Nintendo of America Presidents Speaks About Manhunt 2

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Nintendo of America Presidents Speaks About Manhunt 2


For the first time since the controversy erupted, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has spoken out about Manhunt 2 [http://www.rockstargames.com/manhunt2] and its place on the Nintendo Wii.

Speaking in an interview with Rockstar [http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/levelup/archive/2007/06/27/reggie-on-his-big-plans-for-a-little-nintendo-wiiware.aspx]. "Wii welcomes games E, T and M," he continued. "We haven't approved AO-rated games. I doubt we ever will." Of Manhunt 2 itself, he said, "What Rockstar has right now is a game rated outside our spectrum, outside any manufacturer's spectrum."

Commenting on the possibility that a modified version of Manhunt 2 may be rated M for the PlayStation 3 and PSP but retain its current AO rating due to the Wii's motion-sensing controls, he said, "That's an issue for the ESRB [http://www.esrb.org]and Rockstar to work through. And as I understand the ESRB guidelines, the Wii controls should not be an issue."

Prior to receiving an AO-rating, special attention was paid to the Wii version of Manhunt 2 by anti-gaming groups due to the system's use of violent gesturing in order to control the game's characters. Gamers would use the motion-sensing controls to simulate chopping, hacking and stabbing motions as they progressed through the game, raising concerns about a heightened level of immersion that would have a quicker and more detrimental impact upon young gamers.


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Bongo Bill

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Echolocating said:
What was Rockstar thinking when they built this game? That's the question I'd like answered.
They were thinking that, increasingly, controversy is free publicity for them.
 

Echolocating

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Bongo Bill said:
They were thinking that, increasingly, controversy is free publicity for them.
Then they probably had the M rated version compiled before they even shipped the AO one. ;-)
 

Arbre

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Hey! I have found a somehow more complete interview.

"This is not an image issue" said Regis Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America.
"Wii welcomes games rated E, T and M. We haven't approved AO-rated games. I doubt we ever will.
[Manhunt 2] is a game rated outside our spectrum, outside any manufacturer's spectrum.

"That's an issue for the ESRB and Rockstar to work through. And as I understand the ESRB guidelines, the Wii controls should not be an issue."

"We consider ESRB's well-advised ratings respectable. They're became our benchmarks to filter out ethically disputable games."

So fundamentally puzzling and slightly inconsistent, with ethics being at play, it seemed like if the ESRB would re-rate the game M, Manhunt 2 would still be refused the much craved licence slot.

Asked on Nintendo's position regarding their own validition yardsticks, Fils-Aime affirmed that "the reason why we don't greenlight AO games on the Wii is not because such games would make us look bad, but because it wouldn't mesh with the values we, at Nintendo, believe in. Public representation has nothing to do with that.
Of course, we did sell a couple of phasers, colts and bazookas in the past, but you know, it doesn't take much movement to actually pull a trigger and shoot something - or someone - down," seemingly implying that the ESRB's were too strict in their judgement.

Fils-Aime estimated this needed a clarification. "Obviously if the ESRB would redefine their rating codes, by not considering stabbing, hacking and chopping motions as criteria requiring an AO rating, we'd welcome Rockstar's Manhunt 2 to our expanding catalogue, and approve the innovative and imaginative use of the Wiimote."

Reminded that Red Steel's TV ads heavily emphasized on the use of blades to threaten people to death and kill them, and also incorporated sequences of intense gunfights, causing maximum carnage on screen, Fils-Aime replied that "fortunately, it turned out that the game's controls were so shabbily implemented that it didn't look like you were slicing someone with a katana, and the gunfights weren't really exciting, so no one really bothered anyway. I can understand how this passed under the ESRB's radar though."

To what he added "besides, we quickly needed a batch of readily available games. We couldn't be too harsh."

He ended by stressing on how "this is certainly not an image issue."

Now here's a game:

Associate each name to the appropriate notions:

A. ESRB.
B. Nintendo.
C. Rockstar.
D. Take-Two.

1. Hypocrisy.
2. Marketing ploy.
3. Double standard.
4. Irresponsability.