Manhunt 2 Leaked By Sony Europe Employee

GamePolitics has the word that the leaked version of Manhunt 2 was put onto the internet by a Sony employee. "GamePolitics has now learned that the leak came directly from PlayStation Europe. Here's a statement from Manhunt 2 publisher Take-Two Interactive: 'Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that a former employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has acknowledged his responsibility for the unauthorized online distribution of an unrated play-test version of Manhunt 2 submitted for the European PAL PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system.'"

Comments

Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Ant P.]

Imagine if the remaining game companies making PS3 games start pulling support over this.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[geedra]

Then no one will get to play them...oh wait, they never would because no one bought a ps3 in the first place.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[zygotic mitosis]

The Sony employee in question was fired. What more could the other publishers want? I don't see Sony getting in any more trouble than paying an OOC settlement to Take Two, then the whole thing goes away.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your comment makes no sense.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

While I'm really a PC gamer, I do like to watch console sales. It just so happens I can clear up any confusion you have in this regard. I'm going to say this once and make it clear: The PS3 is selling just as well as the Xbox360. Remember, the Xbox360 had a full year ahead of the PS3 where it did NOT have to compete against other next gen consoles. The Xbox360 had Halo fanboys expecting Halo 3. The Xbox360 had Gears of War right after launch. I'm not sure what is driving most of the sales of the PS3 (could it really be Bluray?) but it is selling just as well as the 360. Ergo, if no one is buying the PS3, then we can conclude that no one was buying the 360 either.

I'm not implying or inferring that you are an Xbox fanboy. I have no idea, and it very well could be that you won't play anything but board games, and have said the same thing about the Xbox elsewhere. I just wanted to clear this up in case anyone else saw this.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Anonymous Coward]

vgcharts.com is the fanboy site that was trying to tell everyone that the Xbox 360 had sold 10 million worldwide back in November 2006, some 10-11 months ago. It now lists the 360 at 11 million or so.

vgacharts.com pads out the 'Other' category as far as they can for the 360 - I guess in some hope of doing their part in the fanboy wars for the 360. And of course they like to take their time updating the PS3 stats with the latest sales figures. So even if a fanboy site like vgcharts.com has the PS3 selling an equal amount it should be a pretty good indication of just how well the console is doing.

Anyone who follows the Japanese and European sales charts in addition to the US can clearly see the PS3 outselling the 360 by a huge margin worldwide. It's only in the US that the 360 is really still relevant. Although that won't last for long now that the whole Halo 3 release is over.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

For the benefit of all of us, are you talking about vgchartz.com or vgcharts.com, which are two different websites.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[pclminion]

Because of a leak that no longer works there? It could happen to any company, and it is unpreventable except with extremely draconian measures.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Anonymous Coward]

I assume he meant www.vgchartz.com, the one people like to quote for sales figures. The site in the past has come right out and admitted that they just make up numbers they don't have. The US and Japan numbers are pretty much just reposts of the NPD and Media Create numbers, but the site then pretty much just fills out the worldwide total to a point they want that particular console to be at.

If you follow the console manufacturer's quarterly reports that have the actual shipments to various regions worldwide it becomes clear just how bogus the numbers are from the site. The most eggregious inflation of sales numbers on the site are the 360 numbers. For most of the past year, not only are the 360 numbers massively inflated, they don't even make sense when you put them side by side with the Microsoft quarterly reports details worldwide 360 shipments.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[QMalcolm]

I am going to try to not come off as a prick in this post.

Vgchart(s|z) is shit. Worth nothing. I'm a member of an extremely passionate video game forum, and posting vgcharts is enough to get you banned. NPD and Media Create are really the only two accurate sources. Wherever the vgcharts numbers come from, they are not even good estimates.

In any case, the PS3 is not selling as well as the 360.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[SethraLavode]

* Dragon Quest is rumored to be on its way to the PS3 next year but not official yet. Not surprising when you look at how far the Wii has fallen off in sales. So much for that waggle hype. You mean the same Dragon Quest that has been confirmed for the DS, with the spin-off which sold very well on the Wii? Right. I'm sure they'll move development from the DS to the PS3. It makes perfect sense.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Anonymous Coward]

hey everyone! it's another slashtard who thinks that he sees an empire crumbling over something no one will remember in 10 days. come and see a complete moronic gimp try to turn this into something that it isn't.
 
fucking fucktard.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Ant P.]

