BBFC applies for judicial review

By Games Industry.biz Published 17 December, 2007

Contests Manhunt VAC ruling.

The British Board of Film Classification has applied for a judicial review regarding the successful appeal made by Rockstar Games against the Manhunt 2 ban, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

The Video Appeals Committee had previously overturned the BBFC's rejection of Manhunt 2, but now the Board is seeking to overturn that decision, as well as a suspension of the Committee's decision to grant the game a classification.

According to a statement released by the BBFC, the Board believes that if its original decision isn't allowed to stand there could be significant consequences on future classifications.

"The BBFC is contesting the VAC judgement because in the Board's view, it is based on an approach to harm which is an incorrect interpretation of the Video Recordings Act. The VAC judgement, if allowed to stand, would have fundamental implications with regard to all the Board’s decisions, including those turning upon questions of unacceptable levels of violence."

The statement also added that Manhunt 2 will not be classified until the outcome of the judicial review if the VAC's decision is suspended.

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Comments (36) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Lawlost #1 4 years ago

    Come on guys accept the appeal and move on

  • evilashchris #2 4 years ago

    oh FFS! I just want to pull someones balls off! :(
    Edited by 1 at 17/12/07 @ 13:24

  • rock27gr #3 4 years ago

    Well I hope they are right, and I hope they lose.

    Classification is good, censorship and banning are bad.

  • hjarg #4 4 years ago

    Hey, no whining!
    This legal battle is more entertaining then the game! So let them entertain us! :)

  • LetsGo #5 4 years ago

    Go BBFC! maybe rock* will stop making controversal tat after all this rubbish ends....

  • bad09 #6 4 years ago

    hjarg,

    Good one mate!

  • bioreit #7 4 years ago

    The only way to settle this is with a Diss-off:

    The execs at Rockstar, as well as the lead programmers and game designers of Manhunt 2, each have to write a 5000-word dissertation, explaining precisely why Manhunt 2 should be allowed, making eloquent use of Freedom of Speech arguments and using realistic examples and analogies (without resorting to "But in the future, if the Nazis ruled England..." type comments).

    The BBFC must do the same - one dissertation from each Board member who reviewed the game, as well as their superiors - explaining rationally why the game should not get a classification, justifying their reasons for doing so without using "But who will think of the children?"-style responses.

    All should be on my desk by the second Friday of January, at which point I will assign arbitrary marks based on how amusing I find their surnames. Work submitted in crayon will have marks deducted accordingly.

    That really is the only way to settle this matter once and for all I'm afraid.
    Edited by 1 at 17/12/07 @ 13:29

  • gingerlink #8 4 years ago

    Latest News:

    This case will be included in the next Ace Attorney (Phoenix Wright) game.

  • Saladin #9 4 years ago

    In other news, BBFC executives have received massive bags of cash from the Daily Wail to pursue worthless, hopeless censorship campaign to sell tedious right-wing news papers to feckless. blame-shifting parents.

  • NickNack #10 4 years ago

    So much BS over a BS game. When you can't make a good game just throw in some over the top gore and the masses of unwashed fuckwits will lap it up. Either because they have serious mental issues and get off on extreme violence, or they will buy it to send a FU to the classification board. Either way you sell your game.

    Rockstar are playing you like a fiddle and you fall for it everytime. But then again their fans have always been pretty retarded so nothing out of the ordinary there.

  • oreillymj #11 4 years ago

    This is EUROgamer.

    Freedom Of Speech is not enshrined in any European constitution I'm aware of.

  • reality_cheque #12 4 years ago

    We wouldn't have a problem with games like this if parents were clever enough to not buy 18 rated games for 13 year old kids, because then an 18 rated game would actually mean something (as opposed to merely being a selling point for the kids).

    In short, this game can be released but only if I can 'manhunt' any parents who buy it for their under age sprog. Problem solved.

  • President_Weasel #13 4 years ago

    The legislation on all this is as wooly as a Welshman's girlfriend. The BBFC are trying to do their job as best they can working with legislation that's probably not fit for purpose.
    If you want to hate somebody then please by all means hate Keith Vaz, not the BBFC who have only banned one game in the last 10 years.

  • chrisjm #14 4 years ago

    i watched saw 3 and paradise lost at the weekend... cannot believe this game got banned and those films are ok :-/ double standards.

  • X201 #15 4 years ago

    Saw 3 is interactive then?

  • MrChuckles #16 4 years ago

    Jeez, how many times do i have to explain this...

    In films like Saw 3 etc, the main antagonist is a 'good guy' bad things happen to them from a bad-guy, and the villain usually gets their just desserts.

    In Manhunt, the player controls a guy who murders people willy-nilly, and gets away with it. There is no moral standpoint, it is violence for violence sake.

    I believe the excessive violence isn't the problem, it's the fact that in Manhunt it is presented as ok, in horror films violence is presented as only done by the evil gits. You don't see the hero popping people's eyes out.

  • hjarg #17 4 years ago

    "Freedom Of Speech is not enshrined in any European constitution I'm aware of."

    Well, it is here. And i'd say that you kinda need to read more constitutions to make that stupid claim.

