No chance for Dark Sector in Australia? Not quite the case. Local distributor AFA Interactive appears to have finally gotten its hands on the toned-down build for the Japanese market (or a custom one from developer Digital Extremes) and coaxed an MA 15+ rating from the Office of Film and Literature Classification.

AFA has yet to announce a release date, but it's fair to say we can expect Dark Sector to hit Australian shelves shortly.

Dark Sector Game (Multi Platform) [OFLC]

A toned-down version of Dark Sector based on the Japanese build? Yes, we could deal with that.

Sadly, it seems this information was more of a plan rather than solid confirmation, as we were led to believe. Digital Extremes, the developer of the game, got back to us recently with this:

We were aware of the Australian banning, it got quite a few headlines over [in the US]. We did make an altered version of Dark Sector for Japan which could easily be updated for Australia but D3 hasn't requested that we do it yet.

Digital Extremes says it doesn't want us to miss out on the game but as far as it knows "it's not going to happen". Australian retailers: 0, overseas stores: 1.

Sigh. Refuting opinions against the R18+ classification is really starting to tire me, especially when a little research on the author's part would save me a lot of time. But hey, that's what I'm here for.

Take this rant today by Ross Fitzgerald over at The Australian, regarding the SCAG's decision to consult the public on the R18+ rating.

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When Dark Sector was refused classification in Australia, we decided to chase not only the publisher, D3, but AFA Interactive, the local distributor and developer Digital Extremes.

AFA today got back to us with the following information.

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Digital Extreme's Dark Sector is meant, it feels, to be the beginning of something, a game that serves as an origin tale and set piece for what could become a franchise. In the game you play as Hayden Tenno, a black-ops agent sent into Eastern Europe to assassinate someone. Things go astray, as these things often do, and Tenno is infected with a virus that gives him evolving and deadly powers; chief among them the ability to boomerang an organic three-bladed knife at people, lopping off appendages.

Digital Extreme probably had a no-brainer hit when the decided to let people lop off body parts with a deadly Frisbee, but in their pursuit for something more they may have missed the mark this time around.

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I really wasn't that impressed with Dark Sector when I saw it at the Tokyo Game Show last year, but this look at the Chromas sorta makes me think that maybe I was wrong. Of course, I probably wasn't, but there's always a chance.

What's this now? The D3 folks just sent us a press release with the full break down of Dark Sector's Xbox 360 achievements and... Playstation 3 entitlements? More and more frequently we're starting to see knock-off achievements rear their addictive heads in Playstation 3 versions of games that show up on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Maybe they've decided that since they've gone through the trouble of creating a list of "achievements" for the 360 they might as well rename it and use the same list on the PS3.

I've emailed the PR folks to find out how exactly they'll show up in the PS3 version of Dark Sector. If you're interested in the nitty-gritty, hit the jump for the games achievements and entitlements, which are broken down into level completion, combat and multiplayer.

I'll make sure to update when and if we hear back.

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The least sinister Lex Luthor of all time (including Gene Hackman) has got himself another video game voice over gig, as actor Michael Rosenbaum is announced as the voice of Hayden Tenno, the cold-blooded protagonist of Digital Extremes Dark Sector. No stranger to VO work, Rosebaum has provided voices for Jackie Chan Adventures, Justice League, Static Shock, and Batman Beyond, as well as video game roles in Gladius and Yakuza.

"We are thrilled to work with Mr. Rosenbaum on Dark Sector," said Suzanne Sutton, PR and Marketing Manager for D3PE. "His experience in portraying tormented characters on-screen translates incredibly well to the tortured character of Hayden Tenno in Dark Sector, a true anti-hero who makes no excuses for his actions."

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