Monday, June 25, 2007

Take-two suspends release of Manhunt2

Take-two Interactive Software, a games developer for multiple gaming consoles (Sony and Nintendo), is controversial, with earlier games such as Grand Theft Auto and Bully. It had developed a new game called Manhunt2, that was also a violent game, about a person escaped from a mental asylum, who kills a number of enemies with different techniques and weapons. He is trying to figure out what happened to his family.
Take-two has revenues of $1 billion, and this game was expected to contribute around $40 million, but now that is in jeopardy. A lot of video games are sickeningly violent with graphic scenes of death and destruction, under the guise of calling to freedom of expression and creative art. The game expectes the player to take on this role. However, what it would not have expected was the official reaction to the game, with a UK body banning the game in the United Kingdom and a US certification body giving it a Adults Only rating, decreasing the chances of selling it. After all, stores then have to display it in such a manner that kids cannot buy it, and kids under 18 are one of the major driving factors behind the purchase of violent games.
So the company is now in a soup over this game; it could cut its losses by cancelling the game outright, but that would mean the entire developmental effort would be toast; it could release the game only on Personal Computers, but that means losing a major market in terms of gaming consoles; or modifying the game such that the ban and certification are made more moderate. Touch choices.