Saints Row has made its own impact on open-world crime games with a ridiculous type of mayhem. There’s no better proof of that than The Penetrator, a large purple sex toy attached to a baseball bat handle.

That was too much for the game rating gurus in Japan, who asked publisher THQ to remove the veins from the weapon. Japan does not allow the “depiction of genital parts” in games so The Penetrator was in violation.

The latest Saints Row installment got the rating of CERO Z, which is Japan’s version of the ESRB’s AO (Adults Only) rating. Even so, officials deemed the weapon in its original form too graphic for impressionable adults to lay eyes on.

This is the same country that introduced tentacle porn to the world, right? Just checking.

Shocking no one who has followed the decisions of Australia’s Classification Board, the group has denied classification to the latest installment of classic fighting game Mortal Kombat.

The board has previously denied classification to Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2. The board later classified Left 4 Dead 2 after developer Valve removed dismemberment from the game. The board has no classification for adults only, so a game that doesn’t make the MA15+ rating can’t be sold in Australia. While the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) with does have an Adults Only (AO) rating, receiving it is still considered a kiss of death. Retailers usually refuse to stock such games.

Rockstar’s always controversial Manhunt series is back in the news. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) currently lists the PC version of the game with an “Adults Only” rating. The console version of Manhunt 2, released in 2008, initially received the same rating before Rockstar made changes that earned the game a “Mature” rating.

The 2008 game was banned in the United Kingdom and Australia because of its violent content. That led everyone from anti-violent game activist Jack Thompson to Sen. Hillary Clinton into battle to get the game banned in the states.

Adults Only-rated games have been despised by major retailers and console manufacturers. But there is a very distant possibility of console manufacturers giving the green signal to AO-rated games if they see any merit in the argument that AO-rated games are a form of free speech. Adam Thierer, director of The Progress & Freedom Foundation and a proponent of free speech, has addressed the possibility of AO games appearing on consoles on his blog.

Thierer feels that AO games should be accommodated into the mainstream but disagrees with a suggestion that…

Manhunt 2‘s development began in 2004, a year after the release of the original Manhunt. The title was wracked with controversy almost from the start.

In March 2007, Manhunt 2 became one of Jack Thompson’s pet projects to bar its distribution along with Grand Theft Auto IV. However, Thompson gave up on that lawsuit after he was charged with contempt of court during his previous suit to have Bully, another Take Two game, blocked. In exchange for his promise not to attempt to block any other Take Two games, the contempt of court charges were dropped.

As information trickled out about Manhunt 2‘s release the following months, we discovered it was incredibly gory and incredibly sadistic…

Things aren’t looking good for Take Two’s game, Manhunt 2. As previously reported here and here, Manhunt 2 has been banned in Ireland and the UK, and has been rated AO by the ESRB.

The news is that Australia has joined the censorship committee, refusing classification to the title. Australia, apparently, is much more aggressive about banning offensive games than the UK, so …

Manhunt 2, currently scheduled to be released for the Wii, PS2, and PSP, has been given an AO rating by the ESRB for ultra-violent content.

In addition to the UK, which we previously announced as having refused to classify the game, Ireland has banned it as well, citing “the level of gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence.”

According to Game Politics, who interviewed Wedbush-Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, Take Two is likely …

Manhunt 2, Rockstar’s newest videogame, has been banned in Britain for “unrelenting focus on stalking and brutal slaying”, according to the British Board of Film Classification. They have refused to give it a rating, essentially prohibiting businesses from selling it. Manhunt 2 is scheduled to be released on July 9, 2007, in the US for the Wii, the PS2, and the PSP. The ESRB hasn’t yet announced a rating for the game.

The only other game that was ever refused classification in the UK was Carmageddon by SCi, and that was eventually overturned on appeal. In the meantime, Carmageddon was released in an edited, toned down version.

Manhunt 2 features the main character being continually…