No sooner does Rockstar finally succeed in getting Manhunt 2 unbanned in the UK than another Rockstar game gets banned in another country. This time around it's Bully: Scholarship Edition that's been banned by a Brazilian judge, as the AP is reporting.

According to the report, the ban prevents the game from "being imported, distributed, sold or promoted on Web sites and stores" in the country. Brazilian distributors and retailers will have thirty days to comply with the ban, which came in response to a request from a Brazilian youth center. "The aggravating factor is that everything in the game takes place inside a school" said prosecutor Alcindo Bastas. "That is not acceptable."

A Take-Two spokesman said the decision "will not have a material impact on the sales of this popular title." We're relatively sure this is not the last we'll hear from the publisher about this matter.

The Sunburnt Country has never been a very friendly place for video games with adult content. With a maximum game rating of MA15+, games which are deemed unsuitable for the pubescent, corruptible senses of a 15-year-old are often refused classification, and therefore banned. Several North American best-sellers have fallen victim to Australian banning, or been forced to release censored versions for the land down under, such as GTA III, Postal, Manhunt, and (preemptive attack!) Dark Sector.

Luckily for gaming Aussies (50 percent of which are over the age of 18), government officials are considering the addition of an R18+ rating, allowing the sale of more mature titles. This proposition will be discussed at the next Standing Committee of Attorneys-General on March 28. Should the system undergo the change, for the first time in Australian video games, there will be blood, nudity, and strong language. You know, the good stuff.

The Singapore Media Developmental Authority has reversed its decision to ban Mass Effect from the country. The game will go on sale next week and have an M18 rating. According to The Strait Times, the Board of Film Censors will selectively use game ratings on high-profile games until January, when they expect to initiate a game classification system.

The decision to ban the game earlier this week spurred from a lesbian love scene found in BioWare's anticipated RPG. The Strait Times also noted that Assassin's Creed was released this week with a rating for graphic violence.

Rocking in his comfortable, leather office chair, Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hyrb scours the landscape viewed through his widescreen computer monitor, his hand gently resting on an enormous and ominous banhammer.

... okay, maybe it's not Major Nelson personally banning accounts (although we love the scene we've envisioned), but the director of programming for Xbox Live has delivered a rather stern message to the community about the consequences of sharing and/or tampering with Xbox Live accounts. We're not sure what exactly prompted the public warning, although there is a specific reference to people sharing gamertags for the purpose of earning Halo 3 skulls (tsk, tsk people).

The short answer: just don't do it. If you need more motivation, Major Nelson outlines what will happen should Microsoft have to go to the pain on you.

[Via X3F]

Update 2: A Microsoft rep has confirmed to Joystiq: "We are not banning people."

[Previous headline: Rumor: MS banning its employees for playing Halo 3]

Update: Pro-G now reports that a second Microsoft rep has contacted the site to say the ban only applies to MS employees and consumers will not be affected. Pro-G is still awaiting the official explanation.

[Original headline: Rumor: MS to freeze Live accounts playing Halo 3]

We're still gathering info, so at this point we're mostly giving a heads-up to those who may have gotten their hands on Halo 3 early. Pro-G reports that a Microsoft rep had confirmed to them that gamers who play Halo 3 early will have their Live accounts banned. Not connecting to the net won't help either because the console tracks when the game was played, so according to this rep the first time you connect to Live they'll know. Microsoft is preparing an official statement on the issue, according to Pro-G.

If true, this opens up a big scary can of "Big Brother is watching" for us. Why should consumers be punished for the actions of retailers who sell the game early? We're going to wait for the official statement from Microsoft, but if you happened to have gotten lucky and have Halo 3 in your possession, either don't stick it in your console just yet, or tell us if you get banned. We're a bit skeptical about this as well because we've played Halo 3 (with permission) and it's been linked to our gamertags, which haven't necessarily been registered as "press" with Microsoft. As such, the alleged banning can't be done automatically. Will Microsoft really be doing a case-by-case banathon? We'll update as soon as we get the official statement.

It looks like British prisoners will not be playing Heavenly Sword this Friday. According to UK tabloid The Sun, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo DS have all been banned from jail due to their abilities to to "send and receive radio signals" (the signals aren't radio waves, but we're not going to picky over terminology).

The concern is that the messaging capabilities will allow those on the inside to plan terror attacks. Said one source to the tabloid, "The technology in the new generation of computer games makes them a security risk ... There is concern that top terror suspects have been using systems already in jails. Radio software is an integral part of the equipment."

