The Road to Manhunt 2
Even if you never played it, like me, you've probably at least heard of Rockstar's Manhunt. It was one of the most violent, savage games around, and didn't exactly get the support of politicians and angry white-haired lawyers. Many wondered how Rockstar could top itself if/when a sequel would be made. Well, they have. Manhunt 2 was just banned in Britain, in America, and in Ireland.
I find it completely ridiculous that the movie industry practically has free reign to do whatever they please, releasing unrated movies and having X-rated theaters, but the videogame industry isn't even allowed to have games made specifically for adults.
So now Rockstar has to rework Manhunt 2 to get a Mature rating so that it can actually be published, considering Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft's policy that forbids an AO-rated game to even be made for their respective consoles.
The whole thing is absolutely ludicrous. I'm not disputing the legality of the situation, since Sony and Nintendo have every right to ban it from their consoles, but I just don't understand why we can't have games that aren't appropriate for minors. But you know what the kicker is in all of this? 1UP and GameSpot both agree that Manhunt 2 isn't even the most gruesome game they've ever played.
Microsoft Is Suing Immersion
Immersion, the guys who put the "shock" in "Dual Shock 2," had just wrapped up their little $90 million legal matter, but now they're back in court, but this time, they're the defendants.
Apparently, Microsoft made Immersion sign a deal that Immersion would pay Microsoft a certain amount of money in the event that Immersion and Sony settled. Immersion doesn't feel like that's necessary since they never technically settled with Sony; they've just got a new business deal. Microsoft obviously feels otherwise.
Immersion doesn't really have much of a defense, and they know it considering how uncertain they sound in whether or not they'll win. So what does any of this mean for us gamers? Potentially nothing, potentially everything. On one hand, we as gamers realistically won't be too affected. This is a business thing- something that probably won't affect us, the end-users.
But I'm just saying... If I were Sony, I would wait until Immersion loses the case, then buy them up and refuse to continue licensing rumble out to Microsoft. It'd be poetic irony.
Blacksite: Area 51 Gets Political
Most games don't bother trying to convey a message, especially a political one. Most games would rather not offend anyone or have that sort of controversy. But occasionally, a game comes along and tries to deliver that message. Generally these are received with mixed results- sometimes it's too heavy with its message, sometimes too deep, and sometimes so incredibly convoluted that you almost didn't even know there was a political message like Killer7.
But that's not to say that games should just avoid political messages. I mean, movies, books, and TV shows have plenty of themes to influence the audience. So why not games? Well, it's hard, to be frank. Games have to worry about sacrificing gameplay to have a message. A game can have something incredibly to say, but at the end of the day, if it isn't fun, gamers aren't going to be listening.
Therefore, it's nice to see Blacksite: Area 51 trying to incorporate a political message. Hopefully, this will be one of the first games in recent years to say something about politics, and still be a successful game underneath.
WEEKLY SAMPLER: Shock Market / 380 Games / The Stratocaster / Mini-Master Chief
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