The GameShadow Blog

Following news that Fallout 3 has had to remove certain drug references in order to gain classification in Australia, the game’s Product Manager, Pete Hines, has lashed out against the ratings agencies, and their varying standards.

“The frustrating thing for us is that the standards and rules can be so varied across territories, that we work with five or six ratings agencies and each one has different ‘hot buttons’,” he said.

“In one place nudity is a big deal but violence is fine, and in another place drugs are a problem but nudity is fine. I guess that’s the way of the world - not every country is the same. You’re not aiming at one target, you’re aiming at six different ones, worrying about how each one will feel about different things.

“We just go through and make the game that we want to make - We have our eyes wide open, mindful of the things that could be flagged up and how we’re going to resolve them if that becomes a problem,” he added.

Yes.

After months of debate, it looked as if Manhunt 2 was dead in the water. Having been refused classification by the BBFC and ESRB, the game was edited, and resubmitted, at which stage the ESRB allowed the game to be released in the US, while the BBFC again disapproved - for no explicable reason.

Rockstar appealed to the Video Appeals Committee - the guys whose job it is to ensure the BBFC don’t do anything stupid. They decided the BBFC had done something stupid, and overruled their decision. The BBFC, not about to lose face, challenged this decision in the high court, which ruled in their favour, leading us to the situation where the game’s release was highly doubtful.

Today, the VAC again overruled the BBFC, with a majority of four to three. The BBFC had this to say.

“The Video Appeals Committee has again exercised its independent scrutiny. It is now clear, in the light of this decision, and our legal advice, that we have no alternative but to issue an ‘18’ certificate to the game.”

The battle’s not been entirely victorious of course - the game’s violent killings still had to be censored to even be considered for release.

Now we have to come to terms with the fact that the game’s crap. Still, it’s the principle of the thing.

Stick it to the man, boys!

No More Heroes, the Japanese assassin game from Killer 7 devs Grasshopper Manufacture, is to be censored in the UK, but not in the US.

This is old news, but since No More Heroes is due here in Blighty March 7th, it’s making me want to spit blood all over again. This completely over the top Wii game features cartoon violence, decapitation, and endless Kill Bill style blood as a key part of its charm and style - in the US, traditionally associated with over the top censorship, that’s how it remains. In the UK and the rest of Europe, however, it will be released sans blood.

When asked whether this decision had anything to do with the BBFC`s stunning lack of judgement in refusing to rate even an edited version of Manhunt 2, the publisher replied ‘Maybe’.

Stupidity has struck once again for the ill-fated Manhunt 2, as the BBFC’s appeal to the High Court is successful.

Beginning some months ago, the British Board of Film Classification opted not to classify Manhunt 2, effectively banning it from sale in the UK, citing its ‘callousness of tone’ as one reason for doing so. Rockstar appealed the decision, taking the issue to the Video Appeals Committee, who decided by a narrow majority that the BBFC had been wrong. Ordered to classify the game, the BBFC - whose only other complete balls up was refusing to classify Carmageddon many moons ago - instead took the issue further. The High Court has decided some ‘error of the law’ has been committed, and the VAC will now reconvene very soon for what may be a final decision.

While the BBFC is rightly concerned that being proved wrong in this case will badly damage its reputation - that’s what happens when you do stupid things - you and I know that Manhunt 2 will be tame compared to many games that slip through the net. Of course, those games aren’t as high profile, so the BBFC doesn’t really give one.

There are stories of one victim who happened to be walking past a building in which someone who had played Manhunt 2 had once brushed their teeth, and the unfortunate soul was instantly transformed into an axe murdering psychopath.

The image below is said by the BBFC to be the direct result of being exposed to even a split second of Manhunt 2 footage.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that, ‘Investors in CNET Networks Inc. have teamed up in an effort to garner board seats, saying change was needed to revitalize the online media company.’ Was the Gerstmann incident a foreshadowing of just this?

The crux of the story is that a collection of individual investors or investment groups who each own small parts of CNET - the parent company behind Gamespot - have banded together in order to push their agenda on CNET. To do this, they intend to nominate seven people of their own choosing to the company board - something which, together, they can easily achieve.

CNET claims such action is in contravention of its own bylaws.

Worryingly, one of the consortium’s primary goals is ‘leveraging the company’s editorial content and staff” in order to increase share value. That sounds, to me, suspiciously similar to what Gamespot is already accused of having done - using the power of its reviews to appease publishers.

The system works.

The BBFC and Rockstar have gone tooth to nail again at Rockstar’s appeal against the BBFC’s decision not to rate Manhunt 2. The panel’s decision is yet to be made.

I know I said I’d stop with this stuff - it just winds me up, so I’ll cover it in the name of completeness, and leave it at that.

You can find the news story here.

You can find my favourite Andrew Caldecott (representing the BBFC) quote here:

“[Violence] is a frequent theme of level one, which is the only one I’ve actually played right through.”

The crux of his defence seems to revolve around the fact that games are more likely to get into the hands of kids, therefore anything unsuitable for kids shouldn’t be classified or sold at all.

Nice one, Andrew.

What’s more, he proposes there should be some boundary of common decency in video games, and that the line should be drawn at Manhunt 2.

Who needs Medal of Honor when we’re already living in Nazi Germany?

I had a lot of fun writing this feature.

If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you’ll know I’m not the greatest fan of the likes of ERSB and BBFC (incidentally, Hillary Clinton’s been bitching about the two of them recently, which is nice to see), but I try hard to keep it under control.

This is how I manage it.

It’s a satirical take on the whole censorship issue, including commentary on the use of kittens as silencers, and Pacman’s racially sensitive skin tone.

Check it out here.

It’s also the first in a new category of feature called Flim Flam. I’m not quite sure what it means, I just know I like it, and that everyone in the office apart from Nicholas and I hate it.

Which makes me like it more.

As ever, any and all comments are welcomed, provided they’re punctuated.

It brings me great joy to announce that Hot Coffee - the infamous hack for GTA: San Andreas that unlocked spectacularly un-erotic place-holder sex scenes - has a sequel.

Manhunt 2 - no, I’m not going to wax on about the censorship organisations’ ridiculous overreactions, we all know the deal, I’m just going to let this link speak for itself – has finally been released in the US on PSP and PS2 with heavily censored execution scenes, winning it the M rating it needed to be sold in Wal-Mart.

Rather than entirely remove said scene, however, Developer Rockstar London, through either astounding stupidity or commendable rebel spirit, has opted to simply disable the scenes in a similar fashion to the sex scenes in San Andreas.

In a similar fashion to the sex scenes in San Andreas, the full executions have already been discovered and put on display.

Stupid, or brilliant, what do you think?