While America and Britain still consider their populations full of people who need entertainment screened like nations of giant infants, it seems that at least one country is sensible enough to let its people think for themselves. While the US version of Manhunt 2 was edited to avoid the defacto banning of an AO rating and the UK/German versions are still banned like it's the 1800s, our friends in The Netherlands have found themselves unable to ban the game thanks to perhaps the most awesome law in the world. Should Rockstar choose to, it will be able to sell the controversial sequel in all its banworthy glory.
There were those that tried to ban the game there, of course, but Dutch laws on the matter are founded on the idea that grown adults can make their own decisions and discern for themselves which games they can and cannot play. A country that doesn't patronize and mollycoddle its people? Wow, I'd never have imagined it in my lifetime. Rockstar hasn't expressed a desire to release an uncut version out there, but if it ever does, I will have no concerns with importing a copy. I don't even want it, but anyting to stick it to the BBFC.
[Danke, TehuberOne]
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:
7:44 AM on 09.04.2007
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Wiis should always be modded anyway. I'm sorry, but if Nintendo insists on region locking everything while simultaneously screwing over other countries on release dates, they ask for it.
"I don't even want it, but anyting to stick it to the BBFC." - Jim
I'll go with Jim on this one though..
I'm in a foreign country and not up on everything, give me a break. :-)
buy it to make some of you jealous :P hihi (bad)
the netherlands rock. at last we get something other people don't
You're very much confused. The AO rating only exists in the ESRB. They only do the US and Canada. In Europe we mainly use the PEGI. The highest rating they have is an 18+, which neither Sony nor Nintendo have a problem with.
The US and Canada are the only countries in the world where the banned AO rating exist.
Nintendo and Sony will not stop an 18 game being released on their consoles in europe regardless of it's content.
"The Netherlands lacks a videogame regulative body, self-appointed or otherwise, such as the ESRB or British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), and the European Union doesn't police games across all its member states."
There ISN'T a rating board in the Netherlands. You can't get a rating if there's no one to rate it. So, to all the people that say Nintendo and Sony won't allow and AO or 18+ rated game due to their company policies...
Actually the Netherlands does have a rating board. It's one of the 29 Europeon nations that use the PEGI:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PEGI#See_also
I'm not sure if that IGN article is accurate.
"Participation is voluntary, at the discretion of the game developer."
While there are 29 nations that utilize PEGI, only 2-3 of them have any legal basis behind it. It's about the equivalent of when Best Buy started listing the alternate ratings with the games. But if a developer choses not to get it rated, it can still be released and sold in stores.
So I see. Tis confusing. Nonetheless, as people have said, Rockstar haven't made any statment on releasing the game in the Netherlands yet. It's just possible for them to do so, so who knows.
What I wanna know is how Take-Two got suspended from PEGI. I quote:
"Manhunt 2, while being banned by BBFC, could have been sold uncut with a 18+ rating in certain PEGI countries if not for Take-Two's suspension."
I've looked but can't find anything about how they got the suspension. It seems that's the only thing stopping the game from getting released in the UK.
ive been playing it heavily on the wii, nice game rockstar. im sure this will cause this game more harm than good, but i had a feeling this would happen. i can see where the game was edited. and i can see why. i wish it was clear cut as they wanted it to be sooo, i blame the esrb for "forcing" rockstar to do this....