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Hackers Uncensor Manhunt 2

Posted by Zonk on from the i-have-a-feeling-the-esrb-may-have-something-to-say-here dept.

Less than 24 hours after the release of Manhunt 2, you can already play the full and uncensored version thanks to some enterprising hackers. The news for Rockstar is just ... bad: "The game has been censored in the US in order for it to receive an M rating - and therefore a release - rather than the original AO rating it was given by the ESRB. The illegal exploit of the original PSP code indicates that the scenes that were cut in order to secure an M rating were not removed from the full game, rather disabled, much like the Hot Coffee mini-games in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas." This is also exactly what prompted the re-rating of Oblivion and Halo 2 for the PC. We should expect to see an ESRB response to this very soon, then.

8 of 125 comments (clear)

  1. When will they ever learn by davidwr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You wait until AFTER the game has been out a week or two before posting the AO-hack.

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  2. Rockstar, you fscking idiots by p0tat03 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Didn't you people learn *anything* from the Hot Coffee debacle? Heck, the Hot Coffee components of San Andreas weren't even *well publicized* and people s till managed to dig it up. What did you THINK was going to happen? You've already got congress breathing down the necks of the entire industry and STILL you think layering gruesome, brutal scenes that would have resulted in a higher rating over a simple... screen flash?

    I realize this shouldn't be as big of an issue, society and violence, blah blah, but the truth remains that the industry remains under tight scrutiny, and Rockstar isn't doing anybody any favours.

    1. Re:Rockstar, you fscking idiots by jeks · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Can we be so sure this is really an accident. They have been down this road before and must have learned the implications of it. Rockstar has some of the most brilliant people working for them. Are they really run by a bunch of idiots? I find that hard to believe.

      Nothing pisses me off more than conspiracy theorists, but here goes. Is it just me, or could this have been done on purpose? Maybe simply to maintain their "we don't give a f*ck" public image in anticipation for greater platform releases.

      Do ratings really affect end sales results? Most kids are determined enough to get their hands on what they want anyway, ratings or not, even if they have to go behind someone's back (naturally their parents). I sure know I was, even though there were no consoles back then, there were video tapes of magical events (rated and censored dare I say, here in Sweden) where real fighters squared off. I think the winner more often than not was named Bruce Lee.

    2. Re:Rockstar, you fscking idiots by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You have to understand that it's near impossible to redo half of a game after it's gone gold. Unless you want to push the release back another half year.

      So the choice was, either to do a half assed attempt to shove it out the door or back to the drawing board. Question for 200: Which route will the average game company take? Take into consideration that it's November and the XMas sales are at stake.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  3. Stupid by Sciros · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The re-rating of Oblivion was insanely stupid. Ooh, you can mod it to include some nudity. Okay.. you can MOD a ton of games to include whatever you want! That doesn't change the fact that unless you go in changing things as (or via) a third party, the game remains the same as when it was originally rated by the ESRB.

    In all of these cases, the rating should not change. A third party mod can add content, unlock content that otherwise cannot be accessed, etc. I don't see any logical, practical reason why in one case the rating shouldn't change and in another it should. Really, in all cases it shouldn't.

    --
    I like basketball!!1!
    1. Re:Stupid by pla · · Score: 5, Funny

      If the nude textures were already on the disc,

      Of course they already exist on the disc... Mattel just hid them under the ordinary textures using one-time pad encryption.

      We just need to find the decryption key that restores them to their original AO-rated glory.

  4. Re:Illegal? by jandrese · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Are you still living in 1997? Clearly you don't own anything anymore, you merely have some permission to use the publisher's sacred content in the one way they deem fit. Your concept of owning stuff you paid for is laughable.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
  5. The weird thing by naam00 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...well to me at least, is that the edited scenes (yes with overstated screenjarring during the more brutal moments) are actually more disturbing to watch (in a good way) than watching the same things happening in clearly visible low-poly animation. The power of suggestion at play.

    Weird in the sense that the people with their underwear in a knot over this manhunt business are still going to cry out over these less disturbing and plainly silly rendering resources being on disk, and the fact that hackers have removed the elements that make the scene more chilling.

    But I guess they will want to blow off no matter what the game actually looks like.

    http://gamevideos.com/video/id/15918