game's developer, Rockstar Studios, were unavailable for comment.