Take-Two's 'Manhunt' Gets Manhandled

Video-game publisher Take-Two Interactive(TTWO) is on the hot seat again.

Two years after it faced a barrage of criticism from consumer advocates and even Sen. Hillary Clinton for hidden graphic pornographic content in its Grand Theft: Auto San Andreas game, the company is undergoing a fresh round of scrutiny in another one of its games, Manhunt 2.

Manhunt 2, scheduled to release in July for Sony's(SNE) PlayStation 2 console and Nintendo's(NTDOY) Wii, has been denied a rating by British certification authorities because of its violent content.

The move could limit sales of the game in the third-largest video-game market worldwide.

Meanwhile, U.S. game certification agency, Entertainment Software Rating Board, has preliminarily rated Manhunt 2 "Adults Only," or appropriate for, and with sales limited to, users 18 years and older.

That's the strictest rating the board can issue, and it's accompanied by a content descriptor: "Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and/or graphic sexual content and nudity."

The original Manhunt , released in 2003, has the milder, but not by much, "Mature" rating, which says that the content is appropriate for audiences 17 years and older.

The British Board of Film Certification's decision against Manhunt 2 means that the game cannot be legally sold anywhere in the U.K., while the U.S. rating limits its sales in most major retailers, including Wal-Mart(WMT).