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ESRB Refuses To Detail Manhunt 2 Re-Rating Logic

Posted by Zonk on from the it-is-dark-you-are-likely-to-be-eaten-by-a-grue dept.

Next Generation reports that the ESRB is flatly refusing Leland Yee's request to further outline their logic behind Manhunt 2's re-rating. Says organization president Patrica Vance, "It is simply not our place to reveal specific details about the content we have reviewed, particularly when it involves a product yet to be released. What can be said is that the changes that were made to the game, including the depictions themselves and the context in which those depictions were presented, were sufficient to warrant the assignment of an M (Mature 17+) rating by our raters."

7 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. What's the issue? by steveo777 · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Seems cut and dry. The ESRB isn't a news source and probably has in its guidelines that it can't release any game info anyway. Come to think of it, HAS anyone ever leaked info at the ESRB? That would be news indeed.

    Next story.

    --
    This sig isn't original enough, it's time to come up with something witty...
    1. Re:What's the issue? by Sinistar2k · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What is also cut and dry is that the ESRB said that content that garnered the AO rating was changed or removed to bring it back into M territory. This is no different than films initially rated R cutting content in order to achieve a PG-13 and yet no politicians demand to see detailed change lists for every movie re-rating.

    2. Re:What's the issue? by Babbster · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, but movies don't turn children into homicidal maniacs. Don't tell me you can't understand the difference!

    3. Re:What's the issue? by ravenshrike · · Score: 4, Funny

      They take an Excel spreadsheet and put up 5 columns. G is weighted at one, PG 2, PG-13 3, R 4, and NC-17 5. Then they put the events in the movie/game under each category. Then they make a pie chart of the results, put it on a dartboard, and throw 7 times. Whichever rating area gets the most is the rating of the movie.

  2. Translated: by spocksbrain · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "We do not want people to scrutinize the way we arbitrarily make willy-vanilly decisions on the way we rate video games."

  3. Why is this surprising? by Minwee · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Games are submitted to the ESRB with the understanding of confidentiality. All that the ESRB releases is a final rating, they don't leak the whole content of the game.

    Doing anything different would be like the MPAA releasing movie ratings of "This film is rated PG for sci-fi action violence, with some mature content like that scene near the end where Darth Vader reveals that he is Luke's father" or "Rated PG-13 for intense thematic material, violent images and Malcolm Crowe really being dead all along but not realizing it".

    If Dr. Linn or Senator Yee want to know what changes have been made to Manhunt 2 then they should be asking Rockstar about it. You know, the people who wrote it, made changes to it, and are in a position to release that kind of information. Hounding the ESRB for details is like calling someone's family doctor to demand details about their health.

  4. Gamepolitics by Hemogoblin · · Score: 4, Informative

    For the last week, the website Gamepolitics.com has been covering the Manhunt controversy and related stories. Gamepolitics is one of the few high quality journalistic websites that covers gaming news. Check it out.

    Heres a couple choice stories:
    Yee: What is ESRB Trying to Hide?
    Californias Leland Yee: Let Consoles Play Adults Only Games
    Consumer & Game Industry Reps Weigh In On Dreaded AO Rating