Censored Manhunt 2 content sprung

by James Ransom-Wiley { Oct 31st 2007 at 5:15PM }

Wanna play Manhunt 2 the ways it's supposed to be played? Simple, just delete the "replace original file" scripts in the game code. A group of hackers allege to have done just that, altering the PSP game file and 'unlocking' the otherwise filtered gore. It's not quite on the scale of Hot Coffee -- remember kids, explicit sex is much worse than gratuitous violence -- but this latest scandal (call it "Hot Pliers") could become just as overblown, despite the hack being currently limited to the portable version of Manhunt and requiring a homebrew-enabled PSP, along with some basic ISO manipulation. Quick! Hide your PSPs before the grownups burn them!

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Tags: hot-coffee, hot-pliers, manhunt-2, Manhunt2, rockstar

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

LaughingTarget @ Oct 31st 2007 5:17PM

That little dude is totally gonna give that woman a root canal.

aaron_k7 @ Oct 31st 2007 5:19PM

Implied statement from Rockstar: "We're trying to get caught."

Psaakyrn @ Oct 31st 2007 5:30PM

Face, meet palm.

I mean, why can't the programmers ever learn to delete unused codes? All it does it take up memory, which could've been used to put in more content and etc..

arrrgh @ Oct 31st 2007 5:32PM

controversy is a good headline grabber :p

Poisoned Al @ Oct 31st 2007 5:38PM

Yeah, they made the same "mistake" twice.

Riiiight. If you believe that, then I've got a bridge to sell you!

FidliousWong @ Oct 31st 2007 5:39PM

Well, Psaakyrn, it's because it's NOT unused code. Essentially they filter or blur the violence but it still happens. So finding this code and removing the blurs is likely as easy as removing the blur from Sims 2.

In regards to the hot coffee, well, how many lines of code did SA have exactly? I know at our job, when editing or changing code, majority of the time we just comment it out just in case it breaks anything or when we want to ignore certain things for certain projects. And Hot Coffee was writing code which bridged code with some other code.

I mean, I hate to belittle you on this but I'm not even a code monkey at my job and I know this.

Psaakyrn @ Oct 31st 2007 5:45PM

a) Sorry, I didn't know that the filtering done is just by filter bars. Given the current hoopla happening, that'd been a bad idea.
b) Given that it's an almost entirely seperate portion of the game, it shouldn't have broken the code. For that matter, if you can comment it out, you can also delete. In fact, if it's commented out, compiling it should automatically delete it, so it wasn't commented out as you proposed.

matt @ Nov 2nd 2007 5:38PM

Deleting code thats still there but unused could create some insane bugs. When programming something as big as a game, everything can break everything.

t_m @ Nov 1st 2007 12:41PM

Jeez.. rockstar appear to have some form of death wish. They had to know that the first thing anyone would try to do would be remove the censoring.

Rubang B (NDF - Heart) @ Oct 31st 2007 5:44PM

Violence is so much better than sex. I'd rather kill people than make them! Duh!

Physically expressing hate is so much more fun than physically expressing sexua... I mean love.

Psaakyrn @ Oct 31st 2007 5:46PM

I believe the word you're looking for is "Lust".

LaughingTarget @ Oct 31st 2007 5:56PM

Happy Time for Mr. Head.

Zoidberg Jesus (a.k.a. Jebo) @ Oct 31st 2007 5:59PM

If explicit sex in video games is much worse than explicit sex in film than is gratuitous violence in video games much worse than gratuitous violence in film?

Worst of All:
1. Explicit sex (Video games)
2. Explicit sex (Film)
3. Gratuitous Violence (Video games)
4. Gratuitous Violence (Film)

TheGuy @ Oct 31st 2007 6:10PM

Oh boy. This is gonna provide plenty of ammunition for Jack Thompson for a while. Bastard will be giddy with joy once (if he hasn't heard already) he hears about this.

As for the ability to uncensor the content, Rockstar either wanted this to happen or was just too lazy to ensure the filter was integrated into the gore animations instead of just "pasted on". This wont be Hot Coffee big, but it'll be enough to give that idiot Jack Thompson more air time.

Iced_Eagle @ Oct 31st 2007 6:16PM

Once someone unlocks it in the Wii, Jack Thompson is going to go crazy, along with the ESRB.

HurricaneJesus @ Oct 31st 2007 6:19PM

All this is going to do is generate more sales for the PSP version!

It is win-win for R* and TT.

And lose-lose for JT.

Sam @ Oct 31st 2007 6:29PM

why don't news networks have a video game advocate or expert to refute the stuff jack thompson says? I mean, seriously, where is the voice of video game consumers? The ESA? Are you kidding me? There a bunch of hackey-eyed butt munchers who stop at nothing to make sure they please everyone they can for the sake of...humanity. Gamers need their own Jack Thompson...or Master Chief/Mario/Snake Solid. 'Nuff said.

J-Guy @ Oct 31st 2007 7:07PM

We've got the ECA (Entertainment Consumers Association)
on our side. And if I recall, Gamepolitics.com had an article explaining that they're getting active against JT and politicians.

Sam @ Oct 31st 2007 6:46PM

did I just say Snake Solid. Yeah I don't play PS3 or PS2 so... Solid Snake*

Aj Collins @ Oct 31st 2007 6:54PM

Some guy over at project manhunt figured out to mod the PS2 version as well.
http://www.projectmanhunt.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=237149#237149

MooseNinja @ Oct 31st 2007 8:37PM

Oh, this is probably going to explode. After Hot Coffee, the ESRB added a part where the rating is based on the material from all code on disc (http://www.esrb.org/ratings/enforcement.jsp, about six lines down). Since the uncensored version is still on the disc, they're technically in violation. And since they signed a contract in order to get an ESRB rating, they're probably legally bound to do whatever the ESRB wants.

Psaakyrn @ Oct 31st 2007 8:59PM

Unless... the rating is actually based on the uncensored version? When you think about it, it's almost impossible for ERSB to not realise that filter bars only artificially censor stuff..

MooseNinja @ Oct 31st 2007 9:18PM

Well, didn't this game come under the radar when the ESRB first reviewed the game and gave it an AO? I was under the impression that the censored vs uncensored is difference between M and AO.

NinjaMoose @ Oct 31st 2007 8:43PM

Oh, this is probably going to explode. After Hot Coffee, the ESRB
added a part where the rating is based on the material from all code
on disc (http://www.esrb.org/ratings/enforcement.jsp, about six lines
down). Since the uncensored version is still on the disc, they're
technically in violation. And since they signed a contract in order
to get an ESRB rating, they're probably legally bound to do whatever
the ESRB wants.