The ban could later spread to all consoles.

[Via Next-Gen]

An Xbox 360 user by the gamertag Scar allegedly obtained a copy of Halo 3 Epsilon, the near-final build of the game, and went online with the title. Busted. According to this picture at Homicidal Insomniac, the name Scar won't be able to post his Geometry Wars high scores until a time where the universe is actually threatened by power-hungry polygons.

You can read a response allegedly from Scar here. We've contacted Major Nelson to find out if there is a planned server maintenance scheduled for January 1, 10000 AD. (Which, not to concern anyone, is January 1 7990 AR, or After the Robot Revolution.)

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

The Campaign For a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), the group that successfully disturbingly pulled-off getting GTA Vice City ads removed from the Boston metro system, has begun their Manhunt 2 marketing campaign. Sure one could view it as they're trying to stop the game, but these groups seem to only help generate sales, so let us call a spade a spade.

As reported by GamePolitics, back in the day the CCFC demanded Manhunt 2 be rated AO just as the ESRB beat them to the punch. Then came the saga of Manhunt 2, with the latest twist coming this week that the game would be out by Halloween. The CCFC is saying, "Despite industry claims to the contrary, M-rated games continue to be marketed and sold to children under seventeen ... We call upon Rockstar Games to allow the content of Manhunt 2 to be reviewed by an independent review board with no ties to the video game industry ... We ask the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the process by which Manhunt 2's rating was downgraded from AO to M."

Hmm, so the CCFC is demanding a ratings organization allow an outside group to tell them how to do their job, wonder how the MPAA would feel about that for movies? And as if the FTC didn't already have to deal with enough video game related silliness this week. Maybe the Boston-based CCFC can get the city's Mayor Tom Menino to help them out while he's trying to court the video game industry at the same time.

British novelist and journalist John Lanchester has penned a piece for the London Review of Books discussing the Manhunt 2 ban. While not taking sides, Lanchester does opine that the BBFC's decision will help the industry if it gets developers to focus more on pushing video games as a form of art.

The article gets some important facts right, specifically when it comes to how the public and news outlets can unfairly blame video games for acts of violence.

However, others facts presented seem based on a lot of FUD, particularly with Rockstar's history. Lanchester wrote that the infamous sex sequence was "unlockable," implying it could be done in-game without modifications (not true). He also talks about Bully (or Canis Canem Edit in the UK) in a manner to imply public outcry was justified, when anyone who did play the game realized it actually punished bullying and rewarded you for being a good student.

[Thanks, amit]

Newsweek's N'gai Croal hasn't been afraid to defend his tastes on his LevelUp blog. The site's Vs. Mode debates feature some of the best back-and-forth gameplay analysis to be found anywhere. So when Croal and MTV News game writer Stephen Totilo got to play the first few levels of Manhunt 2 at Rockstar's office, you know the resulting conversation is going to be good.

Totilo's portion includes some graphic descriptions of the asylum escape in level one, which includes scenes of public urination, in-cell hangings and stealth kills via syringe and axe-based decapitation. The protagonist isn't completely cold to his role, though -- Totilo describes how he "watched Daniel vomit because of his quick-passing guilt."

Most of the discussion so far, though, deals with the game through the lens of comparative media studies, comparing it to controversial movies like Natural Born Killers and Taxi Driver. Croal and Totilo both harp on the idea of organizations like the BBFC and IFCO and companies like Nintendo and Sony imposing content decisions on consumers. As Croal aptly puts it, "Unless they have good reason to believe that this game is an imminent threat to the public order, or that it will in and of itself incite adults to violence, [the BBFC and IFCO's] decision seems to me to be based on taste, and I will never believe in substituting anyone else's tastes for my own." Amen!

Following the lead of developer Rockstar, Manhunt 2 publisher Take Two has come out in support of the game in light of restrictions on its sale in England, America, Ireland and likely bans in Australia and Germany. Take Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick said in a statement that the game's content "fits squarely within the horror genre" and "is in line with other mainstream entertainment choices for adult consumers."

A fine enough defense, but Zelnick went even farther in support of the game, saying it "brings a unique, formerly unheard of cinematic quality to interactive entertainment, and is also a fine piece of art."

