In Japan, GTA Chinatown Wars is First DS Game to Receive Adults Only Rating
In Japan, GTA Chinatown Wars is First DS Game to Receive Adults Only Rating
July 7, 2009
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars has been tagged with a "Z" rating (adults only) for the Japanese market, reports Siliconera:
All of the Grand Theft Auto games have been rated CERO Z so this isn’t really a shocker. However, Chinatown Wars will be the first Nintendo DS game with the rating and the second CERO Z game on a Nintendo platform. Killer 7 from Capcom is the other CERO Z rated game on Nintendo hardware.
CERO is the Japanese equivalent of the ESRB.
Via: Kotaku
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GamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 03/18/10 at 12:07pm
JDKJ: No, I did you the favor and said it for you.
JDKJ: No, I did you the favor and said it for you.
Posted 03/18/10 at 12:06pm
Valdearg: What I said was while I may have implied long term accuraccy, and that might have been incorrect, my greater point that the CBO report calculated reduced deficits, expanded coverage, and lower costs is still 100% accurate. :D
Valdearg: What I said was while I may have implied long term accuraccy, and that might have been incorrect, my greater point that the CBO report calculated reduced deficits, expanded coverage, and lower costs is still 100% accurate. :D
Posted 03/18/10 at 12:06pm
Valdearg: Like any good politician, I don't believe I said "I was incorrect." :P
Valdearg: Like any good politician, I don't believe I said "I was incorrect." :P
Posted 03/18/10 at 12:02pm
JDKJ: If you'd said "I was incorrect" 10 shouts ago, I'd have quit twisting your arm to get you see the obvious 10 shouts ago.
JDKJ: If you'd said "I was incorrect" 10 shouts ago, I'd have quit twisting your arm to get you see the obvious 10 shouts ago.
Posted 03/18/10 at 12:00pm
JDKJ: You were they one assuming 100% accuracy. In all caps, no less.
JDKJ: You were they one assuming 100% accuracy. In all caps, no less.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:59am
Valdearg: Yes, my implication that the long term estimates were facts was incorrect, but the short term calculations are absolutely facts, and even the long term estimates are still useful in attempting to determine exactly what will happen with the bill.
Valdearg: Yes, my implication that the long term estimates were facts was incorrect, but the short term calculations are absolutely facts, and even the long term estimates are still useful in attempting to determine exactly what will happen with the bill.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:58am
Valdearg: I do. The Short term costs are actually calculated facts. The long term estimates aren't necessarily 100% accurate, but to assume that they can't possibly be accurate because someone said they might not be 100% accurate is also wrong.
Valdearg: I do. The Short term costs are actually calculated facts. The long term estimates aren't necessarily 100% accurate, but to assume that they can't possibly be accurate because someone said they might not be 100% accurate is also wrong.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:57am
JDKJ: When someone says, "I could be wrong but, as best as I can tell, X," X ain't a fact.
JDKJ: When someone says, "I could be wrong but, as best as I can tell, X," X ain't a fact.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:53am
JDKJ: It's too early in the morning for you to be deaf, blind, and dumb drunk. A "my best guestimate" can't be a fact. Don't you understand the difference between the two?
JDKJ: It's too early in the morning for you to be deaf, blind, and dumb drunk. A "my best guestimate" can't be a fact. Don't you understand the difference between the two?
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:41am
Valdearg: By how much depends on variables that can't necessarily be predicted at this point in time. And yes, those Facts are accurate only so far into the future, but those estimates can certainly be used to support this measure.
Valdearg: By how much depends on variables that can't necessarily be predicted at this point in time. And yes, those Facts are accurate only so far into the future, but those estimates can certainly be used to support this measure.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:40am
Valdearg: And I'm saying, as far as the CBO report goes, the facts that it does put forward are deficit reduction, reducing costs, and expanding costs. Those ARE facts.
Valdearg: And I'm saying, as far as the CBO report goes, the facts that it does put forward are deficit reduction, reducing costs, and expanding costs. Those ARE facts.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:30am
JDKJ: You were the one championing a qualified estimate as an indisputable fact. I'm merely pointing out that it's far from indisputable. So says the estimator.
JDKJ: You were the one championing a qualified estimate as an indisputable fact. I'm merely pointing out that it's far from indisputable. So says the estimator.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:27am
Valdearg: Or are you only breaking that argument out because the CBO says that this bill is a good thing for our deficit?
Valdearg: Or are you only breaking that argument out because the CBO says that this bill is a good thing for our deficit?
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:27am
JDKJ: The CBO says that, to the extent it is possible to accurately predict defict reduction over the long term, it is likely to reduce the deficit. That's your idea of "a fact that don't lie?"
JDKJ: The CBO says that, to the extent it is possible to accurately predict defict reduction over the long term, it is likely to reduce the deficit. That's your idea of "a fact that don't lie?"
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:26am
Valdearg: Would you be singing the same tune if the CBO came back saying that the bill will likely double the deficit in 20 years??
Valdearg: Would you be singing the same tune if the CBO came back saying that the bill will likely double the deficit in 20 years??
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:26am
Valdearg: @JDKJ: Just because there is a margin of error doesn't mean that the numbers aren't at least psudo-accurate.
Valdearg: @JDKJ: Just because there is a margin of error doesn't mean that the numbers aren't at least psudo-accurate.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:25am
Valdearg: The point is that the bill reduces costs, expands coverage, and reduces the deficit.
Valdearg: The point is that the bill reduces costs, expands coverage, and reduces the deficit.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:24am
JDKJ: So why are you off and running with "facts and numbers don't lie" when the very author of the facts and numbers is acknowledging that their facts and numbers could quite easily be wrong?
