GTA IV DLC Uncensored In Australia
The Australian Classification Board (formerly the OFLC) is notorious for objecting to video game content, refusing to classify many games due to their adult content (rendering them illegal to sell) while simultaneously refusing to create an ‘adults only’ rating. Most developers simply alter the objectionable content in order to get it onto shelves down under.
GTA IV predictably came across this problem, but due to the sex scenes with prostitutes, not the gratuitous violence. Niko Bellic was still free to frequent ‘ladies of the evening’, but instead of a player-controlled camera the censored version locked the viewpoint on the license plate of the car. The upcoming DLC pack, The Lost and Damned has no such restrictions. The new protagonist, Johnny Klebitz, can treat players to a variety of digital sex acts with prostitutes that they can view from whatever voyeuristic angle they want as the content pack has been given the MA15+ rating as-is.
Though I applaud the ACB for taking a more liberal stance on a censorship issue, I still admit to being baffled by the need for graphic depictions of gratuitous sex scenes.