"Manhunt 2" Banned in the UK

by Jordan Yerman | June 19, 2007 at 10:45 am

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Not a good week for video games in the UK. I predict an appeal from Rockstar games on this one: Ultimately a video game like the one described below not meant for impressionable minds, whatever that may mean*, but Manhunt 2 is clearly marketed towards an older audience.

British censors have banned a violent video game from the UK for the first time in a decade.

The video game Manhunt 2 was rejected for its "unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying", the British Board of Film Classification said.

It means the Manhunt sequel cannot be legally supplied anywhere in the UK.

The parents of a Leicester schoolboy who blamed the original game for the murder of their 14-year-old son said they were "absolutely elated".

The original Manhunt game was given an 18 classification in 2003.

Manhunt 2, for PS2 and Nintendo Wii consoles, is made by Rockstar Games.

The company has six weeks to submit an appeal.

Speaking about the ban, BBFC director David Cooke director said that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2 "would involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors, within the terms of the Video Recordings Act, and accordingly that its availability, even if statutorily confined to adults, would be unacceptable to the public".

*In my own yoof, I knew the difference between fantasy and reality-- I cannot imagine how banning bloody video games will not effectively curb youth violence. It will, however, mean big business for those selling such games from abroad via eBay! There's a Youtube clip attached to this article, and, yeah, it's violent.