Um, I just looked at vgcharts and the very first line of text on their front page is saying they get their numbers from NPD.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[DDLKermit007]

Sorry, but you failed. You came off as a complete 1337est prick who should proceed to the nearest suicide booth.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Anonymous Coward]

I've heard very bad things about the people at NeoGAF.

VG Chartz is typically within 10-15% of NPD for hardware. For software it's all over the place. It's never going to be as trustworthy as NPD, but it's still interesting to look at between NPD's reports.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[king-manic]

I am going to try to not come off as a prick in this post.

Vgchart(s|z) is shit. Worth nothing. I'm a member of an extremely passionate video game forum, and posting vgcharts is enough to get you banned. NPD and Media Create are really the only two accurate sources. Wherever the vgcharts numbers come from, they are not even good estimates.

In any case, the PS3 is not selling as well as the 360.

You come off as a prick. Passionate != right. although vg chartz is often wrong. The PS3 outsells the 360 in japan. In the US the 360 sells better. in other markets? not covered by those two so your point?

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Anonymous Coward]

No dimwit, a real DQ is in development for the PS3 that is completely different than the lame DS DQ.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[armareum]

I like how you bash two other websites, but don't even have the balls to tell us which elistist video game forum you're a member of.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Bud Dickman]

Why do you make so many posts with links to vgchartz?

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

All of my posts to vgchartz are to correct people who have incorrect information about sales. For example, people often say that the Xbox360 is tearing the PS3 apart in sales. But if you look at the first year of sales for the 360 and compare it to the PS3, then to say the PS3 isn't selling well, is to say the Xbox360 isn't selling well.

I don't work for them and I don't think I've ever posted on their forums. NPD numbers are obviously more accurate, but vgchartz is usually pretty close, plus they have nice graphs and charts and histories for console sales. Plus, they come out with their data weekly, and it's free. If there is another site that does the same with NPD numbers then I'd be glad to see it.

Like I said before, I prefer PC games and don't really care about consoles in general. I just find it interesting to watch the sales charts, and vgchartz is the best site I've found that allows me to do that.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Bud Dickman]

I don't believe you. You've got a vested interest here that you're not disclosing. Your behavior is too unusual.

"For example, people often say that the Xbox360 is tearing the PS3 apart in sales. But if you look at the first year of sales for the 360 and compare it to the PS3, then to say the PS3 isn't selling well, is to say the Xbox360 isn't selling well."

If someone says that the 360 is outselling the PS3, they're taking about the present. They most likely mean that on any given Saturday, more people are walking out the door of their local retailer with a 360 than a PS3. The fact that the PS3 is selling at a similar rate as the 360 sold in its first year does not refute that statement.

Basically, in your example, someone is saying: More 360s were sold last Saturday than PS3s. Your amazing reply to such a statement is: "If you look at last Saturday, the number of PS3s sold is the same as the number of 360s sold at a similar time in the 360s lifetime."

It does nothing to refute the point that more people are buying 360s.

There's something strange about you. Disclose who you work for.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

I will tell you what consoles I own.

• Gamecube

Now I will tell you what games I own for it

• Super Smash Bros.
• Wind Waker
• Lego Star Wars
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles (which came with the system and I've played 10 minutes of it)

I won't tell you what company I work for, but I've worked -- and am currently working on -- titles for the 360 and the Wii, and doing a mod for Half-Life 2 on the side. I have no vested interest in the PS3's success. For that matter, I have no interest in any console selling anymore than any other console, personally. I don't know what posts of mine you've seen that make you think I'm a PS3 shill. I do have my biases, however. If you want them, here they are:

• I don't like some of Microsoft's business practices
• Sony's management and PR people are complete windbags
• The Wii has finally gotten my elderly parent's to play video games
• Fanboys make me sick

There you go, full disclosure.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

Sorry, I got so caught up in your first and last statement that I didn't even respond to the rest of your comment. The poster that I originally responded to in this thread said "no one bought a ps3 in the first place." That doesn't sound like he's talking about "last Saturday." Looking through my limited comment history, a poster was talking about "last Saturday" type sales, but my pointing to vgchartz again was only to show that even though Wii's are hard to find, the Halo sales splurge didn't help it beat out the Wii for too long.

