Saints Row IV "Low Violence" Version Appears in Australia
A "low violence" version of Saints Row IV has reportedly been spotted in the land Down Under.
Despite the hopes of Australian gamers that the long-overdue introduction of an R18+ rating would finally mean unfettered access to "mature" videogames, the Australian Classification Board gave the thumbs-down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125362-Update-Saints-Row-IV-Refused-Classification-in-Australia] to Saints Row IV last month, refusing to classify it, and thereby effectively prohibiting its sale, because of "interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context" and "elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards," both of which are against the rules of Australian law, even for R18-rated games.
But all is not lost! According to Kotaku Australia, Steam users in the country may now preorder a "low violence" version of the game. Deep Silver declined to comment so what exactly this version cuts isn't known, but the publisher did say when the classification refusal was originally announced that it is "reworking some of the code to create a version of the game for this territory by removing the content which could cause offense."
A low violence version of Saints Row IV would presumably satisfy Australia's censors, who I guess are still pretty tightly wound, but will it satisfy Australian gamers - especially now that the country has a rating designed to accommodate just this sort of game? I rather doubt it.
Source: Kotaku Australia [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/07/a-low-violence-version-of-saints-row-iv-is-being-offered/]
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A "low violence" version of Saints Row IV has reportedly been spotted in the land Down Under.
Despite the hopes of Australian gamers that the long-overdue introduction of an R18+ rating would finally mean unfettered access to "mature" videogames, the Australian Classification Board gave the thumbs-down [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/125362-Update-Saints-Row-IV-Refused-Classification-in-Australia] to Saints Row IV last month, refusing to classify it, and thereby effectively prohibiting its sale, because of "interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context" and "elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards," both of which are against the rules of Australian law, even for R18-rated games.
But all is not lost! According to Kotaku Australia, Steam users in the country may now preorder a "low violence" version of the game. Deep Silver declined to comment so what exactly this version cuts isn't known, but the publisher did say when the classification refusal was originally announced that it is "reworking some of the code to create a version of the game for this territory by removing the content which could cause offense."
A low violence version of Saints Row IV would presumably satisfy Australia's censors, who I guess are still pretty tightly wound, but will it satisfy Australian gamers - especially now that the country has a rating designed to accommodate just this sort of game? I rather doubt it.
Source: Kotaku Australia [http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/07/a-low-violence-version-of-saints-row-iv-is-being-offered/]
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