New Zealand Recieving Uncut Version

[TomNeckermann]

Good news for the New Zealand Gamers!!

A lot of contraversy has been going on following the 16+ edited-version of GTA IV in New Zealand and Australia.

But now the "Office of Film and Literature Classification" (OFLC) has officially given New Zealand the "go ahead".

When it was announced that New Zealand would receive the same edited version of the hit video game Grand Theft Auto IV that was destined for the Australian market, there was anger in the local gaming community. There has never been an official announcement by publisher Take-Two Interactive about the reasons behind this, but logic suggests it was because it would be easier to supply the “Australiasian” region with a single version of the game. So New Zealand, which does have an R18 rating, received a version of the game which was watered down to please the censors in neighbouring Australia, where the highest possible rating for a game is “MA15+”. Anything deemed unsuitable for this rating is effectively banned in Australia. The lack of any official comment from Take-Two, or the game’s developer Rockstar, about their actions or detailing the changes made in this “special edition”, frustrated gamers who had waited anxiously for months to play this game. New Zealand laws prevented the sale of parallel imported “grey market” uncut games (any game of this nature must pass through the appropriate censorship bodies prior to being sold), but did not prevent individuals from importing “for personal use”. However the thought of waiting even longer for an unedited version from overseas was too much to bear for many.

One man who was not happy with situation was Stan Calif, founder and director of First Games. Stan was not only annoyed that New Zealand would be receiving an edited version of the game courtesy of Take-Two - he also thought it was more than a bit cheeky that New Zealanders would be paying “full price” for a cut-down game. He was determined to give Kiwis the right to buy the “uncut” version locally.

Be sure to read the full article at Geekpulp.

(Source and Article: http://www.geekpulp.co.nz/2008/05/21/gta-i...ealand-streets/ )

Edited May 22, 2008 by TomNeckermann