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Recently Rockstar announced it Manhunt 2 would finally get a public release after securing a M rating, however the Campaign for a commercial-free childhood is not happy with the decision. As a result they are calling for a federal investigation in order to find out how exactly Manhunt 2 became an M rated game.

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The [CCFC] is extremely concerned that the ESRB has downgraded its rating for Manhunt 2… Despite industry claims to the contrary, M-rated games continue to be marketed and sold to children under seventeen. The ESRB’s reversal of its earlier decision dramatically increases the likelihood that Manhunt 2 – the most violent game to date produced for the interactive Nintendo Wii platform – will be marketed and sold to children.

Just three months ago, the ESRB felt that Manhunt 2 was so violent that it took the extraordinary step of giving a game an AO rating for violent content for only the second time in its history. We urge the ESRB to make public their rationale for changing Manhunt 2’s rating, including detailing any content that was removed from the game.

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.

News Source: Gamepolitics.com

Analyst Michael Patcher has commented that he believes that it is possible that Nintendo have been diverting Wii shipments from Japan to the U.S. in order to help cope with the demand. It was something of a shock to see the Wii sell 425k units during July in US as the company has had problems in increasing its production capacity coupled with the fact that the console is constantly outselling.

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While Nintendo and leading video game retailer GameStop have said that the Wii continues to sell out quickly and remains in short supply, Pachter seemed a bit confused by the sudden increase in Wii supply during the month.

“Wii sales remain strong, with an apparent increase in supply during the quarter. This increase is inconsistent with reports that Nintendo has had difficulty in increasing its manufacturing capacity,” he states, “suggesting to us that the company has diverted supply from other areas (perhaps Japan) to the U.S.”

News Source: Gamedaily

The president of Factor 5 who is responsible for the release of Lair on the PS3 has warned that if the Wii was to take over the world, any magazines out there which slightly diss in any way will be forced to change their opinions or face going out of business.

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During the Best Selling Games panel at this week’s GCDC, developers sounded off on Wii, the role of journalism in games, and the segmentation of gamers due to increased interest in casual gaming.

“Let’s say the Wii takes over the world. Just naturally, the traditional magazines — if they stick to their current position of slightly dissing it — will simply go out of business,” said Julian Eggebrecht, presdient of Factor 5′s who is most recently responsible for the release of Lair on PS3.

News Source: Gamepro.com