CCFC advocacy group demands Manhunt 2 ratings review

by Alexander Sliwinski { Aug 25th 2007 at 1:20PM }

The Campaign For a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), the group that ~~successfully~~ disturbingly pulled-off getting GTA Vice City ads removed from the Boston metro system, has begun their Manhunt 2 marketing campaign. Sure one could view it as they're trying to stop the game, but these groups seem to only help generate sales, so let us call a spade a spade.

As reported by GamePolitics, back in the day the CCFC demanded Manhunt 2 be rated AO just as the ESRB beat them to the punch. Then came the saga of Manhunt 2, with the latest twist coming this week that the game would be out by Halloween. The CCFC is saying, "Despite industry claims to the contrary, M-rated games continue to be marketed and sold to children under seventeen ... We call upon Rockstar Games to allow the content of Manhunt 2 to be reviewed by an independent review board with no ties to the video game industry ... We ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the process by which Manhunt 2's rating was downgraded from AO to M."

Hmm, so the CCFC is demanding a ratings organization allow an outside group to tell them how to do their job, wonder how the MPAA would feel about that for movies? And as if the FTC didn't already have to deal with enough video game related silliness this week. Maybe the Boston-based CCFC can get the city's Mayor Tom Menino to help them out while he's trying to court the video game industry at the same time.

Tags: advocacy, ban, boston, ccfc, manhunt2, marketing, menino

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Fernando Rocker @ Aug 25th 2007 1:27PM

They are nuts... that simple.

They generate more violence than videogames.

T-bone and Razor @ Aug 25th 2007 1:31PM

They don't have much of a chance, really. The ESRB will want this game to release at this point, because it looks really good for them

"The ratings system works" and all that. They'll probably look stronger and more reliable to the general public, because this story was fairly well publicized

john @ Aug 25th 2007 1:35PM

While we're at it, why not let psychiatrists regulate the beef industry?

borntokill @ Aug 25th 2007 1:44PM

obviously these people are idiots. but still the ESRB has to go. They are a cancer on the industry.

Mr Khan @ Aug 25th 2007 2:07PM

If the ESRB went away, it wouldn't be long before some activist or other convinced Congress that the industry needs real "regulation"

and then where would we be?

Jay @ Aug 25th 2007 1:48PM

These people are so removed from reality that it's disturbing. How is rating a game "mature" synonomous with marketing it to children?

Goober @ Aug 25th 2007 1:55PM

Everyone claims that there groups are "idiots" and "fools" but I sometimes wonder just how far developers would try to push the envelope if these groups weren't around to provide a balance.

I've been a big time gamer since I got an Atari 2600 new back in the early 80s. My first gaming PC was an Apple II that I bought to play Zork and Ultima. Yet I myself sometimes feel that that today's developers cross a line with graphic violence just for the sake of being shocking.

Miles @ Aug 25th 2007 7:47PM

I understand what you're saying, but in art there should be no limit. You self imposed limited or these random "Family Groups" morals should have no bearing on what people are allowed to make or buy.

When I worked at EB Games I would have to sit there and tell parents all the time that they shouldn't just look at the letter on the front. Read on the back exactly why a game got its rating. Tons of people wouldn't have bought Tony Hawk because it was rated T. But when I told them it was rated like that because of the trickle of blood that came out when the skater fell, they figured their kid could "handle" that.

Just like anything new (AIDS, drugs, technology) people are very afraid of things they aren't educated on.

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 25th 2007 1:59PM

This is a reason why the console makers don't allow unrated or unlicensed games on their machines and led to the great crash of '83:
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/23884.html
Also the crash happened because of night vision enthusiasts and even worse shovelware.

FM @ Aug 25th 2007 3:23PM

Not to mention the Atari porn games.

Bluebrake @ Aug 25th 2007 2:13PM

So without ever actually seeing the game, based purely on assumption, they demand an independent review because someone just -must- have screwed up? How is this even allowed?

Benjamin Heckendorn @ Aug 25th 2007 2:18PM

Yeah it's bullocks. If they pulled this for movies you'd have every activist actor out there buying TV plugs to protest this "gross offense" on the 1st Amendment.

The double standard needs to end. Games are better than movies, then make as much or more money (certainly more profit) and probably actually employ more people, at least in the US. (Remember, a vast amount of movies are shot outside the US)

The game industry needs more outspoken developers to stand up to the "old media". Problem is there's really no supermarket tabloid aisle "celebrities" in the industry that anyone would recognize on TV. Whereas you throw Sheryl Crow on the tube telling us not to eat whale meat or whatever, and people are like "Oh yeah, she had a hit album 10 years ago, she must be right!"

Dragod @ Aug 25th 2007 2:29PM

We have an Adult Only rating that we can't use, and now we have a game we can't advertise for?

Someone needs to look at how these things work.

FM @ Aug 25th 2007 3:22PM

The most pathetic *organization* I've ever heard of.

