Castlevania: Rondo of Blood has been available to Japanese Wii owners since 2008, but it may be available to those of us in North America, Europe and Australia, if the OFLC's recent rating—spotted by Nintendo Life—is any indication. Perhaps another Hanabi Festival is in order for PAL territories?

Of course, you can play Castlevania: Rondo of Blood right now, should you have a PSP. Konami released the game as Dracula X Chronicles in 2007 on UMD, issuing a digitally downloadable version this year.

Don't be surprised to see Rondo of Blood on the list of Wii Virtual Console releases in 2010. And don't be surprised if you recognize many of its heavily recycled sprites.

Castlevania: Rondo of Blood Getting Long Overdue Western Release [Nintendo Life]

For a game set in Hell that seems designed to court controversy, the inclusion of "unblessed infants" as something to slay sounds a lot more reasonable when described in such a sterile fashion. "These 'unbaptized' demons resemble babies only in size," says the ESRB's warning about potentially offensive content, "as they tend to hack, slash, scream, and impale/get impaled as often as taller demons."

See? Nothing to be concerned about, especially when factoring in the rest of the violent fare and... tongue-evisceration? Yep. Tongue-evisceration.

"Blood often splatters out of monsters' bodies when attacked; weakened monsters can be finished off with a set of commands leading to tongue-evisceration, but more often, some version of dismemberment," notes the rating. These things are so informative.

The "Mature" rating touches on the game's sexual content—like Cleopatra's bared, bruise-colored breasts—and the "shade minions," which have "tentacles protrud[ing] from their stomachs, their lower regions." By that, I assume they mean their feet.

But news to me at least was the shaft-swinging accuracy in Dante's Inferno. Apparently, one "bluish devil/demon in boss-battle mode" has it's business out and "there are equivalent physics applied to female/male body parts." How far we've come from physics-free phallus!

Dante's Inferno [ESRB]

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board offers an informative, potentially spoiler-filled account of what makes Mass Effect 2 deserving of a "Mature" rating, including the standard stuff, like enemies emitting "large splashes of blood when shot (particularly with "head shots")" and bad guys lying "stagnant in pools of blood." And you can "set robots on fire," something our future robotic overlords won't forget.

But what about the stuff that should get Mass Effect 2 a repeat appearance on Fox News? Oh, there's some of that too.

"The game contains themes of illicit drug use, addiction, and trafficking-often focal points to the branching storylines," says the ESRB's ratings description, making reference to a fictional drug.

And? "During the course of the game, players may enter a bar where alien pole dancing exists (choreography highlighted on big-screen monitors) or hear suggestive comments such as 'krogan sexual deviants enjoy salarian flexibility' and 'if this is just about sex, maybe you should just f**king say so.'" My, how potentially objectionable!

But here's where Mass Effect 2 gets hot.

The ESRB says: "Players can also choose to have 'romantic encounters' with the alien/human henchmen characters; this involves watching a guided cutscene in which two characters flirt, kiss, and/or embrace: clothed alien/human characters may prop a partner on top of a space console, clear away the clutter from a bed-slab, unzip a future-blouse, or just talk it out. Though an alien/human may gyrate her hips while on top (fleeting-one-to-two seconds), actual sex is never depicted-the camera cuts away to space furniture and ceilings."

Oh, space furniture. You're always getting in the way!

Aliens vs. Predator got the big thumbs down on Dec. 3, primarily for its depictions of gore and violence. Its developer, Rebellion, has said it will not modify the title in order to receive classification, so this amounts to a big "pretty please?" to Australia from Sega.

The Review Board has invited applications to be considered an "interested party" to the review, but reminds that this review and its reconsideration can only be within the scope of Australia's existing classification regulations. I.e., no one's being invited to complain about creating an R18+ rating category for games, as such an option is for lawmakers, not the review board, to implement.