JDKJ: So why are you off and running with "facts and numbers don't lie" when the very author of the facts and numbers is acknowledging that their facts and numbers could quite easily be wrong?
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:23am
Valdearg: @JDKJ: Indeed, but the 10 year is also showing a deficit reduction, and that's more accurate.
Valdearg: @JDKJ: Indeed, but the 10 year is also showing a deficit reduction, and that's more accurate.
Posted 03/18/10 at 11:19am
JDKJ: Val': Isn't the CBO saying at the same time that predicting the long term deficit reduction effect isn't anywhere near an exact science? And that its prediction should be taken with that understanding?
JDKJ: Val': Isn't the CBO saying at the same time that predicting the long term deficit reduction effect isn't anywhere near an exact science? And that its prediction should be taken with that understanding?
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Comments
Well it was made for adults so im not surprised.
http://www.magicinkgaming.com/
Z is for ages 18 and up so nothing particularly shocking there
Only the second ever Z-rated Nintendo game? That can't be right. What about all those Resident Evil titles on Gamecube and Wii? There was also that Resident Evil 1 port for the DS, was that not rated Z? How about the Nintendo-published Eternal Darkness?
Do Not Talk About Feitclub http://www.feitclub.com
The letter based rating system has only been in use since March 2006,
Most the Resident Evil games were rated for ages 15+ or 17+, only Code Verionica which was on Gamecube got an 18+ but that was before the Z rating.
A Z rating? I guess I'm just unfamiliar with the Japanese rating system, but I think the U.S. should have a Z rating instead of AO. That whole "Adults Only" moniker carries too much of a stigma here, in that when most people think "Adults Only" the first thing that pops to mind is porn. As a result, we don't get very many AO games.
Yeah, that's the same reason the MPAA changed X to NC-17, since X drew too many comparisons with the porn industry's exaggerated "XXX" designation.
"That whole "Adults Only" moniker carries too much of a stigma here, in that when most people think "Adults Only" the first thing that pops to mind is porn."
Except that the vast majority of "Adults Only" games really are porn games -- try going to the ESRB homepage and searching the AO listings. So even if they started calling the rating, say, "Rupert", it'd still be a category largely populated by porn games.
Yes, and then there are other games such as Manhunt 2, which got an AO rating for violence and had to be toned down just so the company could sell it on consoles. I guess the real problem for AO is the console manufacturers' flat policy of not releasing any AO titles regardless of why they got the rating in the first place, but I fully believe that the porn stigma is the reason that policy exists in the first place.
It's not necessarilly just the console manufacturers that restrict AO games. I don't know of a single retail store that will sell an AO game. What good is making an AO game if nobody will sell it?
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Freedom of speech means the freedom to say ANYTHING, so long as it is the truth. This does not exclude anything that might hurt someone's feelings.
In practicality, though, it is only one year of an age difference. The reason why most sexual games get the AO rating is because the 18+ age limit falls in line with the state laws that require 18+ verification to view porn sites.
GameSnooper
i wish the ESRB would make a new rating that says this game is for adults but its not porn. Then games would not have to be censored anymore to get released as M. Do Z games in Japan have to censored???
No. Because Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are hypocrits that way. They won't allow AO games in the US but do allow Z rated games in Japan.
But that is also due to Japan's overall acceptance of Adult themed entertainment in all forms. The US as a whole still need to realize that adults like reading comics and playing games just as much as they love watching movies and reading books.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
So what does the Z stand for?
ZOMG TEH VIOLENZE!!!
It stands for 18 and up. its the ESRB's AO and PEGI's 18.
Yes, I figured as much. But AO stands for Adults Only, so I assume Z is short for something too.
the CERO ratings aren't initials for anything, they are simply A (everyone, like ESRB's 'E'), B (12+), C (15+), D (17+, like ESRB's 'M', but completely restricted, no ID required), and Z (18+, like ESRB's 'AO' rating, but government-regulated)
岩「…Where do masochists go when they die?」
I hope they allow it soon. I find it quite sad that they allow adults to have games in every other country that has an adult rating but not in the US because the whole "think of the children" thing.
They already allow it. The ESRB will not stop a game from being made with an AO rating, however most retailers will not carry it (the same way most retailers don't carry porn or NC-17 movies). Most developers wouldn't touch a product with an AO rating because it is almost a guranteed flop due to the limited advertising that can be done on the product, the limited places it can be purchased and the limited audience that can actually buy the product.
Here's the intresting part. GTA: Chinatown Wars is not published by Capcom, who are the publisher for a lot of GTA games in Japan. It's publish by a different company, look at the article on Kotaku, it'll tell you the name (I forgot the name, and I can't access Kotaku from my workplace). Why Capcom didn't publish this game??
-A lot of people on Kotaku argued that Chinatown Wars may not do as well as in the US and Capcom does not want to run that risk and ruin their reputation.
-Capcom could be busy with a lot of other thing and didn't have time to publish the game.
Whatever the reason, I hope this game could do OK in Japan.
Given the really poor success of CTW, the first option is likely.
Given that they are still working massively on Monster Hunter Tri, the second one is likely too.
We may never know, but it doesn't really matter what Capcom's reasons were. GTA doesn't do that well in Japan anyway.
Ok how the hell did that child molesting DS game not get a Z rating but GTA did? Was it made before the ratings were designed?
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Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.
because unlike what you heard, GTA actually has sex in it rather than just innuendo.
incidentally, I wonder how the sitcom Full House got past the FCC, as it has far too much sexual innuendo for a family-friendly show
岩「…Where do masochists go when they die?」