Regular readers will know that we aren't exactly fans of the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) who classify the films, video games and media streamed to the Australian and New Zealand markets. Both countries have their own body that calls themselves the OFLC, and both are packed full of people who fail to realize gaming isn't just pixels being eaten by a circle looking-thing with a mouth anymore. In fact Australia and New Zealand have the highest banning rates for games in the world, and Rockstar have never been very well liked by the OFLCers.

Recently the Society of Promotion of Community Standards petitioned to have the New Zealand OFLC Review there classification of Grand Theft Auto IV, which is currently R 18+. Now the Australian version and New Zealand version Grand Theft Auto IV are both different. Australia has an edited version of the game, which has prostitution options missing, while the New Zealand version is the same uncut game that America and the UK have. New Zealand originally had the same as Australia, however, the game was resubmitted to the OFLC by a 21-year-old. He said he was "unhappy that New Zealand received an edited version of the game as a result of Australian censorship laws". The OFLC agreed and in turn has allowed the unedited version to be sold under the same rating as the edited version previously sold.

Well, common sense has once again proven to exist in a few people in the Game Ratings Industry, and the petition by the Society of Promotion of Community Standards was disregarded and the game will continue to be sold unedited and unharmed. The way it should be.

Source: GamePolitics (via 1UP)