Disquiet is growing in the California senate over the ESRB’s refusal to release details on the changes that have brought about a drop in the rating for Manhunt 2.

The game was originally given an AO (Adults Only) rating, a death sentence for the title, but changes were made, deals done, and the game was then given an M (Mature) rating.

However, now California State Senator Leland Yee, who introduced the 2005 legislation banning the sale of violent videogames, has been demanding details of those changes.

But the ESRB isn’t playing ball and in a written statement ESRB president Patricia Vance said, "Publishers submit game content to the ESRB on a confidential basis. It is simply not our place to reveal specific details about the content we have reviewed, particularly when it involves a product not yet released.

"What can be said is that the changes that were made to the game, including the depictions themselves and the context in which those depictions were presented, were sufficient to warrant the assignment of an M (Mature 17+) rating by our raters."

Not to be outdone the Senator has turned around and asked for an investigation into the ESRB by the Federal Trade Commission.