The Video Game Critic

You might be getting No More Heroes information soon. Matt Cassamassina of IGN hinted that on Friday there could be some big news regarding, in his words, "a very important third party game for Wii."

-Rob

[QUOTE=feilong80]You might be getting No More Heroes information soon. Matt Cassamassina of IGN hinted that on Friday there could be some big news regarding, in his words, "a very important third party game for Wii."

-Rob
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Sounds good...I just read his blog post and you're right.  It sounds like a game that has been talked about before.  I really want No More Heroes.  It looks like such a sweet game.  I really enjoyed Killer 7 and I have high hopes for Suda 51's next project.

Well we were both wrong.  The game Matt was talking about was Manhunt 2...

After reading his preview I am absolutely thrilled about this game.  It sounds incredibly distrubing and just plain wrong.  It will be interesting to see if it all comes together.  I'm sure it will sell well and create tons of controversy.

Here is the preview...

http://wii.ign.com/articles/792/792012p2.html

I hope Manhunt 2 brings Nintendo a boatload of trouble.

1. Its hypocritical. They clearly (and thankfully) hold a high standard of decency for their own games, but fall all over themselves to have a 3rd party develop garbage like this for the Wii. Its like a group of fratboys geting someone else drunk for their own amusement. Well, maybe its not quite like that, but maybe you get what I mean.

2. The Wimote is getting too many dumb and obvious applications. Some games have been really successful in mimicing "real life" applications to gaming (Wii Sports). But it can go to far and be a burden, like pumping your arms to make a charachter run. Using the Wimote to strangle and beat people is just plain stupid.

3. Using the Wimote in blatantly violent ways will eventually create a news media firestorm. Even though I do not believe the media is sincere in blaming videogames for triggering violence (its certainly easier than them looking in the mirror), no good can come from games like this. I know this is a tired debate, and I won't change anybody's mind, but at least have the to honesty to admit that there should be genuine concern over content like this. We all know the rating system doesn't keep games like this out of the hands of kids, blame who you like for that. Any argument you make in defense of software like this is bound to be weak and self serving. The First Amendment was originaly designed to protect political and religious speech and thought, but we are progressing so far as a people that it's main purpose today is to defend pornography in all its forms. Hoo-rah.

[QUOTE=Steerforth]I hope Manhunt 2 brings Nintendo a boatload of trouble.

1. Its hypocritical. They clearly (and thankfully) hold a high standard of decency for their own games, but fall all over themselves to have a 3rd party develop garbage like this for the Wii. Its like a group of fratboys geting someone else drunk for their own amusement. Well, maybe its not quite like that, but maybe you get what I mean.


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While I find Manhunt 2 to be disgusting, horrific and ultimately something I would never want to play, I have to disagree with you here.

Nintendo isn't being hypocritical by allowing a third party to make a game that will be correctly rated as an "M" title. The didn't "fall over themselves" as you say, either. It is being released for the PS2 and PSP also.

Yes, I take umbrage that certain political groups seem to only care about free speech when it comes to the rights of people to make violent and/or pornographic expressions. But, unfortunately, you can't have it both ways (that doesn't mean I don't favor regulation to some degree, particularly at the local levels of government... just not so much the federal government).

So, the solution is for individuals to vote with their dollars. If a game like Manhunt 2 is not something you would like, be sure to not buy it. That seems trivial, but it is, in fact, working with Rockstar Games: their sales figures are dropping  (The Warriors and Bully did not meet expectations), mainly (IMO) due to their corporate "we can do anything we want in a game and get away with it!" hubris (especially since those two games weren't particularly controversial).

Also, it is becoming far less likely that an M rated game will accidentally fall into the hands of a kid. We now know that the EBgames/Gamestop conglomerate will instantly fire anyone caught doing this. Best Buy has a similar policy. The only time Manhunt 2 will be played by a 12 year old kid is when some idiot parent buys it for them... which sadly will happen. But that's idiot parenting and nothing more.

Finally, please don't take my response as a knee jerk defense of Nintendo. I'd be saying the same thing about PS3 and Xbox 360 games.

-Rob

P.S. Let me just say one more thing: The problem I especially have with Manhunt 2 is that it seems, from the get go, to not be too concerned with establishing an interesting narrative or premise (I could be wrong, and Manhunt 1 players could fill me in perhaps?). Suda's games are violent as heck, and I can't say I care for them too much... but at least there is a certain value to something like a No More Heroes. You know it is going to be intellectually interesting on some level. Manhunt 2 just looks like "violence porn" to me.

[QUOTE=feilong80]P.S. Let me just say one more thing: The problem I especially have with Manhunt 2 is that it seems, from the get go, to not be too concerned with establishing an interesting narrative or premise (I could be wrong, and Manhunt 1 players could fill me in perhaps?). Suda's games are violent as heck, and I can't say I care for them too much... but at least there is a certain value to something like a No More Heroes. You know it is going to be intellectually interesting on some level. Manhunt 2 just looks like "violence porn" to me.[/QUOTE]

Yeah.  Someone at Gamespot I fight with every now and then said that he thought Manhunt was truly one of the sickest and most depraved games he had ever played.  Of course, he meant that as a complement.

I love horror movies and survival horror games, but media like Hostel, Wolf Creek, and Manhunt are things I can't stomach personally.  I just stay away from them.

I am worried about Manhunt's reception.  The first game was released on PS2, the winning platform of last generation, at a time when it had many more consoles out on the market than the Wii has now because it was released farther along in the console's life cycle.  It also had an incredible amount of hype and media coverage around it.  Yet it still didn't sell very well.  It's hard for me to believe it will do better on the Wii now than it did on the PS2 years ago.

[QUOTE=m0zart]

I am worried about Manhunt's reception.  The first game was released on PS2, the winning platform of last generation, at a time when it had many more consoles out on the market than the Wii has now because it was released farther along in the console's life cycle.  It also had an incredible amount of hype and media coverage around it.  Yet it still didn't sell very well.  It's hard for me to believe it will do better on the Wii now than it did on the PS2 years ago.
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Yeah, so am I. It could really hurt Nintendo more than help it: a millstone around its neck as anti-game violence zealouts freak out over the motion controlled torture killing. Of course, the criticisms regarding the depravity of yanking someone's privates with pilers with the Wii mote and nunchuk, as IGN's Matt Cassamissina reported you CAN do will be quite valid. The suggestion of laws and censorship, of course, won't be.

-Rob

i can't wait to wii-murder.