Aliens vs. Predator: RC Rating to be Reviewed [Refused-Classification.com via Game Politics]

Alex Kidd in Shinobi World was, sadly, the last game in the Alex Kidd series to be released, a title that originally began its existence as Kid Shinobi before Sega opted to capitalize on its largely forgotten mascot. My favorite Alex Kidd in Shinobi World trivia morsel is the game's original first boss, Mari-Oh, a mustachioed parody of the fireball tossing Shinobi boss Ken-Oh. Sega chose not release the game with Mari-Oh in his more recognizable, legal troubling form.

And, as was confirmed already by the recently revitalized Sunsoft, hybrid adventure Blaster Master is coming to the Wii's Virtual Console, as doubly confirmed by the ESRB. When? Some time in December.

The statistics, which came to light as a result of a written answer to a question by a Parliament member in the House of Commons yesterday, indicate that only four games in the past five years have been refused BBFC classification. All four instance occurred in 2007, and Rockstar's Manhunt 2 for the Wii, PS2, PC, and PSP could very well account for all four. and those were all reviewed and granted classification the next year.

In contrast, thirteen films have been refused since 2005. TIGA CEO Dr Richard Wilson finds this data very telling.

"There have been hardly any instances of the BBFC refusing classification for video games. In fact, during the past five years, there have only been four games deemed unfit or unsuitable for classification, as opposed to 13 films – more than three times the amount of games. It is important that these facts are placed in the public domain as they clearly counter some of the unfair stereotypes about video games."

Of course, for a more accurate idea of the film versus movie ratings ratio we'd have to know how many movies versus games passed through the BBFC ratings procedures during the reported years, but the data we have is good enough for a forum argument.

The ESRB's entire ratings database is searchable, with full certificates available for titles back to July 1, 2008. Said the ESRB president Patricia Vance: "This new rating search app puts all this information at parents' fingertips when they need it most, right at the store. It's a powerful tool that will help assure parents that the games they give as gifts are not only fun but also appropriate for their children."

Not sure how frequently it updates; for the core, I guess it's another way to spy on what's been approved, and spoilers in games we know are in the pipeline. You can grab it here (link will open iTunes.)

The app launched with the following PSA. I would have loved it if she read off the ratings summary for BioShock 2 instead.

ESRB Launches iPhone Ratings App [Game Politics]

Speaking at the Montreal International Game Summit, Rémi Racine of A2M said:

As a developer who has worked with a lot of different publishers, we're aware of many that have tried to cheat the rating. They say to the ERSB that it's a Teen rating [13+] rather than an Mature [17+] to try and sell more; you can do this just by sending them a video that doesn't show the most violent stuff and then you'll get the rating that you want rather than the rating you should get.

Edge Online, which quoted Racine at the Summit, then published this reply from the ESRB's Eliot Mizrachi:

ESRB takes full disclosure of content during the rating process extremely seriously, and companies that submit their games to ESRB know this very well. We regularly check games post-release to verify that submissions were complete, and it's very likely that if a game contains undisclosed content that would have affected the rating assigned, we'll find out about it. In such cases ESRB can actually impose fines up to $1 million as well as require corrective actions like re-labeling or even recalling product, both of which can obviously be very costly. There's no incentive whatsoever for publishers to withhold content from ESRB in an effort to receive a lower rating, and those that would do so risk significant penalties.

I can't think of any titles which exemplify Racine's accusation; of course, my radar is largely fixated on upcoming AAA releases, and games of such a high profile are almost definitely M-rated or not, in the public's mind, before the ESRB gets hold of them. When was the last M-versus-T controversy anyway? Does it even matter? That said, there might be a few marginal titles out there. But which ones?

MIGS: Publishers "Cheat" Age Ratings [Edge Online]

There are some minor spoilers in the writeup, I suppose, so I'll let you venture over there if you're interested in what the awesome displays of violence entail, as they most directly pertain to capabilities or plot points in the story.

"The violence and the profanity account for the Mature rating," saith the ESRB, so let's look at the other half of that equation.

