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Australia's first R18+ video game! Oh, they did wha... ?
Posted by Seamus Byrne at 11:03 AM on October 2, 2008
Amazing news from tipster Josh, who picked up a copy of The Witcher Enhanced Edition and was overjoyed to discover it was actually Australia's first R18+ videogame! Or... maybe it was just a very unfortunate printing error? Has Atkinson changed his position yet? No?
OK. Anyone else with a copy of this illustrious 'Enhanced Edition'? UPDATE: Commenter 'philomglol' points out this is probably the rating for video content on the disc.
[Thanks for the photos, Josh!]So it's not a mistake, just another good example of the farce that is the local rating system. R18+ rated video can slip under the radar on an MA15+ rated game disc because the game scrapes under the bar while the video is rated where it probably belongs. OK, nope, it was an error... thanks Leesa. Is this an example that helps our cause, or just muddies the waters?
Comments
DansDans
Posted October 2, 2008 2:23 PM
This is cool - also catalogues for places like JB Hi Fi and K-Mart have also been putting R18+ ratings on certain games in their catalogues for a while too (I remember GTAIV in both stores catalogues having an R18 superimposed over the top of the covers) - sounds like their graphic designer wants to join in the debate too!
Marcus
Posted October 2, 2008 2:43 PM
In the light of the recent event, let us gamers unite and rally the publishing companies into putting an R18+ rating on every game released!
... Like the government would give in that easily.
grim-reapa
Posted October 2, 2008 2:52 PM
Had my hopes up then! Ah Atari. What a bunch of smart-asses. Had hopes of a Shellshock 2 release.
NegativeZero
Posted October 2, 2008 2:53 PM
My understanding was that publishers are legally allowed to put a higher rating on a title than the OFLC rated it at, if they feel that the OFLC has under-rated the content (but not the other way around)?
Seamus Byrne
Posted October 2, 2008 3:09 PM
Not sure on that point, but the outside of the box shows an MA15+ rating, so it seems to be some weird printing error. How it got past I don't know, but as the discs in this case share ratings from other zones it may be that no one local ever saw the mistake and no one at the disc production location knew any better.
philomglol
Posted October 2, 2008 3:16 PM
This could be the Special Edition DVD bundled with the Game, and the R18+ may be for the video content on the DVD.
As far as I can remember Halo 3's special editions with video content also had ratings on the dvd's..
Seamus Byrne
Posted October 2, 2008 3:41 PM
Good call. Will update. Makes a good point, then, doesn't it. A game can only be MA15+ yet it can be sold with video content that can come in at an R18+. No doubt said video content will easily 'fall into the hands of impressionable kids'.
Josh
Posted October 2, 2008 3:44 PM
@philomglol
That was my first thought when I opened it. But no, it is the actual game disc. The box has MA15+ on the outside, R18+ on the game disc. Has the British 18+ on the game case itself, so my guess is just a bit of confusion at the printers.
Josh
Posted October 2, 2008 4:06 PM
Oh, and the Special Edition DVD is on a separate disc (The enhanced edition contains 5 discs!) so it's definitely not the video rating :)
Seamus Byrne
Posted October 2, 2008 4:14 PM
OK, I've put a call out to Atari to find out whether it is print error or meaningful rating. :-)
philomglol
Posted October 2, 2008 4:27 PM
@Josh
5 Discs? Blimey!
@Seamus
I was going to say it helped the cause, highlighting the craziness of having different media given different ceilings, but now I'm just thinking it muddies the waters. Especially if it is just a 'typo'.
I am now thoroughly confused :)
Leesa
Posted October 2, 2008 4:45 PM
Guys I'm the PM for this product at Atari, it seems there has been a printing error - unfortunately this wasn't picked up by our warehouse as the correct rating was displayed on the front of the pack.
I assure you this was not an intentional mistake however I do appreciate your passion on this topic.
Marcus
Posted October 2, 2008 5:50 PM
Passion? Ha! This is a quest for higher power.