Other than the thread we're in, I don't see any other comments I made (again, a limited history) where I referenced vgchartz. How long have you been tracking me?

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Bud Dickman]

It's not full disclosure because you're lying. Your constant reference of vgchartz is very peculiar.

What company do you work for?

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Bud Dickman]

"people often say that the Xbox360 is tearing the PS3 apart in sales"

""no one bought a ps3 in the first place." That doesn't sound like he's talking about "last Saturday."

No, it doesn't sound like he is talking about last Saturday but that is not how you presented it. You are shifting the statement you made. You are being intellectually dishonest with that type of nonsense.

Of course, you're being dishonest in general by not disclosing what company you work for and the vested interests you have. You're not an impartial observer with no interest in console sales. You clear want to see a particular winner. Disclose it.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

First off, if you don't want to believe me, then nothing short of having you look over my shoulder while I type this at work is going to change that. Here is a link to my profile on vgchartz. I'm not going to tell you what company I work for simply because I already told you I am working on games for the Xbox360 and Wii. I don't know why it's so important to you either. Let's pretend I not only work for vgchartz, but even own, created, and am the sole runner of the site. What does that prove to you? Like I said in a previous post, I'm not sure where you are finding out that I post to it a lot since in my history there is this thread and one other one where I link to it.

No, it doesn't sound like he is talking about last Saturday but that is not how you presented it.

You are the one who said that people are talking about "last Saturday" when clearly they are not. Also, you have to understand that the 360 had an entire year without next-gen competition and had anticipated games for it both available and forthcoming that would entice people to buy the system. Comparatively, the PS3 has faced competition from both the 360 and the Wii since its release and has not yet had the same type of anticipation for any of its games, and yet it still sells as well as the 360 did during its first year. Trends. We are talking trends. In other words, if we follow the same trends, then the PS3 will always be a year behind, but only a year behind, and as this generation of consoles gets older, a one year difference isn't going to mean much. For example, both are selling ~6 million per year. So 4 years after the release of the PS3 (which would be 5 years after the release of the 360) the PS3 will have sold 24 million and the 360 will have sold 30 million. That really isn't that much of a difference. While there is clearly a winner between those 2 consoles (we're not talking about the Wii here), from a developer's point of view, there isn't that much of a difference. Look at this list (I don't work for Wikipedia either, even though I have linked to them a lot as well). The top selling non-bundled non-handheld console game of all time is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which sold 20 million copies. The above projection of current trends would be able to support that kind of sales, but it's a rather moot point since the GTA series is now on both the 360 and the PS3, so certainly sales like that could be supported.

Now do you see why I bring it up. It's nice to use current trends for future prediction. But I try to do it intelligently. For example, if I didn't try at all, and just used a couple of recent weeks, I would see the 360 on a huge decline and the PS3 on an upswing. Which would predict that the 360 will be selling 0 consoles each week in just a few months, but the PS3 would be outselling even the DS in a few months time. But that would be ignoring the facts that the PS3 is rising in sales due to a price cut, and the 360 is just coming off of a sales boost due to the release of Halo 3. The Holidays are also coming up and sales for all consoles are going to rise. There are anticipated games for all the consoles on the horizon, and the PS3 has the benefit of also having lots of Bluray titles on the horizon as well (I realize there are HD-DVD movies coming out, but with the HD-DVD add on for the 360 that doesn't come with the system). This holiday will be important for each console in terms of the trends that they set. If the PS3 can come out on top of the 360 (in terms of weekly/monthly sales) in the next few months, then it will have set a nice trend for itself. That doesn't preclude the 360 from setting a decent trend for itself as well. On the other hand, it's possible that the 360 will walk over the PS3 this holiday season and Sony will have to wait till next generation to get b

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[brkello]

There are a lot of arguments about the accuracy of that site. But ignoring those, did you even look at the link you posted? The PS3 has one spike where it shoots way up and then drops immediately. The 360 had a big spike as well (only slightly lower than the PS3), and the spike is much more fat (i.e. it sold a larger number for a longer period of time). From those charts, the 360 looks to be doing much better.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

Unfortunately, since I posted that link, vgchartz has removed the functionality that the link actually pointed to. The link (when I wrote it) sent you to a graph that showed cumulative sales for all consoles lined up as if they started selling at the same time. Now it just shows weekly sales for the last year. The closest thing they have to what that link originally pointed is this and you will just have to mentally move the Wii and PS3 lines to the left to align with the 360, and from that you'll see that the PS3 line lines up nearly perfectly with the 360 line.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Bud Dickman]

The XBox 360 competing along on the "next-gen" market versus the PS3 competing against the 360 and the Wii is not looking at trends. It's comparing apples to oranges and any conclusion you're drawing from that is irrelevant.

