Det er ikke en nyhed i sig selv at voldsomme spil går hen og bliver forbudt i visse lande. Primært har det handlet om lande som Tyskland eller Australien, men denne gang er der tale om de Britiske BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) som har slået i bordet og krævet forbud mod at sælge Rockstars Manhunt 2. Sidste gang BBFC tog en lignende beslutningen drejede det sig om Carmageddon men dengang blev beslutningen trukket tilbage på grund af klager.
I kan læse hele erklæringen her:
"Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines. In the case of Manhunt 2 this has not been possible. Manhunt 2 is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing. There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game.
Although the difference should not be exaggerated the fact of the game's unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying and the sheer lack of alternative pleasures on offer to the gamer, together with the different overall narrative context, contribute towards differentiating this submission from the original Manhunt game. That work was classified ‘18' in 2003, before the BBFC's recent games research had been undertaken, but was already at the very top end of what the Board judged to be acceptable at that category.
Against this background, the Board's carefully considered view is that to issue a certificate to Manhunt 2, on either platform, 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."
Take Two kan klage over beslutningen, men det er endnu uklart om de vil gøre dette, og om det eventuelt vil betyde en forsinkelse af spillet. I Danmark påvirkes vi i teorien ikke af BBFCs beslutning, men da Storbritannien er en af de store spillere på markedet her i Europa kan beslutningen alligevel få konsekvenser her.