The game includes frequent use of strong profanity (e.g., "f**k," "motherf**ker," and "c*nt") and some lesser four-letter words (e.g., "sh*t" and "tw*t"); in one instance, an enemy attacks [Subject] Delta [that's you] while screaming, "F**king sodomites everywhere!"

Sodomites? F—- yeah! Oh there's also some stuff about hookin' and red-light districts. Frankly, in a laissez-faire capitalist society I'd be astonished if those weren't encountered, so maybe this should be rated O for Objectivism.

BioShock 2 [ESRB via Hot Blooded Gaming]

The Entertainment Software Ratings Board has issued the Assassin's Creed sequel a "Mature" rating, pointing out the potentially offensive "blood, intense violence, sexual content, and strong language" featured in the game.

The ESRB goes into great detail—with potential spoilers!—about the "sexual content" players may experience in Assassin's Creed II, including an interactive mini-game in which "players are able to press buttons to kiss a woman and remove her dress; with the woman's back facing the camera, the two characters lower to bed and blow out a candle." Oh my!

Oh and it gets so much more unsavory, at least from a dialogue standpoint, as references to S&M, page-boy diddling, rape and other deviant acts not fit for print in this publication are made throughout the game. Plus, there's naughty language in both English and Italian!

Will someone please think of the children? Preferably not while reading this snippet of the ESRB's description, pasted below, but afterward.

The game contains strong sexual overtones. During one "seduction mini-game," players are able to press buttons to kiss a woman and remove her dress; with the woman's back facing the camera, the two characters lower to bed and blow out a candle. Some scenes take place inside brothels, though no nudity or sexual acts are depicted. The dialogue contains the following sexual references: "So the whip or the paddle today?" and "Does your wife know about your page-boy fantasies, Captain?"

Character backstories, narrated through still-frame vignettes, explain how villains and historical figures achieved their notoriety; some biographies include references to adultery, sodomy, prostitution, and rape (e.g., "Caterina was captured and sent to Rodrigo Borgia . . . who kept her imprisoned for a year and is rumored to have raped her alongside his son.").

One cutscene depicts a man and a woman wearing translucent, flesh-toned bodysuits as they flee from danger. The digitized lighting effects, the glow from their futuristic suits, obscure most of the details, though outlines of breasts and buttocks are partially discernable (i.e., not definitively nudity).

Consumers may also wish to know that the game contains strong profanity, both in English and Italian (e.g., "f**k," "sh*t," c*zzo," and "m*rda"); the most explicit instance occurs when a man frantically describes a "vision"-"I'm at the opera . . . the soprano is so beautiful . . . I'm in bed with her, she cries as I f**k her."

Ack! My eyes!!

Assassin's Creed II [ESRB]

The skippable scene of terrorist atrocities in Modern Warfare 2 first came to light via leaked footage on YouTube early yesterday. News travelled quickly, however, with an AP report dropping yesterday afternoon, distributing the news to just about every news organization on the planet. Word obviously reached Australia, prompting Australian Council on Children and the Media Jane Roberts to call on the Australian Classification Board to reconsider the MA15+ rating the game received, which is the highest rating given games in the country. Reconsideration would effectively ban the game from release. Roberts claims that even with the MA15+ rating, the game would still be readily available to children.

"The consequences of terrorism are just abhorrent in our community and yet here we are with a product that's meant to be passed off as a leisure time activity, actually promoting what most world leaders speak out publicly against."

Do not read on if you wish to avoid Modern Warfare 2 spoilers.

Here's the report regarding the offending scene filed by the Classification Board that accompanied the MA15+ rating decision.

"Several civilians are shot with blood burst bullet wounds; civilian corpses are strewn across the airport floor, often in stylised pools of blood; injured civilians crawl away with lengthy blood trails behind them."

The report goes on to mention that you cannot inflict post mortem damage on the civilians, and that all other missions of the game will result in failure if a civilian is shot.

