This stock will be one to watch after it IPO's. There have been only 3 other titles that garnered this much attention due to the content contained within. The first: Night Trap, which brought the issue to the US congress for a few scenes of girls running around in underwear. The Second: Thrill Kill Kult, which drew so much attention that the development studio was bought by a production company and the title was buried. The Third: Grand Theft Auto, III for the alleged inspiration to kill in two separate court cases, and IV for the infamous Hot Coffee mod that inspired Hilary Clinton to have a congressional team investigate the effect of video games on youth minds. Many believe that this will be the game that breaks the camel’s back with the "Killing Gestures" solidify some psychological disconnect in a young mind, other think that's no more harmful that making a gun out of the fingers in your hand while playing cowboys and Indians. I'm eagerly awaiting the ipo of this stock, and I believe it to be one of the few that can cut through the over commercialized marketing titles, and the tried and true franchises, and give an accurate prediction of sales based on media attention alone.
In a message of thanks issued to its supporters, Rockstar has defended controversial title Manhunt 2 and argued that games should be judged in the same way as other forms of media.
"Following the news that Rockstar's controversial Manhunt 2 has been rejected for classification here in the UK by the British Board of Film Classification, it seems prams across the land are currently experiencing a serious toy deficiency. While there's certainly some justification for confusion regarding the Board's decision, it seems that many games players, including us here at IGN, are still somewhat mystified by the inner workings of video games ratings system here in Britain. With that in mind, we approached the BBFC's press office manager Sue Clark to find out more about the classification process, its ratings criteria and, of course, Manhunt 2."
"Take-Two, in addition to appealing the AO rating, has apparently invited members of the mainstream media to evaluate Manhunt 2, including Newsweek and MTV. Also in attendance was a journalist from the New York Times, Seth Schiesel, who viewed the game and had some especially interesting remarks, comparing the game to an R-rated movie."
A back-and-forth analysis of the controversial game, done by MTV News' Stephen Totilo and Newsweek's N'Gai Croal, including comparison of its controversy to other controversial media works (Natural Born Killers, Taxi Driver). Croal: "Unless they have good reason to believe that this game is an imminent threat to the public order, or that it will in and of itself incite adults to violence, [the BBFC and IFCO's] decision seems to me to be based on taste, and I will never believe in substituting anyone else's tastes for my own."
Manhunt 2 is Rockstar Games' bloody follow-up to the 2003 snuff classic that has found itself in the middle of a firestorm even greater than the one conjured by its predecessor. While the stealthy gameplay of the original may have been nothing new, the style and subject matter of Manhunt made it one of the most mature games ever to hit the gaming world. While controversy always surrounded the game, it definitely didn't do any harm to its sales, so it was perhaps inevitable that Rockstar would produce a sequel. However, in its attempt to top the first game, Rockstar has opened up a big can of worms that has led to this week's recent drama. Back before everything hit the fan, we had the chance to get a proper hands-on with work-in-progress versions of the PlayStation 2 and Wii incarnations of the game. What we played then appeared to be an engaging sequel that was indeed poised to outdo the original.
Agreed, trihunter. As I stated below, should the game get released (and, for this to happen, it must be rerated) I feel 40DKP would be far more realistic, and even then it may be high- that value relies on a legitimate level of morbid curiosity. If they took option A, the game would literally sell zero- Nintendo and Sony won't license it.
a.) release the game as it is b.)reconstruct the game in order to get M ratings or to un-ban in the UK.
Both will require money in a.) loss of sales from all countries that de facto or de jure ban it, or b.)recreating more content on their development teams.
The only option they can really take is Option B. If the company takes Option A, the game will sell nothing in the UK and Europe and practically zero in America. So if they decide to release the game as is, don't expect 750,000 crazed fans to go out and buy this game without zero help from the UK and America.
Take-Two has confirmed that Manhunt 2 will be suspended while they explore their options. This comes after Sony and Nintendo announcements that they will not allow the Adults Only rated game to be launched on their systems, and other countries have banned the game from even being allowed to be released in their country.
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