Speaking at Develop today, Sarassin founder Vincent Scheurer has joined in with the anti-BBFC sentiment and issued some rather weighty warnings concerning a UK games industry rated by the British Board of Film Classification.
"The costs of the Manhunt 2 ban to Rockstar were massive - an independent developer would be out of business," he stated, referring of the course the notorious (and overturned) Manhunt 2 ban that received a lot of coverage here and elsewhere. "It makes the business of making games that much harder."
During his talk, Scheurer gave the BBFC's reasons for banning Manhunt 2, which included realism and a lack of puzzles or humor. "Call of Duty and BioShock could be banned under that criteria … The next game to be banned could be BioShock 2, and then where would we be?" was his doom-laden prophecy.
This is all very messy indeed and I really hate to show support for a government/press-bullied BBFC or a publisher-controlled PEGI. I think it's safe to say that, either way, the UK games industry is going to have to climb a lot more mountains before videogames get fair and equal treatment next to other forms of art. If there is one thing I can fully agree with Scheurer on, it's this sentiment: "While we fail to fight back we will continue to be blamed for all of societies ills … In my view Tiga was the only association to step up … Tiga realized, where the other's didn't, that this was about more than Manhunt 2."
Exactly.
Jim Sterling serves as reviews editor for Destructoid.com, head of the Podtoid podcast, and produces a number of news stories, original features, one-of-a-kind videos. With his passionate argumentative style, controversial opinions, harsh delivery, and dedication to brutal honesty Sterling is a name that you can't help but recognize.
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Contest:
10:14 AM on 07.31.2008
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Hmm...thank god I live the good old tolerant USA...wait...
On the other hand, BioShock 2?! Fuck yes.
Yes, they included such brain teasers as "Go and find the telekinesis plasmid to throw the grenade at the blockage" not very complicated, but BioShock still owns
/cry
We could call it Rapture! ... or maybe Sealabia!
Tough titties I say. Societies get the leaders they deserve and it's clear the UK with its blinkered love of football and reality TV has a collective IQ of an eight year old. Therefore it doesn't deserve to play 'mature' (even occasionally sophisticated games) like Bioshock, Dead Rising, GTA IV and Mass Effect.
Remember that time he strangled a guy with a plastic bag. Ha! PRICELESS!
Axle: Since when has the video game industry as a whole not roll over every time it was challenged? As for the rest of your comment, just lol. Get a clue you dumb fuck. It may surprise you to learn that a large part of the population has no interest in watching Reality TV, most of which these days seems to come from the US. Some of us *gasp* don't watch football either.
I hope your Mother gets Cancer, you Ignorant, Hillbilly, Inbred, Cunt
Super Moon Disabled Child Murder Puzzle 2000.
The actual game would be pretty much like Pokemon Snap, except instead of taking pictures you're murdering, and instead of pokemon they're disabled children. The unrealism would come from it taking place in a moon colony in the year 2000, obviously ridiculous as there weren't any moon colonies then. The puzzle aspect manipulating the environment to bring about the untimely deaths of aforementioned infants, so say you'd have to alter the angles of mirrors so a laser would burn a kid with no legs face off. The humour would come from there being a commentry of your actions involving such hilarious comments as 'That's no way to get aHEAD in life!!' when a child with cleft palate gets their skull crushed by a bulldozer. I'm thinking get the guy who does 'Worlds Funniest Videos' to do the commentry.
There. I'd like to see them ban that.
EH?
Then again, I found the first Manhunt to be hilarious too. The baseball bat red stealth kill cracks me up every time I saw it.
the Uk made most of the GTA games including GTA IV.
Call of Duty 4 and Bioshock both have their rethoric and humour lined within each game. BBFC reviewers could only see this kind of thing by playing these games (something they don't do for every game, using submitted video footage instead).
I'd rather have PEGI do this stuff, as I feel the EU would be more open to the idea of games being treated fairly, like other forms of media. PEGI also obviously have more knowledge of games too.
Tell me then, how exactly am I ignorant?
I especially take exception at insulting my mother and assuming, just because I have a contrary viewpoint, that I am a redneck. The fact that I'm British shows the ignorance and petty-mindedness that I spoke of above.
Y'know, I started writing more but then I said to myself "Why bother, you're an asshole anyway".
Maybe you should take your next course on social skills.
When exactly did my lack of social skills mean that I called someone a 'dumb fuck' or an 'asshole'? Do you see the contradiction in what you're saying? I put forward an idea which you don't agree with and then I'm told that people on here hope my mother gets cancer.
Hold up a mirror to your face. That reflection is the society I mentioned above.
Whoever has what aside, I think we could all agree that the ratings system in the UK currently is a shambles. and when a stink is kicked up about a violent, shocking, child-brain damaging new game, the people behind such accusations normally have motives bigger than protecting the children.
I think the movie and music industry has a far larger part to play in all this than we know.
What I can't agree with is the personal insults banded out against me just becasue I offered a contrary view. You're right, perhaps my 'social elitism' may be better served elsewhere, but what hope is there for gamers to have their voices heard when they flame, insult and defile others? Are those the actions of a mature, politically relvant community, or the behaviour of a childish section of society that conforms to a self-fulfilling prophecy?
Jeez they gave you a PhD for coming out with shit like that?
I've heard that 'collective IQ' is a concept frequently used by real sociologists.
It's about videogames, so I'm sure you will all be interested in it. When you've read it, then you can tell me whether you think it's a decent piece of work or not. If you don't like it, fair enough, but try not to make assumptions about something you haven't read.
Oh and that misspelling was intentional - Trolltalk is serious business.
Your point could have been perfectly reasonably made but you had to start the poo throwing by telling us we're braindead drooling morons for whom watching the football and reading OK magazine to catch up with the latest Next Top Celebrity get me out of Here Brother is the pinnacle of culture. I could have danced around my insult too but why not just say what you're thinking?
By the way, you really shouldn't try to correct spelling anyway, since you invariably (as you have) end up making one in your next message anyway :P
Whilst I wholeheartedly agree with you, I think some of the points you make are slightly away from the topic: Games were always going to be slammed like this sooner or later - the reason they are so often differentiated between movies etc in the past was that they were no way near the quality in graphics, sound, storyline and such to be compared to other mediums...
Now that the graphics etc.. have evolved to the point that where they CAN be compared to movies has made this whole thing explode over the last few years. The fact that us game players have 'voted' anybody into power is a side issue.
Anyway, when I vote, the candidate's attitude to gaming is normally the last thing on my mind. I want to be sure the guy I'm voting for doesn't have his finger too close to the red button.
(12A means anyone under 12 has to be with an adult.)