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Manhunt 2 Review: The Good, The Bad and The Grisly

Posted by Lolita Beckwith Categories: Nintendo, Reviews, Survival Horror, Take2, Wii

Manhunt 2 for Nintendo WiiAlong with the release of “” and the unfortunate postponement of “GTA IV”, one of the biggest video game stories of the year is the saga of ’s “Manhunt 2”.  First, it was banned in England due to its graphic violence. Then it was given the kiss-of-death “Adults Only” rating here in the US by the ESRB. Sony and Nintendo do not release games with that rating—and they’re not carried by Blockbuster and Walmart. Undaunted, Rockstar made some revisions, and eventually the game received a “Mature” rating.

So now “Manhunt 2” is available in stores for Nintendo , Playstation 2 and PSP. Having followed the saga, and very curious about the game’s content (plus I’m a huge fan of previous Rockstar games), I made it my business to rent the Wii version and play it. Having never played the original “Manhunt”—and not being a fan of stealth games—I had little idea what to expect. After completing the tutorial of Wiimote and Nunchuk moves (which includes some very funny, if grisly, sound effects), I dove in.

Click to continue reading Manhunt 2 Review: The Good, The Bad and The Grisly


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Manhunt 2 Gets Green Light for Release in North America

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Corporate News, PlayStation 2, PSP, Release Dates, Survival Horror, Take2, Wii

DescriptionRockstar Games found itself in a bit of a pickle earlier this year when the ESRB slapped Manhunt 2 with an Adults Only rating.  Most stores balk at selling AO-rated games, but more importantly, Nintendo and Sony refuse to publish them.  As a result, the game’s original release date of July 10th was scrapped, and much hand-wringing ensued on the part of Rockstar executives wondering just what the hell to do next.

Well, Rockstar’s long nightmare appears to be over, as company PR has revealed that Manhunt 2 has been modified, rated M by the ESRB, and will hit North American store shelves this October 31st on PS2, PSP, and Nintendo Wii.  “Manhunt 2 is important to us, and we’re glad it can finally be appreciated as a gaming experience. We love the horror genre. Manhunt 2 is a powerful piece of interactive story telling that is a unique video game experience. We think horror fans will love it,” said Sam Houser, founder and executive producer of Rockstar Games.

There has been no word yet on what content changes were made to the game in order to lock down a Mature rating.  And sadly, the game is still banned over in the UK.

Read More | GameDaily

Ken Levine on Hacking in BioShock: “It’s a Little Out There.”

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Adventure, First Person Shooters, PC, Puzzle, Take2, Xbox 360

BioShock hacking screen

Everybody loves BioShock.  From the whale-like moans of the Big Daddy to the thrill of smashing a frozen Splicer into little bits, the game is quality.  However, one aspect of the game that isn’t thrilling everyone is its hacking mechanism; if you want to break into a safe or turn enemy turrets into your own mechanized defense force, you first must succeed at a hacking minigame that plays a lot like the Lucasfilm Games classic, Pipe Dream.  Well, as it turns out, BioShock’s own big daddy, Ken Levine, is also not in love with the mechanic.  Shacknews sat down with Levine for an interview and got his take on it.

It’s a little out there. That’s why it was important that you could bypass it in two ways; you can buy it out or you can use the hack tools—or you can just ignore it. There’s only one hack you have to do in the game.

But I think if we could go back and do it again, we would have maybe rethought that a little bit. I think it was more a function of our limitations at the beginning of the project when we had a very limited budget, and then we zoomed in so many other areas that we sort of forgot to go back to that area.

The purely non-spoiler interview, linked below, goes on to cover all things BioShock and is well worth reading.

Read More | Shacknews

Top Spin Tennis Coming to Wii

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Casual, Nintendo, Release Dates, Sports, Take2, Wii

2K Sports logo2K Sports has announced that it is bringing the popular Top Spin Tennis franchise to the Nintendo Wii.  Such a move seems like a no-brainer; Wii Sports is fun and all, but Wii owners have been clamoring for a tennis game with a little more depth for a long time now.

“We are excited to bring our popular Top Spin series to the Wii,” said Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K. “Given the Wii’s unique controllers and the fun family-oriented gameplay, Top Spin Tennis effectively bridges the gap between a sports and a party game.”

Unfortunately, gamers eager to whack some balls around with their Wii remotes will have to wait a bit, as the game isn’t scheduled to ship until Spring ‘08.

Read More | Take2 Games

BioShock Art Book Available Online…for Free!

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Action, Adventure, First Person Shooters, Games for Windows, Microsoft, Take2, Xbox 360

Bioshock Art BookComing hot on the heels of a truly tremendous Xbox Live demo, 2K Boston/2K Australia (formerly Irrational Games) has posted a free PDF file which contains sixty-odd pages of concept art from the game to be printed out at your leisure.  How cool is that?  Word of warning, however: Ken Levine’s forward to the book contains spoilers, so tread carefully.

BioShock is poised to blow minds on Xbox 360 and Windows in just seven days.

Read More | 2K Games

The Min-E3 2007 Games Lineup

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Activision, CAPCOM, E3, Eidos, Electronic Arts, LucasArts, Microsoft, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Portable/Mobile, PSP, SEGA, Take2, THQ, Ubisoft, Wii, Xbox 360

E3 logoSure, the convention is much smaller this year and all, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t a ton of games to be seen. Eurogamer has posted a list of the announced lineups and then some of what you’ll be seeing at E3. Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony have been quiet on what they’ll be showing, so it looks like we’ll need to wait until their respective showings to know for sure. The event is taking place next week, so expect it to be a busy week in news.

But please, please, please, Nintendo, show me Animal Crossing Wii. Something. Anything. Please?

Read More | Eurogamer

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