The Witcher 2 Sexed Down for Australia

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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The Witcher 2 Sexed Down for Australia


The Australian version of The Witcher 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Witcher-2-Assassins-Kings-Collectors-Pc/dp/B004CQRCF4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304616422&sr=8-2] will have a couple of "small changes" made in order to squeeze it into the country's MA15+ videogame rating.

Age ratings for The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings are out and it will come as no surprise at all to anyone familiar with the original game [http://www.amazon.com/Witcher-Enhanced-Pc/dp/B001AH8YSW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1304616422&sr=8-3] that it's "mature" across the board: M (Mature 17+) in North America, 16+ in Germany and 18 in the U.K. and the rest of Europe. In Australia, however, it's rated MA15+, which is the country's highest rating but not quite high enough to get it out unscathed.

"In order to obtain the rating in Australia, CD Projekt RED was unexpectedly obliged to make small changes to game content relating to the topic of sex as a reward," the studio revealed in an email. "Since these changes are quite minor, especially relative to the total amount of content, they are unlikely to significantly affect the overall play experience."

And to be fair, the changes actually do appear to be very small. The quests are still in the game, but Australian Geralt will have to choose a more tangible payoff for completing them. Witcher 2 Project Lead Adam Badowski said the studio was "disappointed" about having to make the cuts but that removing sex as a quest payoff was the only way to get the game onto the Australian market.

Sadly, we can't point and laugh too loudly at Australian censorship this time around. The North American version of the original Witcher was censored too, coming to market without the infamous "boob cards [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/the-needles/3015-Boob-Cards-An-Adult-Perspective]" that commemorated Geralt's conquests.


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jpoon

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Mar 26, 2009
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Political correctness at its worst, I hate it with a fiery passion.
 

RedEyesBlackGamer

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jpoon said:
Political correctness at its worst, I hate it with a fiery passion.
More like a bad rating system. Forcing games to go 15+ or bust without a true MA rating is a terrible system.
 

jpoon

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RedEyesBlackGamer said:
jpoon said:
Political correctness at its worst, I hate it with a fiery passion.
More like a bad rating system. Forcing games to go 15+ or bust without a true MA rating is a terrible system.
Either way, it's extremely stupid that adults are punished for the stupidity and stubborness of another countries government.
 

Azahul

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Apr 16, 2011
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Funny thing though, Australia did get the "Boob Cards" in the original Witcher. And I seem to remember quite a lot of sex as a quest payoff in the original. Seems to be a slightly inconsistent censorship going on...
 

Littaly

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Jun 26, 2008
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What is this I hear about sexing down?! :O

That's sexing it in the wrong direction! Turn that sexing around nao! :mad:
 

Ausir

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Sep 5, 2009
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Meanwhile in Russia:

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Ausir/Triss_Merigold_in_a_nude_calendar_in_Russia (NSFW)
 

Scizophrenic Llama

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They really need to get off their asses and add that 18+ rating everybody but a few select people are all in favor for.
 

Randomologist

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Ooh well this is a good thing, I don't believe the Australians have ever heard of sex. Thank goodness for the government getting involved and sorting out other people's parenting for them. /sarcasm
 

Alar

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RedEyesBlackGamer said:
jpoon said:
Political correctness at its worst, I hate it with a fiery passion.
More like a bad rating system. Forcing games to go 15+ or bust without a true MA rating is a terrible system.
Also a bit of prudish-ness. Why can't they just come out with a new adult rating? OH WAIT, THEY'VE BEEN TRYING! I think. Why the hell can't they just make one already? Seriously?
 

Zeraki

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Ausir said:
Meanwhile in Russia:

http://witcher.wikia.com/wiki/User_blog:Ausir/Triss_Merigold_in_a_nude_calendar_in_Russia (NSFW)
-sips green tea-

... I'll be in my bunk.
 

Jabberwock xeno

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Oct 30, 2009
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Question:

Why was it censored here in the US?

The WORST thing that would have happened would it have been AO, (but I doubt it), but that wouldn't have mattered, it was PC only, right?

As PC is the only platform that isn't self regulated, being AO wouldn't have had a huge impact.

Also, HOW THE HELL DID DANTE'S INFERNO NOT GET BANNED IS AUSTRALIA?
 

ChillShark

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I thought there was recently an article published that said the game would be uncensored globally?
 

Nickompoop

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Its good to know that Michael Atkinson's "ancient, black, dried up little heart still strives to keep him alive through the searing waves of hatred that are broadcast at him from all over the nation and the world every second of every day. Well done, you miserable old fuck."---Yahtzee
 

Zhukov

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Dec 29, 2009
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Well, thank goodness for that.

It's such a relief to know that someone is protecting the nation from rampant breasts.
 

Gigano

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Oct 15, 2009
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Guess they really need that 18+ rating so all this censorship nonsense can come to an end.

...not that much have presumably been lost. I barely noticed the cards in the first one, although, to be fair, since it had one-click combat and wasn't Diablo - the only game template where one-click combat works - I didn't get very far in it either.

Suppose there's always digital distribution unless that's illegal too.