To get all our pieces in place, let's go over what has happened. Rockstar's upcoming title, Manhunt 2, was banned by the British Board of Film Classification, essentially the UK's ESRB. That was for "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone," according to website MCVuk.com.

In short order, it found itself with an AO rating in the US and various other markets rumbling that the game might not be allowed to be sold. Now, according to MCVuk, Rockstar has appealed the ban with the Video Appeals Committee, which can overturn it. What's interesting is that this is the proverberial 11th hour for the appeal, coming in just before the six-week deadline.


From here, VAC chairman John Woods has to decide who will hear the appeal. The appeal itself will "take into account both the BBFC's and Rockstar's position and view demonstrations of the game" (MCVuk). This raises a few more questions, but the most important one is which version of the game the will VAC see -- the original, or a modified version which is less "unremittingly bleak and callous" in tone? A close second is how this will impact the game's rating troubles in other countries, particularly the US, where it received the virtual death sentence of an AO rating.

A Rockstar representative's only comment was "Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. confirmed today that Rockstar Games has appealed the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) decision that prohibited the release of any version of Manhunt 2 in Britain."