Squeek @ Aug 25th 2007 3:24PM

Wait wait wait. They want a company that DOESN'T have ties to the video game industry?

You mean, like, the ESRB? Their employees are required to have no ties to the video game industry before they are hired. All of them.

Then they randomly choose three people from a pool of these individuals not associated with the video game industry and have them submit reports on certain aspects of the game. The reports are reviewed to see if they coincide with each other, then submitted for approval. Then that overall rating is submitted back to the publisher.

I don't see how you can get any more fair than this.

Richard @ Aug 25th 2007 4:13PM

Kids can by M rated games??? Where is this happening? Im still getting carded and im almost 19. Plus i look like im 22 easy. Bullshit i say.

Ratchet the Lombax @ Aug 25th 2007 9:57PM

Are you serious? I have seen kids as young as 14 or 15 buying M rated games in almost every electronics store in my city. The last time I was in Gamestop some kid bought GTA San Andreas and the clerk didn't think twice about it.

Shagittarius @ Aug 25th 2007 4:27PM

Personal Beliefs and Religions cannot be allowed to censor freedom. By telling us we need to censor what appears in videogames they are esentially pushing their beliefs onto us and this is totally illegal.

Its the same as if I didn't like the communion services that catholics and christians hold beacuse they are pretending to drink blood and eat the body of christ.

So if they can get game censorship to happen (when games are played in a private gathering) then I'm going to go after all the prudes who are too busy telling me what I can do to take some responsibilities and parent their own children.

Fucking Assholes!

mietha CAG @ Aug 25th 2007 4:50PM

You know, if none of this shit had happened, the game would have sold like 200k tops. It will probably launch with 2.5m now. Way to go morons.

Chris @ Aug 25th 2007 6:15PM

Why is there a picture of kids using 360 controllers for this article, when the game isn't even on that system?

Also, WalMart and other places have been doing better at checking IDs lately. I'm 19, and have myself a nice looking beard, and still got carded when I tried to buy the MOVIE the Godfather yesterday. :\

Goober @ Aug 25th 2007 6:31PM

"Why is there a picture of kids using 360 controllers for this article, when the game isn't even on that system?"

Because the picture was provided by Joystiq for the hell of it and has absolutely nothing to do with the actual story.

blooh @ Aug 25th 2007 8:45PM

i thought walmart didnt even sell M games?

Mattias @ Aug 25th 2007 7:41PM

So if a game is considered violent, it should not be rated M because games rated M are often sold to people younger than 17? Aren't they concentrating on the wrong aspect here?

Shouldn't they be concentrating on retailers who sell M rated games to minors, instead of trying to avoid getting violent games rated M, because the retailers doesn't check for ID's`? Their logic is flawed.

dave @ Aug 25th 2007 8:39PM

I bet some how that bastard Jack Thompson has takin over CCFC and calling all the shots. The guy is a C##T

blooh @ Aug 25th 2007 8:52PM

what the fuck is a C##T? say the fucking word, we don't censor shit here

hvnlysoldr @ Aug 25th 2007 10:25PM

We're too immature to allow swearing. I think he bypassed cun*

anilramcharand @ Aug 25th 2007 11:42PM

So... why are the CCFC demanding an outside group to review Manhunt 2?
You want to know what answer they'll get, "F u."
Signed ESRB and Rockstar
Seriously, the problem is not the games, it's the parents.
Btw, I'm below 17 and me and my friend both purchased M rated games (Bioshock and Fable the Lost Chapters) with no questions asked.

blooh @ Aug 26th 2007 12:36AM

Shhhhh! that's the store's fault, not the esrb's

BananaBoat @ Aug 26th 2007 6:00AM

After Manhunt 1, I can't blame them. That game was filth. We should all just play moar Pokemanz and enjoy it.

Jay @ Aug 26th 2007 7:47AM

Well let's establish a few things.

AO is a rating, as a rating that forbids minors from buying the game when a game gets the rating it should be honored...and still should be sold. Why have this rating if the game won't be sold?

M is rated M like R is rated R, both are done ridicalously but at least set up boundries. I heard someone go kids as young as 14 or 15 can buy a M game, which i never see happening. But whats a sad truth is a 15 year old a mere 2 years shy of 17, sometimes can handle the game better.

ESRB is supposed to set up guidelines not rules, no way should a 7 year old buy a M game, but at the same time a 16 year old should and does know themselves well enough to get a M rated game as well as see a R film. In films the movie goer ussualy can handle the movie a few years before its rating PG-13, R, PG ect.

Now for all these people who want to impose censorship on gaming its disgusting and a clear violation of the first ammendment. I sincerly wish a gaming group with devolpers including a triteam of sony, nintendo, and microsoft would rise against but that's not happening.

They need to stop worrying about issues that aren't issues and played out to death and worry about real things, like why parent's aren't home to see little johnny reach for a hot stove.