We didn't think Fallout 3 was close enough to completion for a rating, but the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification has already refused to classify the title, effectively banning it from sale in the country. The game be resubmitted, with edits, in the hopes it meets the gudelines for MA15+ rating. If Grand Theft Auto IV could do it, we have no doubt that Bethesda will find a way to edit the game for sales in the Land Down Under. So much for the Bloody Mess perk.

(Alternate captions: "Was it something I said?", "I can has rating now plees?")

[Via Internode; thanks, Eden]

Greg Bondar, CEO of the Game Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA), will quit his post on July 12. Bondar tells Gamespot AU that he's moving on to "pursue other opportunities" after being with the organization for 18 months.

The GDAA has been the group pushing for Aussie game developers to receive the 40% tax break currently bestowed upon their film-making brethren. The group is trying to prevent the continent from being left behind as various nations and states lure game developers with yummy tax breaks. Mmmmmm, tax breaks.

Taking a cue from America's army and, er, America's Army, the Australian military is also using online games to pump up flagging recruitment numbers. As the New Zealand Herald reports, Australia's Defence Jobs web site allows visitors to control crude, Flash versions of ARV Tiger Attack Helicopters, F/A-18 Hornets and more.

The games aren't exactly new (JayIsGames discussed one of them back in 2004) but they're getting increased attention now as a way for military recruitment to compete with a fierce job market. "It is critical to the future of the ADF that Generation Y and beyond can access and interact with recruiting information via the technology they are comfortable with," said Defence Science and Personnel Minister Warren Snowdon, who sounds extremely old.

Two of the Air Force games have recorded over 300,000 plays, according to the Herald report, which might not seem like much compare to America's Army's 8+ million users. Remember, though, that America's defense budget exceeds Australia's (and indeed, the rest of the world's) by leaps and bounds. Whoo! We're No. 1! Don't mess with the U.S.! These colors don't run! And so on ...

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.

The Age reports Australia's MA15+ rated Grand Theft Auto IV is an edited version of the game. Rockstar confirmed that it made a special edition of the game to comply with the Australia's classification system, which currently does not have an R18+ rating. Rockstar refused to comment on what content had been cut from the game.

If past issues with the Aussies are any indication, Rockstar may have had to remove some mclovin. GTA III needed to remove the prostitutes for classification in 2001 and GTA:Vice City also required editing. GTA: San Andreas received an MA15+ until, well ... you know. We're following up with Rockstar to find out what's missing from the Australian version, just because it seems silly for the company not to say it's something simple like picking up hookers. Even Germany's USK gave the game an 18+ rating, so it obviously didn't set off their violence alarms and trigger the group's non-rating limbo maneuver. What are the Aussies going to miss out on when GTA IV launches April 29?

[Thanks Simon]

Another continent getting Wii Fit before the US? Oh, the irony. Gamespot reports Wii Fit will help Australians through their winter doldrums beginning May 8 at the suggested price of $150 Australian ($140 USD, €91). The Aussie retail Wii Fit includes the same peripherals and software as other regions.

Wii Fit has already sold over a million units in Japan and is ready to feel the burn in Europe beginning April 25 for £69.99 in the UK, and €89.99 for everyone else. The US has a scheduled release of May 19, but no price has been set.

The Sunburnt Country has never been a very friendly place for video games with adult content. With a maximum game rating of MA15+, games which are deemed unsuitable for the pubescent, corruptible senses of a 15-year-old are often refused classification, and therefore banned. Several North American best-sellers have fallen victim to Australian banning, or been forced to release censored versions for the land down under, such as GTA III, Postal, Manhunt, and (preemptive attack!) Dark Sector.

Luckily for gaming Aussies (50 percent of which are over the age of 18), government officials are considering the addition of an R18+ rating, allowing the sale of more mature titles. This proposition will be discussed at the next Standing Committee of Attorneys-General on March 28. Should the system undergo the change, for the first time in Australian video games, there will be blood, nudity, and strong language. You know, the good stuff.

We've been kind of milquetoast on Dark Sector, the first "next gen" game ever announced, for reasons ranging from its completely uninspiring title to ... well, it's basically the title. But now that the game has been denied a rating by Australian classification board the OFLC, we're totally in to it.

How could they not see how their plan would backfire? Check this line from their report: "When Hayden cuts off his opponent's limb with the glaive, large amounts of blood spray forth from the stump and the injured person screams in agony which increases the impact." Umm, we'd like to write something about how awesome that sounds, but we're a little busy pre-ordering eight copies. IGN guesses the game will be softened and resubmitted, but unless they're going to insist that the stumps are actually spraying strawberry preserves, it sounds like they have a lot of work ahead of them.

Eagle-eyed Joystiq scouts in the land down under noticed that Grand Theft Auto IV very recently received an MA 15+ rating from the Australian Classification Board. The rating was given on Dec. 11 and is in line with the MA 15+ ratings given to the other Grand Theft Auto games.

The takeaway from this info is potentially twofold. Firstly, GTA IV apparently won't be dragged through an insane Manhunt 2-style ratings fiasco. Second, and far more speculative, is that this bodes well for the game releasing before holiday '08 as many now expect. We've already asked Rockstar if it has submitted the materials to the ESRB for a US rating -- maybe GTA IV will actually come out between Feb. and April '08.

