Come with me to a land of mystery
I'd like to take a moment to sit back and edify you on the superiority of the Dutch people. You see Holland, unlike the rest of the world, is a magical place, a place where the sun shines through the trees onto the dappled shoulders of flaxen haired men and women, their smiling faces infecting all they pass with the knowledge that everything will be OK, a place rife with art and culture, a place of freedoms not known to most men.
Putting aside the facts that they have decriminalized recreational drug use, that they are home to one of the largest collections of Van Gogh's paintings and drawings in the world, that they have one of the coolest flags in the world, and that prostitution is legal, the one thing Holland is home to that makes me question my U.S. citizenship is a law specifically prohibiting censorship in media (so long as the content isn't racist or appealing to pedophiles, both things I can get behind).
Apparently, Manhunt 2, a game which has garnered a significant amount of controversy due to it's original AO rating, could be released completely uncut in Holland. Unlike the U.S. and U.K. the Dutch government doesn't feel that it's citizens need protecting from media that might not appeal to a wide range of people, that perhaps, just perhaps, Dutch adults are intelligent enough to make decisions on what they view based on their individual moral compass'.
In a letter to Parliament, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin explained why, should Rockstar Games choose to release an uncut version of Manhunt 2 in Holland, they wouldn't block it:
The current law is based on the principle that every adult is considered capable of deciding for himself which games he wants to play, unless it contains illegal material.
Adults capable of making decisions themselves? Sheer unthinkable madness!
Unfortunately, Rockstar doesn't have any plans to release an uncut version as of yet, but were I a betting man a sizeable portion of the breadcrumbs and bacon grease Taskmaster Furniss (he has instructed me to only address him this way) pays me in would go toward a wager that at some point an uncut version would be released.
Now prepare yourselves children, for with all good new must come some bad. While video games in Holland may be safe for now, they may not be safe for much longer. Justice Minister Ballin, in spite of his fantastic name which would lead you to believe he is some sort of laid back urban life aficionado, has implied that Dutch officials are now examining whether or not some sort of restriction on violent video games should be put in place, going so far as to plead for a unified EU standard for video game ratings. Please, do not destroy the magical land of the Dutch, it remains the last bastion of sensible folk. A place I can dream of while sprawled on my chaise lounge, looking out onto the rapid decomposition of North America into some frightening fascist fever dream. Please, don't take my Dutch sunshine away.
What say you?!