British censor bans first video game in 10 years

LONDON (Reuters) - British censors on Tuesday banned a video game for the first time in 10 years, rejecting U.S.-published "Manhunt 2" for what they described as an unrelenting focus on sadism and brutal slaying.

The decision by the British Board of Film Classification, or BBFC, means the game, from publisher Take-Two Interactive Software, which made the controversial "Grand Theft Auto" series, cannot be legally supplied anywhere in Britain.

The ban prompted one U.S. family group to start lobbying for a rating to ensure major American retailers cannot sell the game in which players become an insane asylum escapee sneaking up on enemies and killing them in gruesome ways.

In a statement on the board's Web site, BBFC director David Cooke said rejecting a work was a very serious action and not taken lightly. He said the board preferred to consider cuts or changes but that was not possible in this case.

"'Manhunt 2' is distinguishable from recent high-end video games by its unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone in an overall game context which constantly encourages visceral killing with exceptionally little alleviation or distancing," he said.

"There is sustained and cumulative casual sadism in the way in which these killings are committed, and encouraged, in the game," Cooke said.

Take-Two could not immediately be reached for comment.

The BBFC noted it was the first game to be denied a classification since 1997, when "Carmageddon" was rejected for having players run down pedestrians. That decision was overturned on appeal.

The BBFC said the Take-Two label Rockstar Games that created "Manhunt" had the right to appeal the decision.