Legal Specialist Comments On Rockstar’s Manhunt 2 Appeal

A videogames legal expert has drawn analogies between Rockstar's appeal over the recent Manhunt 2 ban to the BBFC and the Carmaggedon 2 ban back in the late 1990s.

“Last time this happened with Carmaggedon the appeal worked so that’s a positive precedent,” James Pond (yes, seriously - no surprise that he chose games law as a specialty!), an associate at games specialist law firm Osbourne Clarke, told MCV this week.

Pond added, “Rockstar has taken a while to build its case, so they’ve obviously been taking stock of what the BBFC have said. They will have to work together to agree on making the right cuts. But there could be problems if the BBFC feels that the violence running throughout the game is too much – it’s not like a film where you can just cut certain scenes.”

SPOnG put a call in to James Pond following his comments above, he told us:

“I should add that if the present appeal doesn’t succeed then its not the end of the line [for Rockstar] though it’s not quite the same as the Carmaggedon case ten years ago, in which SCi merely changed the colour of the blood in that game from red to green to appease the BBFC.”

Surely Manhunt 2 is on a par with movies such as SAW and Hostel and should be treated as such?

“Yes, although it seems that a key concern in this case is that the BBFC is suggesting that games are somehow qualitatively different to movies,” Pond told us.

“Good for Rockstar for sticking to its guns and appealing though and whatever the end result in this case is, it will certainly set a marker for the future,” he added.

SPOnG spoke with a Rockstar rep today who reminded us that Manhunt 2 is now scheduled for release sometime between November 07 and January 08, presumably following a successful overturning of the BBCF's decision to not grant the game an 18-certificate.

^{(Why would James Pond have chosen to specialise in game law? This might be why...)}