Reports of a hacked version of Manhunt 2 apparently won’t be enough to pull the controversial video game from store shelves, the ratings board said today.  

The game, which was released Wednesday, was delayed for months after the Entertainment Software Rating Board gave it an "adult only" rating. That rating would have kept Manhunt 2 off major consoles and out of major retail stores such as Wal-Mart. So its producer, Rock Star Games, cleaned up the horror survival game enough to earn it a "mature" rating (similar to an R movie rating).

But reports surfaced today that a hack is available for at least the Play Station 2 Portable version of the game. The hack, which requires a modified Play Station Portable, restores some of the violence toned down from the original version. Earlier incidents of players unlocking content have resulted in revised ratings — and games coming off store shelves.

But in this case, it appears the hack doesn’t give gamers new material, just bloodier content. Plus, the rating board said the hack takes a lot of doing and is nowhere near as easy to pull off as the modification to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that caused a stir in 2005.

Posted by Tim Swift at 3:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Portal starts simply and builds to trippy-yet-entertaining mind teasers. The player is basically a lab rat forced to complete tasks to advance and live. You’re armed with a gun that creates portals to travel through. It's a simple concept that becomes much more fun when you realize that the portals allow you to not only walk through walls but fall through floors and drop from ceilings. The 3D puzzles basically boil down to fun with physics. And fun it is. Who knew?

The Orange Box also features Half-Life, a popular PC game, and it's two-part sequel along with Team Fortress 2, an online-only shoot-‘em up. While Half-Life and Team Fortress 2 have their charms, Portal could sell The Orange Box all by itself.

Posted by Tim Swift at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Maybe Microsoft should lay off the marketing. The Associated Press is reporting that the fancy packaging for Halo 3, which can cost up to $130, is scratching the disks. Fans say the scratched disks are still playable, but it doesn't bode well for longterm use. The blockbuster game was released today on the heels of $10 million ad campaign. No word on how much was spent on quality control.

From the AP: Within hours after die-hard fans finally got their hands on a copy of “Halo 3,” blogs brimmed with reports that special limited-edition packaging is scratching the video game disks. 

Microsoft Corp., which owns the studio that makes “Halo 3,” responded quickly on its Xbox Web site with details for a replacement program. Customers can fill out a form and send in their scratched limited-edition disks for a free exchange through the end of December.

Posted by Tim Swift at 3:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)