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Home Manhunt updates

UK petitions new Prime Minister over Manhunt 2 ban

4:48 PM on 07.01.2007, David Houghton 19 comments

UK petitions new Prime Minister over Manhunt 2 ban photo
     Manhunt

Slowly but surely, the wheels of dissent are beginning to turn in the UK. Earlier in the week, ELSPA's former leader let rip a volley of disapproval at the BBFC for its unfair and potentially industry-damaging treatment of Manhunt 2. Now the good citizens of the misty island of castles and unicorns are following suit, with a petition set up on the Prime Minister's official site calling for a revocation of the ban and the implementation of an 18 rating instead. You know, like sane, mature people would have done in the first place.

While internet petitions usually aren't worth the paper they're not written on, the fact that this one is hosted on an official government site makes it worth a go, as does the fact that Gordon Brown has only just moved into office. After years of bitter domestic wrangling and tearful, crockery-smashing fights with Tony Blair, he's finally thrown the bitch out, and is now kicking back with a box of chocolates and I Will Survive on repeat, and making a big deal out of his vow that things are going to be different from now on. 

While ol' rubbery face's claims of a more dialectic approach with the people of the UK obviously raise the cynicisometer needle just a tad, right now the guy's aiming to impress as the antithesis of President Blair, and so he has to be seen to be listening. To that end, now is the time to throw your Christmas list at him while he's suffering from the vulnerability inflicted by his own PR. UK residents have got until August the 25th to sign up, but should get to it right now.

And most importantly, don't just leave the work to the petition. These things often fail because they're seen as a single complaint despite the vast number of signatures on them, so follow up your e-signature with a real, paper and pen letter. A petition may get noticed, but a crammed letterbox full of tangible, individual letters to accompany said petition is going to be impossible to ignore, and doubly so if you send the same letter to your local MP as well. This is one situation in which spam is a good thing, so lets get typing and harrassing. 

[Via GamePolitics.com]


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Nyteshade's Avatar
Nyteshade at 07/01/2007 16:56
@Spykron Sadly we won't be seeing AO titles on consoles any time soon. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo all have "set in stone" rules not allowing AO content on their consoles.

That being said, if we can get the UK ban removed and the US AO rating changed to M, the game could be released in it's full form. Most likely we'll just be seeing a toned down version in a few months though.
Jim Sterling's Avatar
Jim Sterling at 07/01/2007 17:04
Brown the fishfaced wanderer will be a hero if he unbans this.
Mxyzptlk's Avatar
Mxyzptlk at 07/01/2007 17:04
Man, that's a haircut only an Englishman could get away with.
David Houghton 's Avatar
David Houghton at 07/01/2007 17:08
I'm not entirely convinced he does get away with it.
Nyteshade's Avatar
Nyteshade at 07/01/2007 17:14
Hey now, his mom worked very hard with scissors and a metal bowl to get his hair just like that!

I bet she dressed him too. That blue tie with pink polka-dots is quite the show piece to match the hair.
Jaded Alyx's Avatar
Jaded Alyx at 07/01/2007 17:27
Mxyzptlk

He's Scottish
Tempus's Avatar
Tempus at 07/01/2007 17:27
Houghton makes politics pallatable. Nicely done Squire, I daresay you may pop 'round for a slice of cake and a cup of tea.
atheistium's Avatar
atheistium at 07/01/2007 17:33
Signed, I hope this works out for the best :D
David Houghton 's Avatar
David Houghton at 07/01/2007 17:41
Me too. I'm not convinced of the petition's worth on its own, but as part of a multi-pronged attack full of letters and e-mail it might well help a fair bit.
Kaikara's Avatar
Kaikara at 07/01/2007 17:42
'President Blair' -surely Prime Minister Blair. Typo?
David Houghton 's Avatar
David Houghton at 07/01/2007 17:44
Nope, unsubtle satire. :) The term's been going around for a while now, due to the "I alone run this country!" way he was doing things. The rest of the government didn't get a look in under his watch.
Trevor McGee's Avatar
Trevor McGee at 07/01/2007 17:54
People need to start petitioning Sony and Nintendo to allow an AO Manhunt 2 on their consoles, or just petition all console makers, Microsoft included, to allow AO games on their consoles. Petition video game stores, such as GameStop and EBgames to stock AO games even if it has to be behind the counter or hidden in the back. We're all entitled to play what we want as adults, and I'll be damned to be told what I can and cannot play. As said before, it's not just about Manhunt 2, it's about the future of video games, it's time to take another step and become it known that this media/hobby/past time is for everyone and not just children or teens, but also adults.
David Houghton 's Avatar
David Houghton at 07/01/2007 18:08
Trev: Absolutely. We need to spam everyone involved en masse. Don't even wait for petitions to get set up. Just write to every developer, publisher, company, retail chain, and politician you can get details for. These people make their policy decisions based on how many members of the public are going to support them, so they need to be shown just how many of us there are out there who want this changes.
Kaikara's Avatar
Kaikara at 07/01/2007 18:10
@David

Ah 'kay!! Just hadn't heard that one before I guess ^_^;
UglyDuck's Avatar
UglyDuck at 07/01/2007 19:09
I signed, but I didn't put my real name or address... I'm a bad and paranoid person. :'(
Joe Burling's Avatar
Joe Burling at 07/01/2007 21:34
Good signs! Though I'm with David when considering how effective online petitions really are, if it gets the right people to listen it's always good.
jerrt's Avatar
jerrt at 07/02/2007 11:34
wow, now that is a step in the right directtion.
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