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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Posted 11/21/09 at 12:35pm
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magic_taco: No, I just recently had something on my mind.
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Posted 11/21/09 at 09:21am
magic_taco: ...ok...
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Posted 11/20/09 at 05:42pm
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Posted 11/20/09 at 05:17pm
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:10pm
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Posted 11/20/09 at 05:01pm
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Posted 11/20/09 at 04:59pm
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DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:49pm
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
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Posted 11/20/09 at 04:46pm
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
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Posted 11/20/09 at 04:44pm
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JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:42pm
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:33pm
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
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Posted 11/20/09 at 04:27pm
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ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:25pm
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JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
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Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
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JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
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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?」