Here are a few of the recent games that were announced via early ratings by the ESRB: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia, The Last Guy and Earthbound for Wii. A change in the ESRB's submission form will likely plug up those leaks, according to a memo leaked to Next-Gen. When publishers submit their game for rating, they now have the option to choose a date when the title is eligible to be uploaded to the ESRB's website. If left blank, the game will be eligible for display 30 days after it has been rated.

The ratings board hopes that publishers don't overuse the new option. Said the memo, "The ESRB system will not work for consumers if publishers arbitrarily select dates bearing no reasonable relationship to consumer interest in the product." Our sights now turn to Australia's OFLC, Germany's USK and Britains's BBFC for early game leaks.

We began to lose track of games featuring Capcom's iconic blue bomber when they began adding arbitrary letters and words to each sequel -- that's why we were overjoyed to hear that Capcom recently registered Mega Man 9 with the Office of Film and Literature Classification (Australia's ESRB). That's right, just Mega Man 9 -- not Mega Man Zero 9, Mega Man X9, Mega Man 9 ZX, or Mega Man 9 2: Electric Boogaloo.

The OFLC entry has the game slated for a multiplatform release, though the most insubstantial of rumors hint that Rockman's new adventure will take place on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. We usually scoff at unattributed gossip, but with vivid visions of online multi-man robot slaying dancing through our heads, our powerful scoffin' muscles feel a tad bit atrophied.

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.

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.

After Britain, the United States and Ireland, where do Australia and Germany stand on the issue of Manhunt 2? Australian officials are saying a release in their country is doubtful, meanwhile an official for the German USK ratings board has told Joystiq that game has not been submitted.

Insiders in the Australian government reportedly told Smarthouse (via GamePolitics) that the game is likely not to be released down under. "We don't want to preempt the decision of the Office of Film and Literature Classification Review Board but it is looking very doubtful," they said. The Office of Film and Literature Classification was closed when Joystiq tried to reach them for comment, but Jason Hill of The Age reports that as of yesterday, the game had not been submitted for a rating.

In an email correspondence with Joystiq, the USK's Christine Schulz told us as of this morning there was no application submitted for the game. Should Take Two and Rockstar forego submitting Manhunt 2 for any country, it would not be surprising.

Both German and Australian ratings boards are notorious for banning games, by refusal of rating, with too much violent content. For the German USK, past titles to not get rated have included Dead Rising, Crackdown and Gears of War -- and the banning protocol is rather confusing.

Australia's OFLC has Restricted 18+ ratings, but they are not applied to video games, so the highest rating for a game is Mature 15+ age. Hence, if a game were to be deemed too inappropriate for MA15, then it would be refused classification and the game must either be edited and resubmitted or just not sold. Games who were refused classification include Reservoir Dogs and Marck Ecko's Getting Up.

Future Gamez has confirmed that Ubisoft is working on a new Prince of Persia title for the Nintendo DS, but it doesn't appear to be another card battler like last year's Battles of Prince of Persia.

Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification added the new game to their online database under the title, Prince of Persia: Rival Blades, for multiple platforms. However, an Ubisoft rep commented that Blades had been an alternate title for The Two Thrones, and the OFLC's listing is a placeholder for a new DS version of the prince's most recent console adventure.