[QUOTE="SleepyByte"][QUOTE="Brain3000"][QUOTE="SleepyByte"][QUOTE="Brain3000"][QUOTE="SleepyByte"] Yeah it looks like there will be no choice but to do what it takes for the M rating.
While my previous comment sounded nice its not the way it works in the real world.
Unfortunately I seriously doubt any uncensored version could ever see the shelf.
With Microsoft on the No AO for Console band wagon the subject is all but closed.
Even if Rock Star wanted to release unrated for PCit I dont think Microsoft would allow it.
CarnageHeart
PC is the only place where it could be released unrated or rated at the AO level, since there is no licensing issues on the PC as there is for consoles. Microsoft can't say anything about any type of game that goes to PC.
There is no way that Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft will let them release a version
on PC that has the content that was removed from the other versions.
It will be part of the deal.
Take a look at San Andreas.
Don't see any AO copy's of that on the shelf anymore PC or otherwise do you.
All you can get is the sanitized version becausewhen the AO rating was retroactively
issued production was stopped and the game was reworked.
Of course I have no proof that this was not "voluntary" but I find it highly unlikely.
Your right, it could be.... but it wont be.
The console makers only care about the rating that is on the game for their consoles. They could care less if a version of the game went to the PC with a higher rating or no rating at all, since that game wouldn't be on their console.It was only after it was proved in GTA:SA that the Hot Coffee mod content was in the console games too that they were pulled off the shelves. If the Hot Coffee mod wasn't in the console versions, they wouldn't have been rerated, and would have stayed on the shelf.
Yes but the PC version was not left for sale with the content intact with the AO rating. It was removed and re-released as version 2.0 with the M rating
I don't consider the chopping out of content in GTA: SA the same as the probably chopping out of content in Manhunt 2. In GTA: SA the content was stuff Rockstar had decided not to implement but had left on the disk. There was no way to access it in-game but eventually hackers with way too much time on their hands found the code. The discovered content was more extreme than what was in-game (though less extreme than what is on network tv) so I though it was kinda-sorta fair that the ESRB kicked up the rating (in light of America's attitudes towards sex and the fact that arguably Rockstar should have excised the content in question). By way of contrast, this time an AO is being imposed for violence (so it appears) which is part of the content Rockstar showed to the ESRB (not something subsequently discovered). I didn't think the AO for SA had implications for anything (the only message was 'clean up your code before shipping') whereas an AO for violence might very well affect the rest of the industry (particularly since it seems like the AO imposed represents an expansion of the category).
I think AOs and Xs for violence arestupid and arbitrary(the'ED-209 machine-gunning the guy scene' in Robocop had to be cut by a few seconds to avoid an X, though it was by no means the most violent scene in the movie) and I strongly disapprove of them.
I brought up GTA because I thought it was a valid comparison.
Same game company same type of controversial content and a new GTA game is on the horizon so this might very well be a preview or feeling out process for RockStar and how they approach that release and what they can and cant get away with.
I understand what your saying. In SA it was more an oversight or along the lines of an Easter Egg type of thing because the content could not be accessed during the normal course of play and this is the entire game concept. The parallel, well,my perception of a parallel, seemed to indicate a precedent for the fact that Rockstar would not trim the content for consoles and release a PC version with the omitted content in because in the SA example that was not how it was done.
Brian3000 brings up the point that he does not think the console company's care if an unedited version is released for PC and I really think they do. I think they care a lot. The reason is because they know someone might be making the decision to purchase the PlayStation or Wii version (that helps them earn money) or the PC version (that does not) based on if they want the banned content or would rather go slashing around with the Wiimote.
And yes 5upermario I did write that I believe me I would like nothing better but I also later wrote "While my previous comment sounded nice its not the way it works in the real world." At this point I would say RockStar has no choice but to appeal the rating and failing that comply and do what needs to be done to get an M rating and make a profit.
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