Activision released a statement to Kotaku yesterday regarding the scene, explaining that it was "meant to evoke the atrocities of terrorism."

Back in Australia the debate rages on, with Nicholas Suzor, spokesman for the lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, using the situation to call for a R18+ rating for games released in the country, while rejecting the idea that a video game could foster terrorism.

"Films often show the villain's perspective and, by doing that, they get across the character's story and the heinous nature of people who carry out atrocities. Games, too, are becoming more expressive, and are telling more involved stories. We may make an argument that these sorts of topics are not suitable for children, but I don't at all accept that it is unsuitable for adults."

The Classification Board cannot review its own decisions, so anyone interested in getting the rating reviewed will have to apply directly to the board.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is slated for Australian release on November 10th.

Outrage as terrorist game lets players massacre civilians [The Sydeny Morning Herald - Thanks Ted!]

What else do we know about Rayman DSiWare? Nothing. But at least the listing indicates that Rayman, not those vile Rabbids, will be put back in a starring role.

DSiWare: Rayman Coming To DSiWare [GamerBytes]

That's how the British Board of Film Classification describes the potentially objectionable content in next week's downloadable episode for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV. The potentially spoiler-filled rundown, as spotted by Eurogamer, is full of things that just might give you the vapors, the likes of which you've never seen in your computer games, I mean, my goodness.

The BBFC's saucy description of the naughtiness of Gay Tony reads notes sex scenes that are "quite strong, but always masked and the characters concerned are invariably fully clothed" meaning no nudity.

However, "In cut scenes the Luis Lopez character is seen to be on the receiving end of oral sex (slumped on a chair with a woman's head buried in his lap). The same character engages in sexual intercourse on at least two different occasions. For example he stands between a woman's raised legs and thrusts into her and he also bends a woman over a desk and thrusts into her from the rear." How ribald!

Of course, there's mention of the salty language, excessive violence and the flaccid penises that you may also take offense to, but that's all *yawn* pretty much expected at this point. But that thrusting! It sounds so delicious.

EPISODES FROM LIBERTY CITY - GRAND THEFT AUTO THE LOST AND DAMNED - GRAND THEFT AUTO THE BALLAD OF GAY TONY [BBFC]

Given previous portable announcements, consider our enthusiasm for yet another port of Don Bluth's beautifully animated Dragon's Lair measured. A Nintendo DS version of the game was announced a few years ago—along with a PSP version—resulting in little more than a press release and pair of posts on Kotaku. Maybe this time Digital Leisure's porting hopes and dreams will become reality?

You shouldn't really be lacking in platforms on which to play the thing, but if you have a long-running Dragon's Lair streak and Nintendo Points to spare, watch for it.

USK via GamerBytes

That would essentially mean an end to the "ban" on Valve's PC and Xbox 360 sequel and translate into "good news" for our Survivor friends down under.

No word yet on whether Valve's appeal was successful and/or if the company had to submit the edited version of the game for the Australian release.

We'd like to simply think that Gabe Newell just got down there a little early and put some Aussie's in a headlock. Or that Australian man's man Saxton Hale called in a favor.

Update: According to Valve, the version of Left 4 Dead 2 rated by the Australian government is "the adjusted version." Reps for the developer say "We are still awaiting the review and decision on the rest of world/standard version and remain optimistic about being able to ship this version in Nov. However, we are now able to ship a version of Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia. So the question is no longer if L4D2 ships there, but which version."

Left 4 Dead 2 [OFLC - thanks, Robert!]

But the ESRB may have a new, non-sterile policy for game rating summaries. That, or Left 4 Dead 2 writer Chet Faliszek is responsible for said summary. Oh, it starts off normal enough, noting that "the 'Boomer'-Infected explode in a shower of blood and bile when shot, which clouds players' view of the impending zombie swarm." Then it switches things up. With italics.

Here's the second half of the description, with emphasis retained.

