Gaming in the Media: Much Ado about AO
August 2007 Issue
![Cerise Issue 3 [August 2007]](http://cerise.theirisnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/ceriseaug07_tn.jpg)
Features
- From the Editors
- Craft Check: Custom Game Master's Screens
- Gaming in the Media: Much Ado about AO
Interviews
- Miriam Ruiz [Game developer]
Articles
- Gender & Live-Action Role Play: Introduction
Author: Samara Hayley Steele
- Myth Busting: Gaming as Antisocial Behaviour
Author: Andrea Rubenstein
- Women will Love Stranglehold: A Hands-on at E3
Author: Yvonna Lynn
Samara kicks off her series looking at LARPing from a feminist perspective.
Andrea takes down the myth that games are inherently antisocial events.
Yvonna talks about her experiences playing Stranglehold at E3.
Gamer Stories
Reviews
- Jade Empire PC Special Edition
- Retro Review: Prince of Persia
Odds 'n Ends
Is getting an Adults Only (AO) rating as much of a death sentence as RockStar Games made it seem?
Apparently so.
Sparking the controversy
For those who missed the controversy over the last two months, here is a quick synopsis. On June 19th, Kotaku broke the news that Manhunt had a preliminary rating of AO:
Take-Two just confirmed with Kotaku that the Entertainment Software Ratings Board gave both the PS2 and Wii versions of Manhunt 2 a preliminary rating of Adults Only, which would essentially bar it from all of the Wal-Marts and Targets of the world.
“The ESRB has issued an initial rating of AO (Adults Only) for Manhunt 2,” Take-Two said in a prepared statement. “We believe the process of rating videogames is to help people make informed entertainment choices and not to limit them. Manhunt 2 was created for mature audiences and we strongly believe it should receive an M (Mature) rating, aligning it with similar content created in other forms of media. We are exploring our options with regard to Manhunt 2.”
The rating comes in the wake of a campaign spearheaded by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood to get the Wii version of the game an AO rating.
The Campaign was asking people to send an email to the ESRB’s Patricia Vance calling for the game to be rated Adults Only, essentially comparing it to an X or unrated movie, because of the “unprecedented combination of video game violence and the interactive Wii platform.” Up until that point the letter, while I don’t exactly agree with it, at least makes sense. But then it goes on to say that giving Manhunt 2 anything less would be saying that the ESRB condones the marketing of violent video games to children. Keep in mind that a mature rating means 17 or older, while an AO means 18 or older.
RockStar Games – the publisher of controversial titles like Bully, State of Emergency, Manhunt, and the ever-popular Grand Theft Auto series – responded to the rating within hours. As reported by Kotaku:
News of Manhunt 2’s Adult Only ratingwas like a “punch to the stomach” of the Rockstar team, a company spokesman told Kotaku today.
“This is completely unexpected to the whole team,” said the spokesman. “We love the horror genre. We thought we could do something interesting and entertaining with it in the video game medium. When we had this first Manhunt game, there wasn’t this reaction. We thought (Manhunt 2) was consistent with a mature rating.”
But the game, which follows in the footsteps of mature-rated Manhunt, will likely not show up on many store shelves if the ESRB’s preliminary rating of Adults Only sticks.
Take-Two has the option of either protesting the rating to an Appeals Board, which is made up of publishers, retailers and other professionals, or change the Wii and PS2 game’s content and resubmit it.
When asked if the game might receive a work over to tone it down, the spokesman said it was too early to tell.
“We have to explore all of the options,” he said. “I think it’s too early to go into all of that right now.”
Adding fuel to the fire
RockStar’s problems compounded when many European countries also decided to ban Manhunt 2 for the ultra violent level of content. The Money Times reports:
In the wake of an ongoing ratings controversy in the United States and a ban in Britain and Ireland, the game publisher Take Two Interactive Software Inc. has decided to temporarily suspend the release of the violent video game Manhunt 2, a sequel to its 2003 title Manhunt.
The company has suspended the game distribution plans after the title faced bans by Britain and Ireland, as well as a ratings predicament in the United States due to its extremely violent content, which would have made it nearly impossible to buy in the country, the New York-based game publisher said Thursday in a statement.