What company do you work for?

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

You're right that it is different. And to anyone with half a brain it is obvious that the Xbox360 competing alone would be at an advantage. That is why MS did it. Therefore, if thing A has an advantage over thing B, but thing B is still selling at the same rate, then obviously thing B cannot be said to be not selling. Let's not lose sight over the point of this thread.

As for where I work: Why does it bother you so much? There have been several articles since I wrote my original post to this one that I could have written about vgchartz.com but haven't. There were many before this one that I could have done the same but didn't. Are you paranoid that perhaps I'm not revealing some bias. I get the feeling that you aren't replying (or even caring) about the discussion. Are you just dying for me to say that I work for them just so you can dismiss what I've said based on some ludicrous idea that I can't be trusted simply because of where I work? I don't work for them. It was only in the last 6 months or so that I even knew they existed. Previous to that I had to wait for NPD to release their information, someone to pay for that information and release it, and even then it wouldn't be in a nice graph form that I could look at in various ways. They provide a service. I like that service and I have said previously to now that if I found a more accurate or better site, I would love to hear about it.

I'll say it one more time in case you didn't catch it earlier. I don't work for, nor do I gain any kind of benefit from mentioning, vgchartz.com. I work for a game developer. vgchartz.com does not develop video games. They track the sales of consoles and games. I do not track the sales of consoles and games. I develop video games.

As of now, you have only given cursory arguments for what I originally posted about, and it seems you have only done so as a facade for finding out who I work for. If that is all you have to offer to the discussion, then this discussion is a waste of my time. If you would like to talk about whether or not the PS3 is or is not actually selling at the same rate as the 360 then I would gladly debate that idea given the information that I have access to and I would do it to the best of my ability.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Bud Dickman]

"You're right that it is different. And to anyone with half a brain it is obvious that the Xbox360 competing alone would be at an advantage. That is why MS did it. Therefore, if thing A has an advantage over thing B, but thing B is still selling at the same rate, then obviously thing B cannot be said to be not selling. Let's not lose sight over the point of this thread."

Your analysis of "things" is really interesting and all but try considering that the 360 was competing against the best of the previous generation. The PS2 was still going strong and many people won't buy a console in the next-gen until they've had a chance to see all the offerings. Sony's promises in regards to the PS2 made many hold off on buying a Dreamcast. Your analysis is terrible. You're the waste of time here.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Chosen Reject]

The PS2 is still selling strong and is actually one of the PS3s biggest competitors. Not that Sony cares as they get money either way. If people were really waiting for the release of all next-gen consoles then you would see a large spike in sales once people saw what was there to be offered. We see that. It's called the Wii. However, the Wii hasn't been a part of this thread and I've purposefully ignored it.

And getting back to the original point, the PS3 is selling quite well. You don't seem to be able to grasp that. It's not selling like the PS2 did or the Wii has been or the 360 did during the BioShock/Halo 3 releases, but it is no where near the "no one bought a PS3 in the first place" stage. That's what you don't seem to grasp. I'm done.

Re:Ooh, that could turn out messy.

[Bud Dickman]

"I'm done."

Oh good, so I can have the final word here. Thank you for that.

As I have demonstrated, your comparison of first year 360 sales to first year PS3 sales is flawed because it in no way takes into account market conditions. If MS sold no 360s in the first year and then sold 16 million in the 2nd, then it wouldn't really matter if the PS3 completely destroyed the 360's first year sales. It is about installed user base. Your ignorance of this tells me that you're either foolish or you're a shill trying to pull the wool over everyone's eyes. I appreciate that you've yielded and allowed me to have the final word. This allows me to set the record straight.

"And getting back to the original point, the PS3 is selling quite well. You don't seem to be able to grasp that."

Oh, I can grasp that statement just fine. The reason I can do that is because it's so vague that it's completely without meaning. The PS3 is being beat by the 360 and does not look like it will catch up. This is not good for Sony. But then again, Sony did file predatory lawsuits against lik-sang and installed rootkits on the computers of paying customers, so I don't really care.

