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Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land Not much in the way of games hitting our censors’ desks this week. The most notable being Swords & Soldiers, a WiiWare strategy game from the makers of the original PC demo of De Blob. Yep, that’s just how boring a week it was. Cool-looking game though.
House of the Dead: Overkill was just an appetiser, apparently. The real Zombie Apocalypse is coming. At least, according to a new entry on the Classification Board’s website, there’s a game by that very name in development at Nihilistic Software and being published by Konami. No word on what type of game it is or even what platform it’s coming to, as the Board helpfully lists it as “multi-platform” just like they do for almost every single game. We’re asking questions of Konami’s Australian distributor, Atari, right now.
Remember how we despaired at the delays to Club Nintendo? Then remember how Nintendo told us we’d finally have some good news last week?Of course, that good news was also delayed. But the recent classification of Club Nintendo reward game, Game & Watch Collection for DS, suggests we might not have to wait too much longer.
The new Leisure Suit Larry game, subtitled Box Office Bust, was given an MA15+ by the Classification Board last week. Why’s this news? Because the previous Leisure Suit Larry game, subtitled Magna Cum Laude, was refused classification. Only slight snag in all this is that Box Office Bust looks terrible. Just like Magna Cum Laude.
A couple of notables amid the swathe of games up before the Classification Board last week. First, a new but unannounced Cricket game from EA. We’ll be asking them about that today. Second, the third confirmed Wiimake, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. And we’ll be asking Nintendo about that one, too.
Casting my eye over the games the Classificatoin Board cast their eye over last week, I’m reminded that Stormrise is getting pretty close to release. What’s Stormrise? An innovative third-person RTS in development at the Creative Assembly up in Brisbane, that’s what. With Halo Wars also just a few weeks away, it’ll be interesting to see which control scheme fares better at making an RTS work on console.
While discussion over the proposed introduction of an R18+ rating to our classification system remains stalled, the diligent people on the Board itself have been busy cruising the streets of Liberty City. GTA IV’s 360-exclusive DLC The Lost and Damned has picked up an unsurprising MA15+ badge ahead of its release later this month.Also of note, Suda 51′s DS excursion Flower Sun & Rain should be hitting shelves soon, if its recent PG rating is any indication.
Why is this man still smiling? Is it because he enjoys frustrating the millions of gamers around the country? It’s the only explanation we can think of as, once again, SA Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has thrown a spanner in the works of proposed changes to our videogame classification system.
South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has outlined his reasons for opposing the introduction of an R18+ rating to Australia’s videogame classification system. In a statement delivered to Gamespot, Atkinson writes:“I don’t support the introduction of an R18+ rating for electronic games, chiefly because it will greatly increase the risk of children and vulnerable adults being exposed to damaging images and messages.”
Undoubtedly a slow week at the Classification Board, what with only three titles given a thorough examination. But they’re all interesting titles, if for quite different reasons.
