Seems the announcement of the Australian version of GTA IV being edited has struck a cord with not only fans but the Attorneys-General also. The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia has stated that many gamers that pre-orded the upcoming title have canceled their orders and plan on importing the game, regardless of national law.

On top of this, a development has found that many are also angered by the price. $AU120 where as it’s $US60, meaning it should pad out to $AU64, but it doesn’t. These two very important aspects of the game in Australian fans eye’s have made the choice to import a cheaper, uncut version a very easy decision. This is horrible for Australian retails, as most orders were through Australian retailers themselves it means a major lose in profit, more money to overseas markets and less into the Australian economy.

The news of GTA IV being cut has once again brought up the question of bringing in an R (adults) rating for games into the Australian games rating system. Finally, perhaps we will see a result, as at a Standing Committee of the Attorneys-General the censorship ministers agreed to allow public opinion on an R18+ rating for games. Victorian Deputy Premier and Attorney-General Rob Hulls says that there are persuasive arguments to support the introduction of an adults-only games category.

"While computer games have predominantly been considered the domain of children, the most up-to-date research indicates a steadily growing trend in adult consumers of the product, with the current average age of gamers reported to be 28 years," says Hulls.

"It seems inconsistent that in Australia adults are allowed to view adult-only films, which have been classified R18+ by the classification board, but not computer games with an equivalent high-level content. At the moment, Australia is out-of-step with the rest of the developed world on this issue," continued Hulls.

This is terrific news for all Australians, good to see that with a large scale game such as Grand Theft Auto IV it has brought to the attention of the Government the importance of an adults rating for games. Something we have been wanting for some time now.

Something intreaging about the article is it also says that the New Zealand version of the game was rated R18+, which is interesting as it’s believed the New Zealand version of the game was also edited, this may not be the case after all. We’ll keep you up to date on how this goes, fingers crossed Australia will have an R18+ rating and an unedited GTA IV very soon.

Credit: Sydney Morning Herald