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And the Manhunt 2 saga continues
Although Rockstar won the appeal to get the controversial Manhunt 2 rated in the UK, the battle is far from over. The BBFC is now challenging the verdict by applying for a judicial review of the Video Appeals Committee's decision. The BBFC is adamant about its course of action, stating, "The VAC judgment, if allowed to stand, would have fundamental implications with regard to all the Board's decisions, including those turning upon questions of unacceptable levels of violence." Won't someone think of the children?The BBFC is also trying to have the VAC's decision suspended, so that the Board doesn't have to rate the game until after the judicial review.While it seems no one cares about playing Manhunt 2 anymore, the final outcome is certain to have repercussions for rating games (in the UK, at least) in the future.[Via press release]
Miami Nights hotter in Europe
"Party in the city where the heat is onAll night on the beach till the break of dawn"Oh, Will Smith, if only we could believe you and your ridiculous ears. Slated for next February, Miami Nights: Singles in the City is the latest mobile-to-DS port from developer Gameloft (Asphalt Urban GT), advertising itself as a "social simulation game" in which you try to make it big in Magic City as a model, singer, or actor. To our surprise, the DS game's graphics actually look worse than the cellphone version, mostly due to the studio's move from 2D sprites to 3D figures. Gameloft isn't the only company to blame for making Miami Nights less inviting -- Ubisoft, the title's publisher in both Europe and the states, also did its part to tone down the game's sex appeal, at least for the US. While Miami Nights' European cover features a blonde woman in a bikini, the North American boxart has the same model covered up, now in a low-cut dress.Is Ubisoft worried about conservative parents revolting over the lubricious image were it to appear on game shelves, right in between Meteos: Disney Magic and My Horse & Me? Or maybe the publisher just doesn't think we're ready for that jelly? Shake your hips past the post break to see the original packaging art and an embedded video of Miami Sound Machine's "1-2-3."
Rockstar fights Manhunt 2 ban in UK, wins (for now)
You may remember that Rockstar appealed the BBFC's decision to refuse to rate Manhunt 2. Well, things seem to be finally going Rockstar's way, for once, as the Video Appeals Committee ruled in favor of the publisher by four votes to three. So, does this mean that this whole fiasco is over and Manhunt 2 will finally get its 18 rating? Not exactly. The BBFC can still take the case to the High Court in order to try to keep the ban on the game. Whether you care about Manhunt 2 or not, we've already seen how the decision to ban the title in the UK has affected other games. At least this appeal is a step in the right direction regarding video game censorship.
Singapore un-bans Mass Effect
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.
The9 changes WoW in China to appease censors
Hoping to stay ahead of the Chinese censors, The9 (which handles operation of World of Warcraft in China) has tweaked the visual apperance of the Undead race in the game in hopes of allowing the game to pass the new Chinese censorship review. As anyone who's played the game for long knows, the Undead models are part flesh and part skeleton, with bones sticking out in various places. The9 has modified Undead models to show no skeleton, thus making the race less scary and more likely to pass review. I know plenty of Undead players in the US who would love their toons not to have such a bony appearence -- but as a cosmetic issue rather than an issue of the Undead being scary.What do you think -- are the Undead just too scary?[Via Razorwire]Update: Added an image linked by commenter Zhun.
Inventor patents personal TV censor
Inventor Matthew Jarman looks to be out to make the untamed TV landscape a little more palatable for those with sensitive ears, developing an application that'll mute out offensive language based on your potty-mouth tolerance level, or block programs all together if they prove to be unmutable. The system apparently works by monitoring the closed-captioning text that accompanies most television programs, muting the audio whenever it comes across a word you've deemed unsuitable -- seemingly a tricky thing to time properly, especially given the delay usually associated with CC feeds, although Jarman appears to be quite confident in its efficacy. To block entire programs, the system simply relies on program descriptions provided by electronic program guides. While there's no indication when or if the system will actually make it to market, a quick search of the ever-entertaining patent database reveals that some of Jarman's other content-blocking inventions have been licensed by none other than ClearPlay, Inc, which would seem to increase the likelihood that this one may follow suit.[Via New Scientist]
Big Brother is SMS savvy in some countries
It's no secret that China is rockin' some serious server power dedicated to filtering its SMS airwaves of unthinkable topics like Taiwan, democracy, and pornography, but other countries are getting in on the action, too. Belarus and Iran have both been called out in recent months for listening to its citizens' texts, and in Belarus' case, sending them as well. Although the technology for real-time filtering by keyword is largely homegrown (or so we hope), predictive text manufacturers like Tegic (disclaimer: Tegic is owned by Engadget's parent company's parent company, AOL) are receiving pressure from handset manufacturers to double- and triple-check their dictionaries for words that could be considered distasteful in countries with more oppressive governments than our own. Personally, discovering a word missing from T9 has never prevented us from typing it manually, but nonetheless -- between this and M-Track, we're about ready to head down into the Engadget bunker with a year's supply of Spam and just ride this whole thing out.[Via textually.org]
Microsoft patents real-time audio obscenity mask
We can call it the real-time audio obscenity mask, or we can call it the autobleep, the cursekiller, whatever. The point is Microsoft's patented a unique system for bleeping out (actually just munging or silencing) combinations of phonemes it identifies as obscenities in audio streams without making use of time shifting, or otherwise requiring manual human intervention to make sure the FCC doesn't stick them with some harsh fines. Would this theoretical system be able tell the difference between the real f-bomb and funk, or even homonym swears like those synonyms for a donkey and female dog? You know the ones. Tell you what, let's put it to work on a satellite radio hip-hop station or an old George Carlin record and see how we do.[Via Ars Technica]
Verizon and Cingular go censor crazy with mobile content
You might want to look elsewhere if you were hoping that snazzy new 3G handset of yours with a large screen was going to be conveying any spicy content, or really much of anything some suit might label "controversial." Turns out Verizon and Cingular are really putting the FCC to shame in their clampdown of vulgarities and what not in mobile content. Cingular, for example, has banned the words "lesbian," "condom," "pee pee," (that was getting out of hand, but what about "Wii Wii"?), and all Mature and Adult gaming content. Teen-rated content doesn't even get a free pass, so developers will have to really watch it if they want to be promoted to the largest mobile subscriber base in the country. Verizon is similarly conservative, even though they have taken to some risque advertising methods, featuring the sexy Joanna Dark (pictured at right, censors courtesy of our friends at Joystiq). But they'll have none of it from content providers. Along with the standard sex and vulgarity bans, they don't allow the "glorification or promotion of tobacco, alcohol or drug use," and ban derogatory references to Verizon, Verizon Wireless, or Vodafone. We'd better stop talking about this before we get banned as well.[Via Joystiq]
