Manhunt 2 gets hacked - but is it really any surprise?

Isn’t it kind of like getting sued? You know you’ve really hit the big time when someone takes the time to hack your software? Or was this just a stunt to promote game sales? Seriously though, it only took hackers three days to crack the Manhunt 2 software. And there is (or was anyway) a detailed video on YouTube just in case you needed the details. According to reports, the software was to have been modified to remove “ultra-violent… full-color death scenes” in order to comply with an Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) request. In light of the software’s recent hacking, it would appear however, that the scenes were not removed - just edited by adding a filter, so as to render them black and white. This isn’t the first time the game company has gotten into hot water - or what it “Hot-Coffee” - most recently, for not removing sexually explicit content from one of its games.

“Hackers apparently have altered one of those edits to produce an illegally modified version of the game that can only be played on an unauthorized, modified PlayStation Portable handheld system.”

“All of the game material, and especially these specific edits, was submitted to and reviewed by the ESRB in accordance with requirements regarding disclosure that were enacted two years ago and any contrary suggestion is inaccurate and irresponsible.”
Uh huh. Right. I’ll buy that for a dollar. I would say though that it is time you had some serious hackers on staff guys. And hey, ‘there is no such thing as bad publicity’, right?

You can still find the “death scenes” on YouTube but you are going to have to find them yourselves. And, not surprisingly, you can enter a fake birth date to access age-restricted materials. Trust me - I’m old enough to look - but my mother told me never to tell the truth about my age…

Coverage at Gamasutra and IGN.