Rockstar Games has won its appeal against the BBFC's decision to not classify Manhunt 2 in the UK. The decision was four votes to three in favor of Rockstar. Now the BBFC is saying they will not make a decision on the rating until they have seen the full written judgment, so stay tuned.

Well, it looks like other free-roaming games are going to get a serious run for their money. The trailer looks great, but then again, that's what a trailer is supposed to do -- look great.

Take 2 has announced their proposed settlement to satisfy the class action lawsuit that is pending related to the now-infamous "Hot Coffee" fiasco. Take 2 stated that if the case were to continue, they believe that the court would have found they were not liable for a modification to their software using third-party hardware. As is always the way, though, Take 2 is going to settle in the "best interest of the Company to avoid protracted and costly litigation." Consumers will now be able to exchange their original copies of the game free, and they may also be entitled to a $35 USD cash payment if they still retain their proof of purchase. Sounds like the easy way out to us.

Strauss Zelnick, the now chairman of Take 2, is refusing to pin down a release time peroid for GTA IV. Until he is "utterly convinced" the game is ready, he will not commit a date. It has already been delayed once, and currently the game is slated for release between February and April 2008.

We reported earlier that hackers were able to unlock the full gore content in the PSP verison of Manhunt 2. The ESRB revealed:

"Our investigation indicates that the game's publisher disclosed to the ESRB all pertinent content in the authorized Mature-rated version of Manhunt 2 now available in stores, and complied with our guidelines on full disclosure of content,"

Rockstar and the ESRB just cannot seem to see eye to eye these days. Why Rockstar keeps leaving parts of their games that can be unlocked with hacks is beyond us.

With the release of Manhunt 2, amid much controversy, "hackers" have figured out how to chagne the game so that the blood and gore is back in all its glory. As we told you, the game is censored in the US to tone down the violence. This earned the title a Mrating rather than the dreadded AO (Adults Only).

Rockstar has announced that the game which has produced so much controversy around the world due to its supposed violent content and themes, Manhunt 2, as hit retail. Please comment and let us know just how bad the game really is in terms of blood and gore. We are betting it is not too horrible... and behold the wonders of marketing !

PRESS RELEASE

New York, NY - October 30, 2007 - Rockstar Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), is proud to announce that Manhunt 2 for the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, and PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system is now available at North American retail stores.

Apparently, Rockstar was none too happy when they found out that EA parodied GTA in the upcoming The Simpsons game. In fact, the EA producer used the phrase "spazzed out like little babies." Oh boy, them's is fightin' words! The comedy spoof level, titled Grand Theft Scratchy, was changed to the 'Mob Rules' stage, on direction of Rockstar. We think they should have called it "Irony."

According to Gamepolitics, Manhunt 2, a game that was deemed too violent to be released in Britain, was released to the internet by a former Sony employee. After some investigating, GamePolitics learned that the leak came from a PlayStation Europe employee. His career is gaming over, we can say without doubt.

"Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that a former employee of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) has acknowledged his responsibility for the unauthorized online distribution of an unrated play-test version of Manhunt 2 submitted for the European PAL PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system," the publisher told GamePolitics.

According to GamingExcellence, when covering the recent PS holiday preview event, it was revealed that the developers of GTA IV are aiming for 16 player mutiplayer. In addition, the developers were also considering having the entire game world unlocked from the start.

We also understand that the game’s multiplayer mode, unseen in the GTA franchise since GTA2 in 1999*, is aiming for at least 16 simultaneous players, with more than just the usual deathmatch mode.