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 02/09/10 at 03:51pm
DarkSaber: I think he just goes round the internet copy+pasting the same bollocks to get attention.
DarkSaber: I think he just goes round the internet copy+pasting the same bollocks to get attention.
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:41pm
Valdearg: @DS: I have to admit, I chuckled when I saw the 4 Feb 2010 on that post.. >.<
Valdearg: @DS: I have to admit, I chuckled when I saw the 4 Feb 2010 on that post.. >.<
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:31pm
DarkSaber: Hm, Bioshock. Not that Zippy likes to beat the dead horse by ranting about it for TWO $&%£ING YEARS!
DarkSaber: Hm, Bioshock. Not that Zippy likes to beat the dead horse by ranting about it for TWO $&%£ING YEARS!
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:30pm
DarkSaber: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.173063-Bioshock-yet-another-zippy-rant
DarkSaber: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.173063-Bioshock-yet-another-zippy-rant
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:20pm
DarkSaber: Although, unsurprisingly, he's just being called an idiot alot and criticised for being as illegible as always.
DarkSaber: Although, unsurprisingly, he's just being called an idiot alot and criticised for being as illegible as always.
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:18pm
DarkSaber: Oh good lord, I just found Zippy on The Escapist.
DarkSaber: Oh good lord, I just found Zippy on The Escapist.
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:14pm
Valdearg: IE: Male body/Female Mind or Female Body/Male Mind.
Valdearg: IE: Male body/Female Mind or Female Body/Male Mind.
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:13pm
Valdearg: @Zip: TG == Transgendered/Transsexual.
Valdearg: @Zip: TG == Transgendered/Transsexual.
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:09pm
DarkSaber: Forget it Zippy, it's an abbreviation of a big word and so would be wasted on you
DarkSaber: Forget it Zippy, it's an abbreviation of a big word and so would be wasted on you
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:07pm
ZippyDSMlee: Vlag:....TG?
ZippyDSMlee: Vlag:....TG?
Posted 02/09/10 at 03:02pm
Valdearg: @DS: Im sure that's what they'd do if it wasn't legal to just tell Gays/TG's to "Screw off," just because they're who they are.
Valdearg: @DS: Im sure that's what they'd do if it wasn't legal to just tell Gays/TG's to "Screw off," just because they're who they are.
Posted 02/09/10 at 02:50pm
DarkSaber: Whoever told him/her/it that is dumb. They should have done like most companies and made-up some bullshit, yet legal, reason for it not getting the job.
DarkSaber: Whoever told him/her/it that is dumb. They should have done like most companies and made-up some bullshit, yet legal, reason for it not getting the job.
Posted 02/09/10 at 01:16pm
Andrew Eisen: Shouldn't be. Spirit of anti-discrimination laws would seem to include sexual orientation (and eye color). Plus there's always equal protection and such. Never know until you try.
Andrew Eisen: Shouldn't be. Spirit of anti-discrimination laws would seem to include sexual orientation (and eye color). Plus there's always equal protection and such. Never know until you try.
Posted 02/09/10 at 01:10pm
Andrew Eisen: Should have sued (unless that wasn't an option given her financial situation or something). Might have won.
Andrew Eisen: Should have sued (unless that wasn't an option given her financial situation or something). Might have won.
Posted 02/09/10 at 01:00pm
Valdearg: Story about a Male to Female TG who was expressly told she wouldn't be given a job because she was TG. Its not the main point of the story, but explicit, perfectly legal discrimination like this exists.
Valdearg: Story about a Male to Female TG who was expressly told she wouldn't be given a job because she was TG. Its not the main point of the story, but explicit, perfectly legal discrimination like this exists.
Posted 02/09/10 at 12:53pm
Valdearg: Lol, I don't know. It may very well be legal to do so. Though that might able to fall under the "race" restriction, depending on how that point is argued.
Valdearg: Lol, I don't know. It may very well be legal to do so. Though that might able to fall under the "race" restriction, depending on how that point is argued.
Posted 02/09/10 at 12:51pm
Valdearg: I don't think they do have any legal recourse. I'll have to dig around, but I seriously believe that if the law doesn't specifically mention Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, they can still be discriminated against in those 29 states.
Valdearg: I don't think they do have any legal recourse. I'll have to dig around, but I seriously believe that if the law doesn't specifically mention Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity, they can still be discriminated against in those 29 states.
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
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?」