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Grand Theft raises R rating prospect - The Australian

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The Australian writes:

"The (Australian) Government could approve an R rating category for the computer and video game industry by the end of the year in the wake of debate over the censorship of the contentious game Grand Theft Auto IV.

The Office of Film and Literature Classification ordered sex scenes to be cut from the game for it to meet the highest available rating for computer games, MA15+. While the sex scenes have been edited out of the Australian version, graphic violence and drug use - a central element of the GTA series - remain untouched.

Greg Bondar, chief executive of the Game Developers Association of Australia, said he believed the furore over the rating of the game had taken the debate to a new level that would force the Government's hand.

In March, more than two months before the release of the game, Home Affairs Minister Bob Debus announced a review of the games classification system to be administered by the Victorian Attorney-General.

A discussion paper on the review is expected to be released in coming weeks."
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theaustralian.news.com.au

[via sumea.com.au]
Alternative Sources:
In Australia, GTA IV Censor... - gamepolitics.com | By: Catastrophe
Superfragilistic - contributor
Published: 69 days 11 hours ago | News | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360 | Wii | Gaming | PC | Industry News
 
 

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Superfragilistic - 69 days 12 hours ago
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1 - Factual mistake in the above story.
I have already contacted the editors of The Australian concerning the factual oversight made in the story's second paragraph.

The second paragraph of the story states the following:

"The Office of Film and Literature Classification ordered sex scenes to be cut from the game for it to meet the highest available rating for computer games, MA15+."

This is blatantly false. The choice to remove the sex scenes was that of Grand Theft Auto IV developer Rockstar and parent company Take-Two. Rockstar have previously stated that they felt given the restrictive nature of Australia's current classification system the sex scenes would be unlikely to pass classification and hence they edited them.

The Rockstar statement on the 15 April 2008 can be viewed at Kotaku.

To further support this, please view the OFLC online classification database which clearly states that the version classified MA15+ was "ORIGINAL" and not "REVISED". This clearly indicates that the OFLC never viewed the unedited overseas version of Grand Theft Auto IV with all sex scenes intact.
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sa_nick - 69 days 9 hours ago
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1.1 -
Indeed, I just read it and noticed the same thing. Makes the story more interesting to people not in the know. And i spose thats what news is all about.

But yeah, we definitely need an R rating for games down here. If film can have it, why not gaming.
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Superfragilistic - 69 days 9 hours ago
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1.2 - Tell me about it
Lets hope the sweet irony in getting GTAIV without bjs is that we get an R18+ rating sooner than expected.
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