uncharted: drake's fortune
In an interview with SCEE blog Three Speech, Naughty Dog's Evan Wells has been answering a bunch of questions sent in by Three Speech "readers". Most are fairly run-of-the-mill, but one's pretty interesting, if only from a cultural standpoint. The question was, basically, why can't I shoot the fish in the game? The answer:
We had hit reactions and even some death animations for the wildlife in the game but we chose to remove it. It was flagged as a potential issue by the ESRB and it seemed like a small concession to make in order to maintain our "Teen" rating. It may have also affected the rating in Europe.
So...killing hundreds and
hundreds of human beings with guns and explosives and your bare hands is totally cool, but shooting some fish in a river can jeopardise a "teen" rating? What a strange and hilarious world we live in.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED BY NAUGHTY DOG'S EVAN WELLS: PART ONE [Three Speech, via Game|Life]
brazil
Judge Flavio Rabello has barred the sale of Bully in Brazil, following requests for its banning from a youth centre in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. State prosecutor Alcindo Bastos says the reason for the game's banning stems from the fact "the aggravating factor is that everything in the game takes place inside a school", which is apparently "not acceptable" considering how much fisticuffs feature in the game. Distributors and retailers have 30 days to comply with the order.
Brazil judge bans 'Bully' [globeandmail]
gtaiv
GTAIV didn't just
pass classification muster in Britain, it passed completely uncut. In clearing the game for release, though, the BBFC had to look at (then detail)
everything the game had to offer, from the palatable stuff like just driving a car around a virtual city to the less palatable stuff. Like this:
During gameplay the character can pick up prostitutes... What follows is an un-detailed portrayal of masturbation, fellatio and intercourse. The character can also visit lap dancing clubs and request a private dance.
Saucy. Those staunchly in the anti-nipple-and-dangly-bits camp need not worry, though, because "while the game contains sexualised dancing and the portrayal of sex, there is no sexualised nudity". You can read more of the leaked BBFC report at the link below.
BBFC: GTA 4 to feature masturbation and intercourse [videogamer]
britain
As expected, much of the British press (and even isolated pockets of the British
gaming press, who should know better) have been grossly misreporting the findings of Dr. Tanya Byron's pleasantly reasonable review into how the internet and games are adversely affecting children. And if you can't trust the media to get it right, who can you trust? Yourself, hopefully, so if you'd like to read the review sans alarmist mainstream media spin, the whole thing's at the link below.
Safer Children in a Digital World: the report of the Byron Review [British Department For Schools & Families]
britain
After weeks of getting their knickers in a twist over it, British pundits and interested consumers can now read up on what the long-awaited Byron Review has to say. Commissioned by the British government in response to growing concerns over children's exposure to unsuitable content in games, it's findings are already being
blown out of proportion by many British press outlets, but in reality are really quite sensible. Dr. Tanya Bryon's report recommends the adoption of a more recognisable film-style ratings system - including a "12" rating - clearer, more prominent displays of a game's ratings on the cover and more effort on the part of parents in monitoring and controlling their children's gaming and online habits. Like I said, all quite fair and reasonable, really, so if you're British and are waking up to a falling sky, things aren't as bad as certain "excitable" elements of the press will have you believe.
Byron Review backs movie-style ratings [MCV]
army of two
Last time I
ever give the USK (Germany's classification board) any credit. German gaming site areagames is reporting that the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle have refused EA's Army of Two classification, effectively banning the title from retail sale in the country. A
quick search of the USK's website seems to confirm this, as the title doesn't turn up in classification searches (nor do other "banned" titles like Dead Rising). Anyone able to point out what makes this so different from the 1,943 "men with guns" games they've seen fit to OK over the past twelve months?
Army of Two nicht in Deutschland!? [areagames]
DARK SECTOR - I played Dark Sector at TGS. Thought it sucked. Anyway, word's come through that the game's been
refused classification in Australia, mostly because it's a "violent and sometimes gruesome game with a sinister storyline and ominous outcome. The violence and aggression inflicted upon the protagonist is of a high level, naturalistic and not stylised at all". It's expected the game will be edited and resubmmitted for classification at a later date. While the loss of Dark Sector itself isn't going to cause too many sleepless nights, it
is troubling that the OFLC have found it unacceptable, since while violent, it wasn't particularly
more violent than something like, say, Gears of War.
Kotaku