Bladed melee weapons and direct hits from rifles, shotguns, etc., cause decapitation or dismemberment; intense depictions include: piles of the Infected in a pool of blood along the roadside; intestines spilling out of abdominal wounds; zombie jibs shooting in all directions; charred innards; and skeletal bits and unclaimed torsos. While the litany of somewhat "gruesome" depictions attests to the Mature rating, the over-the-top onslaught is, in some ways, mitigated by the exaggerated menacing evil (camp?) of the drone-like zombie horde; the genre homage (horror, zombies, . . . cricket paddle) is palpable. Consumers might also wish to know that the game includes profanity, such as "sh*t," "as*hole," and "b*tch"; however, it is the intense violence, the blood and gore that are the primary factors for the Mature rating.

Interestingly, it almost reads like a justification of Left 4 Dead 2's violent display of zombie thrashing.

Now, for the Kamen Rider Dragon Knight official description, unaltered and italicized per the ESRB.

"It'll end fast," declares a "Kamen Rider" moments before holding his defeated opponent in the air and showering him with explosions. Players control these robotic humanoid fighters in one-on-one or one-on-multiple combat with alien robotic creatures from another planet, or in this case, the Kamen Rider Dragon Knight TV series. Players constantly punch, kick, and use weapons (swords, axes, spears, spiked gloves) to deplete their opponents' health meter. Explosions, slashes, and hit effects can be seen and heard throughout battle. "Final Vents" (i.e., finishing attacks) can be used to defeat opponents, and range from melee attacks (e.g., jump kicks and pile drivers) to elaborate projectile attacks; for example, a motorcycle can be summoned to shoot fireballs and run over the opponent amid . . . more explosions.

The ellipsis may have been the best thing to ever happen to ESRB copy writers. Everyone loves a good... dramatic pause.

No other comment was given in the announcement. I've emailed Valve to ask for a little more detail on the case they've presented down under. Should it make any comment, I'll update here.

In all, only three regions are still in process of rating (or reconsidering, in Australia's case) Left 4 Dead 2, due for release on Nov. 17. The United Kingdom and New Zealand are also still reviewing the game. Elsewhere - PEGI, ESRB, Japan, Germany, etc. - the game has all received M or equivalent ratings. Ireland's board hasn't rated it but has approved it for classification.

Said Doug Lombardi, the Valve spokesman:

We were surprised to hear of this news yesterday. Obviously, everyone at Valve is pretty bummed. It would be a shame if folks in Australia, or anywhere else, are unable to purchase Left 4 Dead 2 because of a ratings issue.

Indeed it would, but that's gonna be the case unless the Classification Board reconsiders (unlikely?) or Valve changes the content (even less likely?).

Quoting the Progress and Freedom Foundation, the report, published Aug. 31, says ESRB ratings are "in many ways the most sophisticated, descriptive, and effective ratings system devised by any major media sector in America." The parental control functions of the three current-gen consoles, plus Windows PCs, are also highlighted. The report mentions that game ratings are highly recognized and useful to parents (58 percent find them helpful, according to a third-party survey), and the percentage of kids buying M-rated games dropped dramatically from 2006 to 2008, according to the FTC.

Significantly, the report also says that the FCC considers "that video game players and video games are not the focus of the Child Safe Viewing Act," the piece of legislation that started this universal-rating discussion. "Video game players are not included among the devices specifically identified in Section 2(b)(2) of the Act, and video games are not mentioned in the Senate Report and were not discussed in the Senate hearing on the Act."

But the FCC inquiry did include video games when it sought comment on universal regulation, in light of their popularity with kids and concerns about their content. The majority of comments, the FCC noted, "take the position that video games should not be reviewed in this proceeding."

Final score: The ESRB gets a thumbs-up to Congress, and the legislation in question does not even concern video game consoles in the first place. If you like, you may download a pdf of the entire report and read it yourself.

FCC Cites Success of VIdeo Game Rating System [CNET]