Develop: Game censorship in Britain

Manhunt 2 was the last major game to really get the hackles of the censors and 'the media' up, even with the furore over Grand Theft Auto IV and so on.

No adult could legally acquire a copy of the game in the United Kingdom, even though the game didn't break any law regarding content. There was also no real evidence that it could affect players and turn them into mindless killers.

As we know, Manhunt 2 is a bleak survival 'horror' and involves some pretty strong violence, but is far less 'realistic' than the current crop of visceral horror films doing the rounds.

So why was it banned? Why has the games industry failed to defend its right to creative freedom?

Content regulation in the UK is already pretty strict. Consumer protection laws prevent the sale of items deemed 'dangerous' or 'criminally immoral'.

Videogames and films are also subject to additional systems of regulation, where second authorities (in this case, the BBFC) review titles and 'judge' them. Books and music aren't subject to these rules, though.

The BBFC defines 'harm' to viewers as not just 'physical' harm, like people being attacked in the street of whatever. 'Moral' harm is also a consideration.

Proof isn't necessary, certainly not to any proper legal standard, before a decision can be made by the BBFC - which is good, because very little exists, if any does at all.

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Going back to Manhunt 2 then, the publishers (Rockstar) had a chance to appeal, which they took. Seven new people took a look at the game, before listening to legal arguments from both sides. A narrow verdict allowed the game to be circulated, with four votes to three.

The BBFC asked the High Court to overturn this decision, due to a wording error in this second decision. This was granted, so the game was banned again.

Another seven-person panel looked at the game once more and again it was un-banned. It can now, in theory, be purchased in the UK, a long time after it was originally intended to be sold.

Even now, we still don't know why the BBFC really wanted to have the game banned. Arguments and reasoning used by the BBFC have been withheld from people interested in the subject.

Vincent Scheurer, speaking at the Develop conference, sees this as a very worrying development, especially when they refuse to state what changes they wanted Rockstar to make to the game.

He argues that other media sources, like the literary sphere, have equally 'visceral' and 'bleak' works and products, yet gets none of the censorship directed against Manhunt 2.

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The BBFC seemed to have most problems, if witness statements at various hearings are anything to go by, with the use of 'surprise' or stealth attacks in the game, along with the 'relish' taken with sound effects and visuals. Realism, or 'over-realism', was also a key point for them.

Film body counts were used to show how Manhunt 2 was more violent than things like Hostel, Saw and Irreversible. Is this a sensible point, considering that films like Zulu and Saving Private Ryan have huge 'corpse counts'?

Scheurer was scornful of the BBFC's reasoning, saying that many of its arguments were more fantastical than the game itself. The BBFC had to accept, in the end, that there was no proof Manhunt 2 would cause harm, but, of course, they didn't have to prove it would do.

To Scheurer's knowledge, in fact, nobody has ever proved in a court of law that games are harmful to the public.

Even the 'evidence' that is out there has been described by Dr Tania Byron as being 'controversial' and 'inconclusive'.

Scheurer believes games should be rated for classification by people who actually understand the industry and who are 'experts', not people who play no games at all.

Secondly, a system of age rating should be introduced on the front of packaging that parents can be understood, and said system should be independent.

Thirdly, the reasons why games are being banned should be made public, not hidden away by organisations afraid of making themselves look bad.

Games should be banned if they can be proved to be breaking existing laws in a court of law. Otherwise, they should be released.

Scheurer does believe the BBFC can still have a part to play, as long as they reform and bring people in that understand games and gaming.