Rockstar stands behind Australian GTA IV edits, calls for '18' rating

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Apr 10th 2008 at 7:40AM }

Rockstar has assured Australian gamers that the edited version of Grand Theft Auto IV, chopped up to better fit the country's highest possible rating of MA15+, will not alter the experience in a "significant" way. Rockstar explained, "While there are some minor differences between the Australian and US/EU versions, they are not significant and we do not believe they take away from the level of scope and detail that make GTA IV such an incredible experience."

As incredible as said experience is, the controversial company still recommended that Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification implement an R18+ rating in order to avoid these allegedly insignificant edits. "We strongly support the OFLC and will continue to work within their guidelines; however we believe the government needs to bring games in line with other media by introducing an R18+ rating, or edits to games will continue to be necessary," said Rockstar.

Once the game finds its way into Australian hands, we're sure to discover just which aspects of the game wound up on the chopping bloc.

Tags: Australia, Grand-Theft-Auto, GrandTheftAuto, GTA, GTA-IV, GTAIV, OFLC, Rockstar

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

enix @ Apr 12th 2008 2:22AM

Really, i dont care if its a small edit or not. I very much prefer the full version, and would probably end up importing the eu version or at very least a region free (fingures crossed) copy

Raj Deut @ Apr 10th 2008 8:07AM

It's a stone-age mentality held by too many Australian political farts! I guarantee New Zealand online retails that ship to Australia are going to have a rather large influx in order this month, especially for xbox users as the NZ government introduced an R18 rating long ago. I've never felt more ashamed to be an Australian :(

Bender @ Apr 10th 2008 10:38AM

Really? The whole 'stolen generation' thing didn't do it for ya?

rv @ Apr 10th 2008 11:20AM

Exactly. They are all bloody criminals anyway, why does it matter if they are subjected to even more violence.
/sarcasm

User @ Apr 15th 2008 7:15AM

The game will most likely be region locked, is New Zealand the same region as us? I would prefer not to have to torrent it...

Maverick Saturn @ Apr 10th 2008 8:42AM

Nuh Nuh :P

EU is the same sometimes.

Optimaximal @ Apr 10th 2008 8:56AM

Then you have the Americans who are afraid of placeholder digital boobs and our government here in the UK who is more concerned about the money from speed cameras and ASBOs than actually nipping the problem in the bud...

Its not just any specific country, rather just a bunch of politicians who crack down on fads and scape goats so as to appease the groups who vote in larger numbers i.e. pensioners, the god squad and minorities.

Maverick Saturn @ Apr 10th 2008 9:20AM

Hah, you say that, but you'll be thanking those speed camaras when somebody almost runs you over like they almost did me.

Optimaximal @ Apr 10th 2008 9:56AM

How would a speed camera stop you being run over?

They're designed to slow down speeding motorists, not help clueless idiots remember to look both ways and keep their wits about them when crossing in the path of a tonne of metal being propelled by controlled explosions!

JakubK666 (Ninja Defence Force) @ Apr 10th 2008 12:07PM

Speed Cameras are about safety...to the point where they sometimes put up a fake just to get drivers to slow down

Optimaximal @ Apr 10th 2008 4:24PM

Yes, but how do they protect people from being run down if they step into the road in front of a speeding hunk of metal?

Arnie @ Apr 10th 2008 8:56AM

Actually GTA4 is region locked, I had my cousin from India order his from the US(although the Indian one is the same version as most of the Asian countries) so that he could have the Limited Edition and then proceeded to buy the game from India so that he could actually play it.

Vegnagun bwf @ Apr 10th 2008 1:01PM

Strong coarse language is really redundant.

Gure @ Apr 10th 2008 4:03PM

and sooo ,er,australia....those fuzzy koalas ,the violence can hurt em .

Brendan T @ Apr 10th 2008 4:50PM

Koalas are much more violent and feral than our tourist industry will have you believe. If you fed all day on leaves with barely any nutritional value, you'd get cranky very easy too.

I'm amused that an R18 rating would've effectively blocked the sale of this to minors and informed parents, instead they give them fairly easy access while probably moving a couple of implied sex scenes or some such nonsense.

maccas_moon @ May 15th 2008 10:33PM

i just have to say that im an australian i i just want to say that the laws and regulations here are so bloody F@*%ED up they will try and ban a game that has violence and stuff but if some one does that shit here all they get is a slap on the wrist its stuipd australia is more harsh on game and movie laws then it is on real violence and crimal acts. when our house got broken into the theifs sold all of our famlily stuff never got it back and when they got caught all they got was a bloody warning.