  • Rirekon #18 4 years ago

    Every time someone misinterprets Freedom of Speech a kitten dies.

  • consignia #19 4 years ago

    You can only sell AO rated titles in licensed sex shops. That's the difference.

    EDIT: This was supposed to be a reply to a message that went walkabouts.
    Edited by 1 at 17/12/07 @ 14:19

  • Aretak #20 4 years ago

    AO is an American rating. Their rating below that is M, which is for people aged 17 or older (AO is 18 or older).

    /edit/ And the sex shop-only rating over here is R18, not AO.
    Edited by 1 at 17/12/07 @ 14:17

  • consignia #21 4 years ago

    Sorry, I'm getting ratings systems confused here.

  • alpha-0ne #22 4 years ago

    This game is getting far too much attention for how good it is..

  • bad09 #23 4 years ago

    @NickNack

    Harsh mate!! I love GTA games and I don't consider myself a retard!

  • Eighthours #24 4 years ago

    If you want to hate somebody then please by all means hate Keith Vaz

    Can't you ask us to do something difficult? Not much of a challenge, hating that crook!

  • mcwildcard #25 4 years ago

    I've had enough of this, I'm taking control of the issue.
    Verdict:
    BBFC were overzealous with their ban.
    Rockstar made a shit game.

    Therefore:
    BBFC ban is to be lifted, but game is subject to a new ban, by me, for being mediocre and shit.

  • Landmaster #26 4 years ago

    Fuck off.

  • Machetazo #27 4 years ago

    awww, does the BBFC want it's wattle. :(

  • MrChuckles #28 4 years ago

    @JSPOOLE - Nah, didn't say i had played it, and i haven't, i am reading into what the BBFC says of it:

    "There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game."

    I'm pretty sure if all the sadistic violence was done by the bad guys and then the hero popped up and shot them in the face, there wouldn't be a problem at all. It's because the 'hero' is doing the violence, not the violence itself.

    'Basically, sadistic violence is good.'

    Of course i don't think gaming violence leads to real violence, i've been shooting people for about 20 years now, and still a pacifist at heart, it's the unremitting bleakness of it all and the justification of the acts that is what made it fail.

  • MrChuckles #29 4 years ago

    Oh, i hate Zelda and mario too, i'm with you there :-)..

    I wonder if the BBFC would allow a film where a mass murderer goes around torturing and killing other evil people and then at the end of the film gets away scott free. I reckon they wouldn't and that's what we should compare this game to.

    And for the record i do actually like films like SAW, Texas Chainsaw Massacre etc, i'm not saying i agree with the ruling, but i can certainly see where they are coming from so i'm not very anti it tbh, they are trying to be consistent.

  • CouldntResist #30 4 years ago

    Rirekon: "Every time someone misinterprets Freedom of Speech a kitten dies."

    +1 - Every time i hear someone get on their high horse about Freedom of speech when they clearly don't fully understand the concept i wan't to tear my hair out. Little kids bandy that phrase around as if it were a magical "get out of jail free" card whenever a difficult (AND NOT CLEAR-CUT) issue regarding censorship is raised.
    Edited by 2 at 17/12/07 @ 19:41

  • Schwabing #31 4 years ago

    Sorry, Rockstar are publicity hunting sickos.
    They deserve everything they get on this one.
    BBFC needs to stand its ground

  • GiarcYekrub #32 4 years ago

    No rush I can't find a Wii yet anyway.

    They dug themselves a hole with this one, I still think it's a missed opportunity if they don't use Manhunt 2 to educate parents what 18 games are.

  • Bassassin #33 4 years ago

    "I wonder if the BBFC would allow a film where a mass murderer goes around torturing and killing other evil people and then at the end of the film gets away scott free. I reckon they wouldn't and that's what we should compare this game to."

    Not quite sucha simplistic premise, but utterly morally ambiguous:

    [link url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Bites_Dog_%28film%29 ]http://en .wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_Bites_D...[/link]

    The BBFC passed Man Bites Dog uncut.

  • MrChuckles #34 4 years ago

    Man bites dog spoiler:

    'There, Benoit is horrified to learn that the Mafia has violently murdered his lady friend and his parents. Returning to his hideout, Benoit begins to recite his poem 'Pigeon'. Just as he is reciting it, he and the rest of the film crew are shot and killed on camera by the vengeful gangsters.'

    So, due to him being a murderer, everyone he loves is killed, and then he and the film crew are murdered too... Doesn't sound like he gets off at the end to me...

    I have seen that film too, quite a weird one.

  • Nillsens #35 4 years ago

    Rap music is a far worse influence on kids.

  • Gastrian #36 4 years ago

    While a movie might show the perspective from the offenders side and be morally ambiguous it doesn't nessecarily mean that the main character is the hero. When you watch a movie you have considerably more freedom of thought.

    Even though you get games which try to be morally ambiguous, due to the limited nature of the interactive media you are shoe-horned into making a decision based on a limited choice which limits your freedom of thought.

    Also take into consideration that games are based on a task/reward system, so that the majority of "evil"desicions actually benefit you which can skew your perspective.

  • Retroid #37 4 years ago

    BBFC = shower of shits