You may have read last week that hackers have managed to 'uncover' edited footage in the PSP version of Manhunt 2, just days after its US release. In what sounded like a re-run of the Hot Coffee scandal, where hidden sex scenes were located in GTA San Andreas, the coders 'discovered' material which had been disabled rather than removed before release. Would the game lose its Mature rating and be knocked back to the commercially disastrous Adults Only status?
It seems not. According to several news sources in the States (see here, for example), the Entertainment Software Rating Board has released a statement indicating that Manhunt 2 will not need to be re-certified as the content is the product of an illegal hack. It seems that certain scenes which had been blurred out in the retail release have been 'unblurred' by bedroom coders - so effectively this is new content added by outside sources. Also, the ESRB was aware of the content when the game was submitted for rating - which was not the case with the Hot Coffee sex scenes. Finally, the modified content requires 'unauthorized versions of software and/or hardware' - in other words a hacked version of the game running on a hacked PSP.
It's interesting, though, that Rockstar now finds itself in this position. Its releases have become hacker challenges, partly because the content appeals to the hacker demographic and partly through the carrot dangled in front of the hacker community by the Hot Coffee mishap. Through censorship and infiltration the company continues to reap what it has sown via the manipulation of controversy and notoriety. It is still not clear whether Manhunt 2 will suffer or profit as a result. At the moment, the former is more likely - the hype is fading and so many great games have been released since the title's initial burst of publicity gamers might not care anymore.
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