Made by Rockstar Games, the premium content development division of game publisher Take Two, Manhunt 2 was originally due for a July 10 release in the United States on both Nintendo Co.’s Wii and the PlayStation 2 (PS2) by Sony Corp.
“Take-Two Interactive Software has temporarily suspended plans to distribute Manhunt 2 for the Wii or PlayStation platforms while it reviews its options with regard to the recent decisions made by the British Board of Film Classification and Entertainment Software Rating Board,” the company said in a short statement yesterday.
“We continue to stand behind this extraordinary game. We believe in freedom of creative expression, as well as responsible marketing, both of which are essential to our business of making great entertainment,” it added.
Troubles for the new Manhunt 2 game title began earlier this week when Britain banned the game because of the violent content. A day later, Ireland decided to ban the same, and then Italian Communications Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Thursday that he would seek to have the sale of the game canceled there as well.
Calling the Manhunt 2 “cruel and sadistic, Gentiloni said the game contains “a squalid environment and a continuous, insistent encouragement to violence and murder.”
Somewhere along the line, major US outlets began to confirm that they would not carry a game with an AO rating. Nintendo was the first to acknowledge that AO titles would not appear on the Wii. Sony, Gamefly, and Blockbuster video confirmed that they would not carry AO titles as well. While most in the gaming industry had anticipated problems with mainstream distributors like Target and Wal-Mart, the fact that other major gaming outlets would not carry Manhunt would seriously impact the bottom line. And if Microsoft is the only platform to carry ManHunt 2 (and there is no guarantee that Microsoft would carry the title), it severely limits exposure to the game which would effectively diminish any chance for a financial return on RockStar’s investment.
Crossing a line
The situation took yet another horrid turn when a former marketing guy for RockStar brought his frustrations to the blogosphere. Next Generation summarized the blog post, highlighting this tidbit about the original Manhunt:
“And honestly, I was pretty vocal in telling my superiors that while I’d do whatever they asked me to do (within reason), I didn’t support Manhunt’s release. It may sound surprising, but there was almost a mutiny at the company over that game. It was Rockstar North’s pet project – most of us at Rockstar Games wanted no part of it. We’d already weathered plenty of controversy over GTA3 and Vice City – we were no strangers to it – but Manhunt felt different. With GTA, we always had the excuse that the gameplay was untethered – you never had to hurt anybody that wasn’t a “bad guy” in one of the missions. You could play completely ethically if you wanted, and the game was parody anyway, so lighten up.
“Manhunt, though, just made us all feel icky. It was all about the violence, and it was realistic violence. We all knew there was no way we could explain away that game. There was no way to rationalize it. We were crossing a line.”
Ouch.
RockStar could not have been pleased about that quote, particularly as they were trying to plan strategy about how to re-package Manhunt 2. Following on the heels of Wired Magazine’s April expose on RockStar titled The Road to Ruin, Jeff Williams’ blog post (his full identity revealed by Kotaku) aired out even more of RockStar’s dirty laundry, and brought a new aspect to the controversy.
On August 1st, 2007, RockStar announced that they planned to appeal their rating to the Video Appeals Committee, which is the appeals body of the British Board of Film Classifications. [Hat tip to Kotaku for breaking the news stateside.] RockStar has not filed an appeal with the ESRB – and they may not be able to according to MTV news:
On Wednesday (June 20), ESRB president Patricia Vance told MTV News that the AO rating for “Manhunt 2″ was issued earlier this month and that Rockstar has a 30-day window to resubmit a modified version of the game or make an appeal to the ratings board.
So, where does this leave gaming?
On one hand, gaming is growing up. As more and more gamers come of age, the AO rating means less and less. Most of the gamers who played Manhunt are now legally able to purchase AO games. The problem with the AO rating is not necessarily the rating itself, but the response of the distributors to the rating. Without mainstream outlets promoting the game, RockStar will not be able to count on passive sales from gamers wandering a store or browsing online, adding the game to their carts. While dedicated Manhunt fans will most likely find a way to order the game wherever it is sold, it is the revenue from the passive players that will allow RockStar to make a return on its investment. Without the support of the distribution channels, RockStar will take a heavy loss.
Stay tuned to see how this story will end – the results of RockStar’s appeal will swing the industry in a new direction. The main question is will the industry swing toward promoting more family friendly games, or will RockStar win the right to blend art and depravity for mass consumption?
