Manhunt 2: To play or not to play?

Manhunt 2- a video game created by Rockstar Games (creator of the hit Grand Theft Auto Series) has been the subject of the controversies last year in the computer gaming arena. It was last October when the said creator released the video game and from then on occurred a series of suspensions, modifications, resubmissions and another cycle of suspension. This went on and on and even until now, regardless of Rockstar’s winning of the court appeal, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is still under ways to still, encourage modification of the said game.

BBFC, as the responsible agency of the government is really carrying the burden of screening these games which are being released in the market and filtering them out so as to protect the consumers most especially the children, from virtual violence. BBFC’s act is just rational and should not be viewed as an act of exaggeration or putting things seriously because it is their job- to provide quality media to consumers.

Manhunt 2 being considered by BBFC as a controversial game which should be prevented from release is due to the reasons that the game manifests a high level violence which should not be tolerated by the Board. It also exploits the players to such situations which makes the have the surge of blood to kill unconscientiously and slaying of characters. The initial action of the BBFC was to ask the creator to delete some scenes is the video game so as to increase the chances of getting it approved for release. However, BBFC stated that even deletion of these explicit and violent scenes would not make it easier for them to place an acceptable rating to the said game.

Meanwhile, this January, BBFC and Rockstar Games is still waiting for the High Court’s decision with their matter. This instances and cases in the computer gaming world is just natural and must be viewed as a healthy competition because it will benefit both parties, at the end of the day. They, as the creators, will learn as to what games should be created and what should be avoided; likewise, for our part, we are assured of computer games which would not be detrimental to our lives, especially psychologically.