Last month, Rockstar Games released the controversial title, Manhunt 2 for the PlayStation 2, PSP, and Wii platforms.
However, the release was just a breathe of fresh air for Rockstar as the title became the bull’s-eye for US senators such as Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, Sam Brownback, and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
According to Game Politics.com, these four Senators sent a letter to the ESRB president, Patricia Vance, in hopes of changing the way things are handled so far as game ratings. The general US public knows Lieberman as the 2000 democratic Vice President Candidate, but gamers will recognize him as the forefront leader of the “anti-videogame” hears over the past decade. After all, it was the efforts might Joe to have the ratings system created after numerous Congressional hearings back in the 1990s.
The letter to the ESRB reveals that the BBFC was very light on their review of the Manhunt 2 title and that perhaps, it should have never received the M rating in the first place.
The letter describes Manhunt 2’s as "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone”. They seriously believe Manhunt 2 no matter what the rating was, simply should not have been released.
They even make judgment on the Wii version saying that the controller permits adolescents to act out violent manoeuvres with their hands. Nintendo and violence is something that hardly ever goes together in a sentence but the Senators found reason to make that possible.
To put it into a conclusion, the letter stated, "In sum, we ask your consideration of whether it is time to review the robustness, reliability and repeatability of your ratings process, particularly for this genre of ‘ultra-violent’ videogames and advances in game controllers."
Rockstar just cannot catch a break.