[Thanks Rob]

According to Red Octane COO Charles Huang "multiple territories ... will not see Rock Band this Christmas." Now remember, Red Octane makes Guitar Hero and is the competitor to the Harmonix developed, EA published, Rock Band. Huang believes Australia and New Zealand are out this year and expects those territories to pay $275 Australian for the game and peripherals. Speaking with Gamespot AU, he says possible release delays can be attributed to peripheral manufacturing output and that this could reach beyond the Asia-Pacific region. Huang says, "I'm not singling out Australia -- probably it will be multiple territories that will not see Rock Band this Christmas is my guess." EA Australia won't confirm the information, but GameSpot UK was told by their EA rep, "We don't think [Rock Band] will be released in Q4."

EA confirmed with Joystiq that Rock Band is still coming to the US in 2007. Although there is still no announced release date, no confirmed peripheral price, and we've heard hardly a peep about the game from the corporate side since the good buzz generated by E3. And we know we were working with "prototype" peripherals that hadn't gone into mass production at E3. We've asked for comment from EA about what's going on with the game and its peripherals. We'll update as soon as we hear back.

Update: EA got back to us and said that "everything is on track to launch the game on time" in the US. They'd also like to clarify that no European or Australian ship dates were ever announced and "at this point everything else is pure speculation." They won't answer specific questions regarding US peripheral supplies, we asked if they can guarantee at least a guitar for every copy of the game, but they do say that they're "working as hard as [they] can to produce as many copies of the game as quickly as [they] can." And finally, in terms of a release date, "We're almost there! Rock Band will ship this holiday in North America for the PS3 and Xbox 360."

Though last week's entirely unexpected slashing of the Xbox 360 price in America hasn't inspired copycat cuts in Europe yet, Microsoft is more than happy to display some price tag violence in the land of Kangaroos, shrimps on the bar-B and countless crocodile wrestlers who roll their eyes whenever Australian stereotypes are perpetuated in the gaming press. Once their eyes return to normal positions, they'll be able to see an immediate Xbox 360 price cut displayed in a nearby store window: $579.95 Australian for the "Pro" model (down from $649) and $399.95 Australian for the Core (down from $429).

As GamesIndustry.biz points out, the Core's new price matches that of Nintendo's Wii, making a rather interesting proposition for the gamer intent on spending the least amount of money on a new console. Without resorting to criminal acts, that is.

The Game Developers Association of Australia (GDAA) has followed up previous calls by writing to the Government's arts minister and opposition minister asking that the game industry receive the 40% tax rebate offered to the film industry. The GDAA says that the break would bring in an extra $5 million a year of investment capital in Australian developers.

"

We have a commitment to ensuring that participants in the interactive entertainment industry are equally competitive with our overseas competitors," said Greg Bondar, executive director of the GDAA.

The Australian request is similar to the tax breaks in Canada which have brought more investment into their country's game industry. Well, here's hoping for the tax break, because that'll be a g'day for GDAA. Oy, that was awful.

A $1 million AUD (approx. US $880,000) heist of PlayStation 2 consoles in Australia was foiled by the power of GPS. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, a truck fitted with a GPS tracking device and containing 4,704 PS2s was stolen. Police used the tracking device (and magic -- no, not really) to locate the stolen truck and consoles.

Four men have been charged for the theft. Let that be a lesson to you would-be robbers and delinquents: leave it to the pros.

[Image source; via Engadget]

Despite being a country with "different business dynamics," the Australian game industry wants equal treatment to the film industry. The Games Developers' Association of Australia (GDAA) said in a statement, "The videogames industry in Australia is experiencing a serious fiscal inequity and imbalance compared to the film and special effects industry sector ... The Government is guilty of serious neglect of one of the fastest growing industries in the creative and entertainment sector."

Apparently the government gave a 40% rebate to film companies and the GDAA wants in on the action. Essentially the GDAA is fighting for the future as they envision around 20,000 people being employed by the game industry by 2010. We're all for a different country's sensibilities being mixed in with the glut of Japanese, American and the few British developed titles. Yes, we know there are American game development divisions in Australia, but that's not the same and we doubt that's what the GDAA is hoping for. We could use some original games brought to us by the country which blessed us with Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Muriel's Wedding, Strictly Ballroom and (must think of something butch) Mad Max.

With 50,000 units sold since March, Sony is ecstatic to exclaim that PS3 is the top selling system in Australia and has been outselling the Wii and Xbox 360 every week. Michael "Wii is a bit pricey" Ephraim, managing director of Sony Australia says, "Based on GfK since launch, PS3 has been the number one next-gen console, outselling Wii and Xbox 360 every week, except for last week." Apparently the system is being touted as a Blu-ray player in electronics stores, so that whole lack of games thing isn't bothering the Aussies as much as it is the rest of the planet Earth.

We don't have access to the GfK numbers, but the key thing to observe here is pacing, not actual numbers. Last week the Wii ended up being the fastest-selling console in Australia with the magic number of 100,000 unit. The Wii has sold twice as many units, but has been out since Dec. 7. The PS3 has been consistently selling more units each week since its March 23 launch (except for last week according to Ephraim). We'd call this a win for Sony, except if Australia's been having the same Wii supply problems as the rest of us, that might explain how the PS3 is outselling given its price tag. But we'll give Sony this one for now, a win through spin is still a win.