The New York Times has published an editorial by Seth Schiesel, entitled, "Gore Galore but a Violent Game Can't Hold a Gutbucket to the Movies." After Manhunt 2 got banned in several regions and got hit with the Adults Only rating by the ESRB, Schiesel played the game for three hours and came to a simple conclusion: compared to the nastiest movies, like "Saw" or "Hostel," the game is actually pretty tame. Ironically enough, those movies didn't land an "NC-17" rating and kept their "R" rating...which is the gaming equivalent of an "M" rating.
He mentions how the execution scenes, as grotesque as they can be, are actually optional and don't ever last more than ten seconds. In other words, if you ever saw a commercial for the game highlighting all these scenes, it would give a "skewed impression of the overall game." Schiesel said he didn't find the game "particularly frightening or sickening," but he was "used to games." So he set out to compare the controversial title to some of the latest horror films. And after finding out why some people were calling these movies "torture porn," he realized the big difference between the game and the films: real people vs. fake cartoon people.
Of course, we've all known this for quite some time. Most gamers will have difficulty understanding how something like "Hostel" can squeeze through with an "R"-rating, but Manhunt 2 gets hit with the Adults Only rating. It just means the ESRB is doing a better job of rating, in our opinion. But this editorial helps keep things in perspective, doesn't it?
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