The British Board of Film Classification has bestowed an 18 (Adult) rating upon Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City, the bundle which features both The Ballad of Gay Tony and The Lost and The Damned.
In doing so, their report contains a few spoilers from both games, which we won’t detail here. The BBFC noted that “at least four uses of very strong language that crop up in some of the cut scenes” bounced the rating up from 15 to 18. “Strong sex and violence and hard drug use” also contributed to the higher mark.
There is also sex scenes, which are “quite strong, but always masked and the characters concerned are invariably fully clothed (no nudity).” Portrayals of cocaine, in addition to references to drug trafficking, are also spread liberally throughout the game.
Additionally:
“There are blood spurts as people are shot and stabbed etc. and pools of blood form on the ground. However, there is never any discernible injury detail and it is not possible to inflict post-mortem injuries, although there is considerable ragdolling as dead bodies are shot.”
Click through to see the whole BBFC report, and don’t worry, sections that contain spoilers must be expanded to be read.
|Via EuroGamer|
Comments
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
Hurray no censorship for the UK. I'm sure it might get censored in the states since there is pretty strong sex and thrusting in it.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
GTA as a standalone is an 18 anyway.
So theoretically, you'd have to be 18 to buy the actual game itself, to play this extra content on...
So this story....really....is utterly pointless.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
I'm more interested in how the presumed prevelance of gay characters in this game will fan the flames of controversy here in the States- Bible thumpers hate GTA...and adding more "gay" to an installment is sure to piss them off.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
I imagine it'll piss off gay rights groups somehow too.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
Hellfire - I doubt it. Maybe 'ignorant' gay rights groups, but anyone who has played the game knows that GTA is full of satire and parody, it's never been out to offend for the sake of it.
Look at Bernie in GTA4, he becomes a friend of Niko's - you even get to protect him from a homophobic bully at one point! Or even The Lost and the Damned - Johnny gets called a Jew at one point, presumably all due to his surname of Klebitz, and I believe he replies with "You ignorant anti-semitic ****!".
In a few decades, it'll be amazing to see how people look back at GTA - originally smeared with ill-fated controversy, yet the games themselves can be seen as thought-provoking about certain groups and minorities, or even 'defensive' towards them.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
"... and it is not possible to inflict post-mortem injuries, although there is considerable ragdolling as dead bodies are shot."
That they would be concerned about the possibility of inflicting post-mortem injuries as to mention the fact that it's not actually possible makes me think that perhaps the people in charge of rating violent content are projecting their own sicknesses onto the games they review. It's not that different from saying "we tried molesting some corpses with a stick, but the game wouldn't let us."
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
No its just the UK has issues with corpse abuse....
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Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
So does Germany....
Never underestimate the power of idiots in large amounts.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
I don't get why GamePolitics suddenly seems to be focusing on "BBFC gives game a rating without any controversy" stories.
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I LIKE the fence. I get 2 groups to laugh at then.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
Including this one, there have been two recent BBFC rating stories and the other did have a controversial element (the shutting down of dedicated servers).
As for this story? One could argue GTA being a controversial element in and of itself but I see it more as a general interest story.
Andrew Eisen
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
But it that case the BBFC had nothing to do with the loss of dedicated servers.
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
I didn't say it did.
Andrew Eisen
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
I didn't say it did.
So I don't know why it had to be mentioned. You said it had a controversial element to it, but it was only made so as two unrelated stories were brought together as one.
In both cases I don't believe that there has been any issue with rating the games in America or Europe or most other countries, it's not as though it's hit or miss whether the BBFC rates a game or not (Manhunt 2 is the only game in the last ten years to be the exception). Unless the editorial has a different opinion of the BBFC...
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
I in no way meant to imply that the BBFC was somehow responsible for shutting down Call of Duty’s dedicated servers. I merely brought that up as an example of a controversial element of the story, not the BBFC’s rating. Although, being Modern Warfare 2 is the first game in the series to receive an adult rating, that has the potential for controversy.
Andrew Eisen
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
To be fair it is one of the biggest franchises which has faced 'controversy' in the past (albeit due to idiots), maybe this news will serve as a background article should someone challenge the BBFc's decision. Plus there's the politics between the outgoing BBFC and the newcomer PEGI.
Either that or a slow news day. :)
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
"...it is not possible to inflict post-mortem injuries, although there is considerable ragdolling as dead bodies are shot."
I am reminded of the laughter shared by my mom and I back in the day as we juggled dead bodies with the grenade launcher in Turok for the N64 . Good times.
Andrew Eisen
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
anyone who played Turok will agree that those were good times indeed. didn't the dead bodies somehow scream when grenaded?
岩「…Where do masochists go when they die?」
Re: BBFC Dishes on Gay Tony Content
Yes. Yes they did. That's what made it so damn funny.
*ka-boom*
Aaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhh!
*ka-boom*
Aaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhhhhhh!
Andrew Eisen