We haven't played the latest Manhunt game so we can't really judge it on its artistic merits just yet. That being said, the whole idea of games as art is a pretty thorny subject as it is. Throw it in with the "do game cause violence?" debate currently raging around Manhunt 2 and you've got a perfect storm of controversy liable to melt message board servers the world over.

Which is, of course, what Take Two probably wants right now. Remember that 2 Live Crew's "As Nasty as They Wanna Be" went on to sell over two million copies due in part to the controversy over its racy lyrics. If Manhunt 2 is eventually released for sale, in any form, you can bet all the controversy surrounding it will only make it more desirable to its potential audience.

ELSPA Director General Paul Jackson has issued a statement praising the BBFC's recent decision to deny classification for Rockstar's Manhunt 2, effectively banning the game from sale in Great Britain. Jackson said the decision "demonstrates that we have a games ratings system in the UK that is effective" and emphasized that the arrangement "works and works well."

Frankly, we're a bit shocked that an organization whose stated mission is to "protect, promote and provide for the interests of all its members" would support state-sponsored censorship of one of its member's products. The point of ratings, at least as we see it, is to inform the public about the content of a game before they buy it, so they're not surprised by any objectionable materials contained within. The whole idea is that informed consumers can make the best choices for themselves and their families. The BBFC's decision goes against this ideal by effectively telling British adults they're not mature enough to decide whether or not they can handle this game. How is that an "effective" system?

Jackson's statement does not address BBFC Director David Cooke's unsupported assertion that the game's availability would "involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors ... [that] would be unacceptable to the public." Does ELSPA really agree that the mere availability of a game to adults can damage a society so badly that its distribution must be stopped? If so, is that a message ELSPA's member organizations are willing to get behind as well?

In his statement, Jackson stresses that games "appeal to all kinds of people across the country, young and old, male and female." What about the people Manhunt 2 appeals to? Apparently, they're just out of luck, as far as ELSPA's concerned.

[Via GameStooge]

This is your friendly neighborhood rumor debunker, letting you all know that, despite what you may have read presented as fact elsewhere, the Kansas school board has NOT banned Pokemon products for promoting evolution content, as was amusingly asserted in this Daily Gaming News article.

Evidence to this effect (in rough ascending order of persuasiveness):

• The AP and other national news organizations failed to pick up the story, despite obvious newsworthiness and popular interest.
• National news outlets also failed to pick up the supposed church-led "Pokemon burnings" that supposedly led up to the decision.
• The "Calvary Glorious Christ Church Militant and Triumphant Baptist Temple" mentioned in the article turns up exactly one Google result -- the article itself.
• The Kansas School Board web site makes no mention of such an action.
  
• The ACLU web site makes no mention of the alleged lawsuit against the school board.
  
• The title bar on every page of Daily Gaming News includes the phrase "Seriously Satirical."
• Everything on the Daily Gaming News site is an obvious joke, from a preview of Dentist Dentist Revolution to Latin textbooks containing a guild naming chapter.

Remember, just because April Fools Day is over doesn't mean we can let our guard down when it comes to picking out fake stories. Eternal vigilance is the price we pay for accurate game news.

[Thanks, Keavin]

The German ratings board has refused to issue a rating for Crackdown, marking the third instance in which an Xbox 360 title will be ostensibly blacklisted in the country.

This peculiar circumstance does not make Crackdown illegal, but its sale to minors is. In addition, the game cannot be displayed or advertised by retailers, and all purchases of Crackdown must be made in person. The ratings board was likely turned off by the game's violence, which has yet to draw attention from other critics.

See also:

• Dead Rising banned in Germany
• Germany says NEIN to Gears of War
• German states mull violent game ban

The Financial Times reports that the German states of Bavaria and Lower Saxony have drafted legislation the would lead to fines and jail time for developers, distributors and even players of games that involve "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters." The proposed laws, which would affect nearly 19 million Germans, come in response to a recent school shooting by a masked, 18-year-old German Counter-Strike fan that has turned public sentiment in the country against violent games.

Bavarian Interior Minister Gunther Beckstein is leading the effort to pass the legislation, arguing "it is absolutely beyond any doubt that such killer games desensitise [sic] unstable characters and can have a stimulating effect." Despite complaints by German gamers, 59 percent of Germans at large support such a ban, according to a poll cited by the Financial Times.

Germany has a long history of tough restrictions on violent games from Doom to Gears of War, and an outright ban would likely affect high-profile PS3 launch games like Resistance: Fall of Man and Call of Duty 3.