With Manhunt 2 (Wii, PSP, PS2) currently banned in the UK, we imagine some gamers will be looking for alternative ways of peering into the controversial footage that made this the case. Future Publishing is apparently trying to do this, as they await the results of cover discs they've sent over to the BBFC. Interestingly, the content in these discs weren't approved by Rockstar. More details on this matter are available in the full article.

More on the God of War II goat issue, you've already heard Sony's apologetic statement. You've heard Future Publishing's statement. Now, while the whole hoopla erupted a few days ago and has probably watered-down the online community already, it was only a matter of time before a PETA-affiliated person would speak up. That's what we've sighted today.

From the PETA Files online blog, we quote an excerpt from an author's reaction to the God of War promotional event (i.e. the dead-goat-and-boobies pics):

I've always sided with the video game industry against the Jack Thompsons of this world who are out to make a name for themselves by blaming gamers for all of society's problems, but when a company of Sony's stature goes out of its way to commit an act of senseless violence for a promotion, you have to start questioning whether they have any concern at all about the message they're sending to fans.

Comments to this blog post from other PETA blog readers seem to echo the author's thoughts. From an "I just don't have words for this. Sick, sick, perverted people. Will this world ever change?" comment from Judith to a "Sony has enough problems without letting the idiotic do something like this. Someone was asleep at the wheel at Sony!" remark from Kelly.

Disclaimer from the PETA Blog though:

The views expressed here are those of the author alone, are subject to change, and may not represent the views of PETA. They are being provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice.

(To those who were *looking forward* to us blotting out the entire picture this time... Sorry to disappoint you.)

Oooh, another censor bar! Future Publishing, the guys handling the Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM), have just announced that they would be removing from their publication the offensive images of a dead goat as seen in footage of a God of War II event in Greece last March. This is in light of the recent apology made by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE).

A spokesperson from Future had this to say about the deal struck between Sony and their company and what they are now planning to do:

It was a joint decision to remove the offending pages across the print run. But the copies for subscribers have already been sent out so we can't recall them. The decision was made to remove the pages in 80,000 copies of the magazine being prepared for the newstands.

It's yet to be confirmed if pictures of other mature content (e.g. body-painted promo girls) will also be retracted. We find it interesting though that here in QJ, most of the commenters seem to be focused on the girl and her ample chest rather than the goat itself... We also noticed that as we post more on the said issue, more and more black censor bars appear on the pic. At the rate things are going... Nah, we kid. *wink*