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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]