Well, it seems a few Senators, including a Democratic Front Runner and a former GOP candidate attacked the ESRB and their changed M-rating of Manhunt 2 today. They want a “review of the ratings process” (something the MPAA that rates movies has never endured) and Manhunt 2 to be re-rated as Adults Only. First a bit of background: Manhunt 2 originally got an AO rating and was banned by the UK. Rockstar Games made the requested changes (which the ESRB doesn’t disclose) and netted an M-Mature. The resulting game stinks, but not because of this self-censorship. Okay, caught up? Quote, link, and analysis follows:

WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) – A bipartisan group of lawmakers including a Democratic presidential hopeful is calling on the makers of video games to review the industry’s ratings system.

In letter to the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the lawmakers complained about its decision to give an “mature” rating Rockstar’s “Manhunt 2” game.

Sens. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., Sam Brownback, R-Kan., Evan Bayh, D-Ind., and Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said the game’s violent content, which includes “many graphic torture scenes and murders,” should have garnered an “adults only” rating.

Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic nomination for president, has long pressed for tougher ratings and has called for a unified ratings system for movies, games and TV shows.

LINK

GAMERDAD’s TAKE: Okay, I’m on the record as being for Manhunt 2 getting an AO rating, but I’m also on record for saying that the AO rating should be viable. It isn’t. An AO doesn’t mean the game will be safe from anyone under 18, because it’s a fake and useless rating. No console maker allows AO games on their consoles. Not Microsoft, not Sony, not Nintendo. Further, no store will sell an AO rated game. If these Senators had their way, they’d be effectively banning Manhunt 2 as a viable product. This is censorship at its most insidious and even though my loathing of Manhunt 2 is also on record and no secret, I’d rather live in a world where Senators who don’t have a clue about videogames have no say in how they’re created, sold, and rated.

It’s very simple. Don’t buy this game for your kids. Don’t buy from retailers caught selling this game to kids. Throw the game out if you find your kids playing it. Engage in a dialog with your children over why they’re attracted to such a violent – and thoroughly sucky – game in the first place. (At least with the ultra-violent Grand Theft Auto series there’s a good game there… think of GTA as Kill Bill and Manhunt 2 as Hostel. One is violent and good. The other is violent and not good.)

As far as the argument that the ESRB needs to disclose their policy – what they had Rockstar change exactly to get the friendlier rating – I shake my head “no.” Nobody knows better than GamerDad how hard the ESRB’s job is and requiring them to disclose ever decision – to insist on transparency – to me sounds like a tactic to “catch” inconsistencies and further bash a ratings board that, overall, is doing a good job.

Tags: Misc