Again, you are hiding something. I am going to be monitoring your posts for further links to vgchartz. Your constant linking to that site is very telling.

Again, thank you for yielding and giving me the final word on this matter. I am the most intelligent one between us so I think that that was the appropriate action to take.

But the real question is..

[Anonymous Coward]

can someone get him to leak the Leopard GM as well??

viral marketing

[Elsapotk421]

jeez is sony still trying to make it's own viral ads to sell ps3s? BAD SONY! BAD SONY!

Re:viral marketing

[Anonymous Coward]

but TFS says it's a PS2 game? Moron.

Later on Slashdot:

[JK_the_Slacker]

"In related news, sales of Playstation 3s in Europe have doubled, making a grand total of six owners of the game console..."

Re:Later on Slashdot:

[Victor Antolini]

You're not on the USA, you're on the internet, welcome to the world nub!

Re:Later on Slashdot:

[JK_the_Slacker]

Hey guess what? I don't hate the PS3. I intend to own one, one of these days. I game on my PC. I also game on my PS2 and my Xbox. I game on my Gameboy. All of these, I see as tools. Fanboy? Hardly. You assume too much.

By the way, there is more to life than flaming people because they make a sarcastic exaggeration about a product.

And finally, there's nothing wrong with my English.

Re:Later on Slashdot:

[Anonymous Coward]

Except that the leaked version was the PS2 version according to TFA and even TFS, not the PS3.

Re:Later on Slashdot:

[Anonymous Coward]

The European market isn't significantly smaller then the American. Also it has more growing potential. Also gb2ebaum.

Come on, slashdot...

[rustalot42684]

So, where's the link to the torrent?

Re:Come on, slashdot...

[Silverlancer]

PAL: http://thepiratebay.org/tor/3801111/Manhunt_2_%5BPAL%5D%5BPS2DVD%5D%5BEnglish%5D NTSC fix (to play on NTSC PS2s): http://www.rapidsafe.net/rc-IzMkNmYzcTM/Manhunt_2__Banned___Uncut__NTSC_Fix_-_CHRONiC.rar

Re:Come on, slashdot...

[FireBreath]

still baffled how people can find slashdot.. but they can't find a decent torrent site.

Well duh

[Kingrames]

It's like a cheap horror movie.

RUN BITCH RUN! The torrent is coming from inside the house.

hmm

[jollyreaper]

Think this was accidentally on purpose?

Re:hmm

[Deliveranc3]

Did they find this by checking some kind of watermarking or by tracing the initial seed of a file transfer?

Is there any decent anonymizing service designed for this problem? Might be something the pirate bay should look into.

Re:hmm

[mzs]

No because it was Sony Europe, not Take Two or Rock Star.

Re:hmm

[rhyder128k]

I did begin to wonder how Slashdot had managed to go a week or so without advertising... erm, I mean... featuring this crap game again.

A case where piracy really does hurt...

[Trojan35]

I imagine most who wanted Manhunt were disinterested with the reports of the gore being blurred. I think anyone who still intended to buy the game is now much more likely to download it illegally.

waahh!!

[andreyvul]

ps2 not pc: no fair!

Re:waahh!!

[Awod]

Use Pcsx2 0.9.2

Re:waahh!!

[Anonymous Coward]

get a thick ps2 from ebay for like 60 USD and a xeno ps for 12

kidding on the square

[westlake]

Think this was accidentally on purpose?

and that in one line tells you why no one is cutting Rockstar any slack.

the voluntary ratings system in the states wouldn't last six months if a developer was caught leaking AO content to the net.

you could kiss goodbye any tolerance the console manufacturers might have had for home-brewed content that wasn't licensed and distributed through portals like XBox Live!

more like the suckyness

[Anonymous Coward]

People are not discouraged because of the piracy itself but rather by the knwoledge that the game sucks. If they'd done the game properly and folx who played it liked it - then they would have praised it and more people would have wanted it. So it's in the content.

How to get a job after that?

[OrangeTide]

I wonder how someone that screws up like that can get a job again. Do you just give up and work a factory job? You probably can't get a retail job with a criminal record, who is going to let you work a cash register if they think you will steal things. (leaking copyrighted materials == stealing to the eyes of most businesses)