Manhunt 2 uk ban software#

Manhunt 2 uk ban software#

Moreover, The Register reports that is has been rated AO in the US by the Entertainment Software Rating Board ( ESRB). The UK’s equivalent, the British Board of Film Classification ( BBFC), has effectively done so too ( here and here see OUT-Law and The Register). Nor is IFCO the only such office to ban the game. On radio last week, John Kelleher agreed with the interviewer that the game was “violence for the sake of violence”. But whilst that wasn’t banned in the UK or Ireland ( though it was in Australia), the press release on IFCO’s site explains that, while “in certain films, DVDs and video games, strong graphic violence may be a justifiable element within the overall context of the work”, nevertheless, “in the case of Manhunt 2, IFCO believes that there is no such context, and the level of gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence is unacceptable”. The BBFC‘s recently-published Video Games Report ( pdf), sought to understand what players enjoy about video games, and to explain their preferences for particular games and it paid particular attention to the game’s predecessor, the controversial Manhunt ( wikipedia). Production Company: TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE LTD. It depicts acts of gross violence or cruelty (including mutilation and torture) towards humans or animals,Īnd in the exercise of the powers conferred on me by the said Section 7 hereby prohibit the supply of video game containing the said video work. I, John Kelleher, Official Censor of Films, have, in accordance with Section 7 of the Video Recordings Act, 1989, examined a video game containing the video work described in the Schedule hereto and am of opinion that the said work is unfit for viewing becauseâ€” The official notice of this action has now been gazetted in Iris OifigiÃºil (the official, twice-weekly, Irish State gazette): The game in question is Manhunt II ( Take2 Interactive | Rockstar Games | wikipedia). Last week (hat tip: TJ McIntyre, with interesting links), this power was exercised for the first time: ‘Gratuitously violent’ video game is first to be banned ( Irish Times sub req’d) Censor bans video game for first time (RTÃ‰.ie) Manhunt II first game to be banned in Ireland (Silicon Republic) Ireland bans video game ‘Manhunt 2’ citing ‘gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence’ (Findlaw hat tip: Media Law Prof Blog). He may make an order … prohibiting the supply of video recordings containing the work. (b) it depicts acts of gross violence or cruelty (including mutilation and torture) towards humans or animals, If the Official Censor, having examined a video recording containing a video work … is of opinion that the work is unfit for viewing because … Although the definition of “video recording” in section 1 of the 1989 Act is sufficiently wide to cover games, they are (by another definition in the same section) exempted from that definition unless they are “unfit for viewing” (as defined in section 3) and if they are so unfit, then the Censor may ban them under Section 7(1)(b) of the Act, which provides: Marie McGonagle discusses the system here (pdf see pp 23-30 hat tip: TJ McIntyre). In particular, the Video Recordings Act, 1989 (also here) gives the Censor the power to certify and/or ban “video recordings”. The Video Recordings Acts, 19 extend the powers in the Censorship of Films Acts, 1923-1992 to cover videos (all of the relevant legislation is collected here). At the moment though I am only going by what the BBC have reported on the incident (See sources).Following on from my recent posts ( here and here) about the role of the Irish Film Censor’s Office ( IFCO), last week brought news that the Censor, John Kelleher, had exercised his powers for the first time to ban a computer game on grounds of violence. *Many people have commented that it was the 14 year old victim who owned a copy of the game and not the attacker. It seems that the BBFC has fallen prey to political pressure over this game, with many people suggesting that the original Manhunt was the cause of a stabbing of a 14 year old boy in 2004 even though a police investigation determined the motive of the stabbing was robbery, and the only relation between the game Manhunt and the attacker was that he owned a copy*. Even though many ultra violent/graphic films such as 'Hostel 2' have been awarded 18 certificates Manhunt has been shunned. The BBFC have banned the game Manhunt 2, saying it is 'Morally irresponsible'.