Leak of the Day 2: AO Manhunt 2 leaked onto BitTorrent sites

Manhunt 2 screenshot

Manhunt 2 became the next game after GTA: San Andreas to hit mainstream news because of its “Adult-Only” labeling and subsequent banning in several countries. Now, Rockstar has a reputation of such things, but it didn’t want any more. It immediately announced that Manhunt 2 will be revised and toned down to get a Mature rating.

But before Rockstar could say “Don’t ban us”, their Adult-Only version of Manhunt 2 hit the internets. Now all hell has broken loose on BitTorrent sites, as that’s where the (supposedly)secret AO version of Manhunt 2 is. Again, details on who made the leak and what Rockstar is going to do them, as well as whether they will use torture or just mutilation on them is unknown.

According to “Team Slonik”, who got the game onto the Internet, the game is a beta, and so you shouldn’t be complaining. But if you prefer a more complete (and cleaner) game of Manhunt 2, wait for the official release on October 31st, for the Wii, PS2 and PSP consoles.

[Via ars technica]

Indiana Jones is back, in Lego form!

Lego Indiana Jones

Ah Indy, you’ve given us joy and adventure for years. You may be old now, but your visage will forever been in our hearts… in block form. Yes Traveller’s Tales has announced yet ANOTHER Lego game to be released. Besides Lego Batman and Lego Star Wars, Traveller’s Tales is going to be developing an Indiana Jones Legos game based on the first three movies. Not much is known about the release itself, but expect a Wii, 360, PS3, and perhaps a DS and PSP release sometime next summer.

The game seems to follow the tried and true format of the last two Lego Star Wars games, with focus on Indy. I’m certain there’ll be more characters to play as and extensive use of Airplanes, Horses, motorcycles, and even Indy’s Whip through out the game’s three stories. Again, not much is known, but the trailer LucasArts released shows a few small segments of gameplay with Indiana swinging on vines, shooting his pistol, and running from a boulder. Looks like fun, but I hope it gets released with Online Co-op like they’re doing with Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga.

[Via: Source]

E3 Videos

We’ve been working around the clock to bring you as many E3 07 videos as possible! As such we now have tons of videos related to Nintendo’s Press Briefing Conference that was held earlier today. Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Fit, the Zapper are only some of the videos available for your viewing pleasures!

We’ve also uploaded some new videos from Electronics Arts: Army of Two and The Simpsons game.

Oh and don’t forget Microsoft! Halo 3 yada yada… It’s all there.

Sony related videos will be going online tomorrow.

E3 2007: New PSP, Sony Press Conference

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Sony unveiled a new PSP model during their press conference that is to be 33% lighter, 19 % slimmer, load games faster, utilize battery power more efficiently, and output high quality video to your television. That’s right, play your PSP on your TV screen!

The new PSP is scheduled to ship September 2007, available in classic piano black, but also in two new colors. Ice Silver which will be rolling out with a Daxter game, memory stik duo, and the Family Guy “Freakin’ Sweet” collection, and the Star Wars: Battlefront Renegade Squadron Pack, a white PSP with Darth Vader’s image on the back and packaged with Star Wars: Battlefront Renegade for $199.99

You gotta FIGHT! For your RIGHT! To Plaaaaaaaaaay GAMES!

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I reported a couple of days ago on the BBFC and Irish Film Censor Office’s decisions to effectively ban Manhunt 2 in the United Kingdom and Ireland by refusing to rate the game, citing “casual sadism” and “callous violence”, and the ESRB’s decision to rate the game “Adults Only”. Since then, Sony and Nintendo have both reaffirmed their policies (which I was unaware of at the time of the last article) of refusing to license “AO”-rated games, or to even let them play on their systems. Universally, these boards and companies are treating this game as an imminent threat to society, and that is not an exaggeration on my part.

This should put a burr beneath the scrotum of any adult who feels that we have a certain right to decide what forms of entertainment are suitable for our own consumption. As an American, I applaud the constitutionally-enforced inability of the ESRB to ban this game, but am saddened and disturbed by Nintendo’s and Sony’s decisions to disallow games designed for responsible, mentally-capable adults. According to figures from the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play computer and video games, and the average gamer age is 33. Of all gamers, only 31% are under age 18, with 44% falling between 18-49 years of age, and 25% aged 50 years and over. Quick addition tells us 79% of all gamers are adults, yet these companies, boards, and committees find this adult content intolerable, and in some cases illegal. This is disheartening to me in a way I can’t begin to express to you.

But I digress. Before I lose you on this one, I wanted to share with you GAMERS FOR GAMING, a cause championed by Jim Sterling and David Houghton, two of my new favoritest tea-sipping bad-asses over at Destructoid.com. They’ve attached themselves to this story like a couple of rabid wolves may attach themselves to… another rabid wolf… attached to… freedom of expression? I dunno, metaphors aside, these guys are working on getting our thoughts and feelings across to everyone who is working to stifle our freedom to choose, the freedom of media, and the freedom of expression in art. Fight with us. Follow along. This affects us as gamers, as consumers, and as free people. It’s not a little issue. It’s not about one game, but about everything that ratings boards and law makers can take from you in the future once we start down this slippery slope. There are so many reasons to get in on this, I’ll not try to innumerate them. Get involved.

A very special thank you to the people with the voice that have taken up this torch. It’s good to see gamers getting involved in something worthwhile.

Manhunt 2 rated AO stateside; Banned in Britain, Ireland

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Once again, stuffy old people are afraid to count on free adults to distinguish for themselves the bold line between fictitious entertainment and really-real life. Low-resolution slaughterfest and high-profile hype-machine Manhunt 2 (slated for release on PS2, Wii, and PSP) is receiving the royal cold-shoulder from ratings boards across the globe, being banned so far in Ireland and the United Kingdom, and awarded the scarlet letters “AO” in the US. I’m sure the mania isn’t settled yet. Read on for the disheartening details of worldwide stupidity and my carefully formed, ojective rebuttal.

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