I’m sure by now that everyone is aware of all the controversy surrounding Manhunt 2. Now that Take Two has temporarily suspended plans for the game while they figure out what to do next, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter has thrown out some comments on his take on the situation.
Pachter said, “They (Rockstar) will probably spend $1 million or so to rework the game. They will not have revenue from the game this quarter (ending July), so they will likely miss their guidance, but will make up most of it in a future quarter when the game is released. The overall financial impact is not that serious, provided sales don’t suffer. It is hard to know whether the publicity helps or hurts, but my guess is that it hurts.”
Honestly, I’m not sure. Sure, the publicity to the industry as a whole is a negative, but for Take Two? The fact that they have to rewrite a game to make it acceptable means that every game junkie out there will want to buy this one, just to see how close to the edge it skates. I think they’ll be disappointed, as I would expect Take Two to be cautious how close to the line they get in light of the recent issues they’ve been having.
One big plus to this situation is that lots of “interest groups” that have targeted the ESRB in the past are now openly praising the AO rating given to Manhunt 2, and the ESRB as a whole. Perhaps this is the first step towards non-gamers seeing that industry as a whole does care about rating games properly. If so, the resultant publicity from that would be worth the loss of Manhunt 2.
6 Comments to Pachter Says Take Two Will Fix Manhunt 2 at a Cost of $1 Million Plus
by: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
On June 22, 2007 at 11:29 pm
So RockStar and Take Two are going to puss out and bend over and take it up the tail pipe….
I’m not surprised, disappointed but not surprised.
by: Vorel
On June 23, 2007 at 12:27 am
Ditto…Nintendo and Sony should just get past the fact that the AO rating is there, and changing anything to make it M would kill the material value of the game. I’m sure they could make it M, but if a PC version were to be made, it best be AO.
by: SJACKS
On June 23, 2007 at 1:40 pm
i didnt know nintendo and sony had anything to do with making manhunt
@ Vorel
by: R*
On June 24, 2007 at 10:52 am
I don’t care what rating they give it. I will get it ASAP and R* will come out winning.
by: Conker
On June 24, 2007 at 11:25 am
i hope they don’t change a thing. release the game with an AO rating and let the consumers decide whether not they want to buy.
by: Sam
On June 27, 2007 at 6:06 pm
Well, Rockstar and Take Two don’t have much choice, do they.
And this is why video game systems are irritating. And then there’s all the reasons why they’re better than PC’s. It’s really a trade-off … I’d like to see a PC-like video game system, but it’s just not going to happen [Phantom!].