Is Take 2's past sneaking up on it?
Take 2 is being unfairly penalised with Manhunt 2's censorship thanks to past controversies, according to Nollenberger Capital Partners analyst Todd Greenwald.
"It does seem that Take-Two is being a little bit unfairly singled out ... because of their history of provocative games," Greenwald said. "They're being burned by their past."
That “history” includes the GTA 3 hot coffee scandal, Bully's controversy storm and, of course, the linking of the first Manhunt game to Stefan Pakeerah's death.
Greenwald doesn't see the banning of Manhunt 2 as quite the blow to Take 2 that it might seem, however. He claims that the game is an important title for the company.
SPOnG wholeheartedly agrees with Greenwald's assertion that Take 2 is falling victim to its past controversies. Having played both Manhunt (which saw release) and Manhunt 2, SPOnG sees little difference in terms of violence between the two.
For more on Manhunt 2 – and its censorship – see SPOnG's dedicated game page.
Source: Forbes
"It does seem that Take-Two is being a little bit unfairly singled out ... because of their history of provocative games," Greenwald said. "They're being burned by their past."
That “history” includes the GTA 3 hot coffee scandal, Bully's controversy storm and, of course, the linking of the first Manhunt game to Stefan Pakeerah's death.
Greenwald doesn't see the banning of Manhunt 2 as quite the blow to Take 2 that it might seem, however. He claims that the game is an important title for the company.
SPOnG wholeheartedly agrees with Greenwald's assertion that Take 2 is falling victim to its past controversies. Having played both Manhunt (which saw release) and Manhunt 2, SPOnG sees little difference in terms of violence between the two.
For more on Manhunt 2 – and its censorship – see SPOnG's dedicated game page.
Source: Forbes
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Comments
DJ faceplant 25 Jun 2007 11:07
1/2
This is going to be the ongoing struggle of the entertainment industry as a whole. Game manufacturers and movie makers are going to be continually blamed for violent behaviour by people who really are unqualified to make this kind of judgement. It seems to be a part of this knee jerk reaction to "Offensive" titles which are no worse than the worse slasher flicks out there.
IT normally done to be seen to be on the side of the public. It seems to me that if someone is going to commit a violent crime, the chances are they were going to do it regardless of what they were watching/playing. Can someone tell me what overly violent computer games Hitler used to play before the Holocaust? Or which one of the GTA games Gengis Khan used to play before violent raids across the eastern world. What about the church and possibly the most violent acts in history with The Crusades. They must have been playing the first of the Manhunt titles to get that worked up surely. Surely?
No, the problem isn't computer games, it's people. Plain and simple. If we keep these more than healthy outlets from people then we're going to see more aggression in the streets.
There are more than enough studies to show a lack of correlation between violent media and and actual violence so we really need to be a little more intelligent in our decisions. It's in the hands of the parents to make sure that children don't play these titles and not in the hands of the Government, official bodies and people in offices who wouldn't know how to turn a playstation on, never mind play the games and make a valid decision.
I, personally, being an adult and having played a slew of violent games in the past, have managed to make it to the age of 32 without slaughtering people, killing people or harming them in any way. Main reason for this is that I can take out all my frustration on video games and at the end of violently hacking someone to pieces, i feel like a normal human being again. This doesn't mean that i'm about to go out and do it for real.
One day they'll realise that people will be able to hold those murderous impulses under control, because i'm sure that if they couldn't, the biggest selling games of all time, namely the GTA series, would be responsible for a massacre of truely biblical proportions.
Time to wake up and smell the coffee people. If they start banning our games again, they'll keep going until they only let us play Mark-Kate and Ashley titles..
That's just what I think anyway..
Peace
face
IT normally done to be seen to be on the side of the public. It seems to me that if someone is going to commit a violent crime, the chances are they were going to do it regardless of what they were watching/playing. Can someone tell me what overly violent computer games Hitler used to play before the Holocaust? Or which one of the GTA games Gengis Khan used to play before violent raids across the eastern world. What about the church and possibly the most violent acts in history with The Crusades. They must have been playing the first of the Manhunt titles to get that worked up surely. Surely?
No, the problem isn't computer games, it's people. Plain and simple. If we keep these more than healthy outlets from people then we're going to see more aggression in the streets.
There are more than enough studies to show a lack of correlation between violent media and and actual violence so we really need to be a little more intelligent in our decisions. It's in the hands of the parents to make sure that children don't play these titles and not in the hands of the Government, official bodies and people in offices who wouldn't know how to turn a playstation on, never mind play the games and make a valid decision.
I, personally, being an adult and having played a slew of violent games in the past, have managed to make it to the age of 32 without slaughtering people, killing people or harming them in any way. Main reason for this is that I can take out all my frustration on video games and at the end of violently hacking someone to pieces, i feel like a normal human being again. This doesn't mean that i'm about to go out and do it for real.
One day they'll realise that people will be able to hold those murderous impulses under control, because i'm sure that if they couldn't, the biggest selling games of all time, namely the GTA series, would be responsible for a massacre of truely biblical proportions.
Time to wake up and smell the coffee people. If they start banning our games again, they'll keep going until they only let us play Mark-Kate and Ashley titles..
That's just what I think anyway..
Peace
face
Joji 25 Jun 2007 12:58
2/2
Great post DJ. There's no denying the points you make. Games I feel are always gonna have this stigma attached to them, because they aren't as popular and are a generally new medium. When the Likes of Keith Vaz start their grand standing in the name of the people, their agenda is one laced in fear for the children, when games span various ages. They still find it hard to grasp the concept of an adult game.
I know I'll be backing Rockstar all the way though. Games are a creative entertainment medium (a point the gutter press and MPs seems to forget) and deserve some respect for all the money and jobs they bring to the U.K and other countries too.
Double standards will always be the sword those negative muppets fight their battles against games with. They seem beyond sense or reason at times. We could all invite Vaz and Thompson round for dinner and serve up some of the best games to them (non violent stuff like Brain Training, Puzzle League etc) and I feel they'll still go away with the same view. If they are that unreasonable you can't ever win against them (the computer at Mario kart is more forgiving than them).
We should all stand together as adult gamers, and defend those who break their backs to give us what we enjoy. This isn't just about Manhunt 2 anymore, but something bigger.
Notice that Rockstar are still yet to receive an apology from Jack Thompson and co, concerning his pre slating of CCE. Will Rockstar ever get it? Another good example of how games and the industry aren't respected enough, even for just that.
I know I'll be backing Rockstar all the way though. Games are a creative entertainment medium (a point the gutter press and MPs seems to forget) and deserve some respect for all the money and jobs they bring to the U.K and other countries too.
Double standards will always be the sword those negative muppets fight their battles against games with. They seem beyond sense or reason at times. We could all invite Vaz and Thompson round for dinner and serve up some of the best games to them (non violent stuff like Brain Training, Puzzle League etc) and I feel they'll still go away with the same view. If they are that unreasonable you can't ever win against them (the computer at Mario kart is more forgiving than them).
We should all stand together as adult gamers, and defend those who break their backs to give us what we enjoy. This isn't just about Manhunt 2 anymore, but something bigger.
Notice that Rockstar are still yet to receive an apology from Jack Thompson and co, concerning his pre slating of CCE. Will Rockstar ever get it? Another good example of how games and the industry aren't respected enough, even for just that.