GTA Chinatown Wars is the first Z-rated DS game in Japan

by JC Fletcher { Jul 6th 2009 at 3:00PM }

The Computer Entertainment Rating Organization (Japan's equivalent of the ESRB) reserves its most restrictive rating, Z, for games intended for ages 18 and up. There's a slightly less restrictive D rating for ages 17 and up, which gives Z-rated games a sort of stigma almost equivalent to the ESRB's AO rating -- Z-rated games require the buyer to provide proof of age, and often have little or no display presence in stores.

Which isn't exactly good news for the first CERO Z-rated DS game ... Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, whose North American sales suggest it doesn't need any more disadvantages. Like every other GTA, Chinatown Wars will carry the adults-only rating in Japan. Unlike every other GTA (except for IV on the PC), this one will be published by Cyberfront instead of Capcom when it comes out in the fall.

Tags: cero, cyberfront, grand-theft-auto, gta-chinatown-wars, japan, rockstar, take-two

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

sony boy @ Jul 6th 2009 3:26PM

lol it's not that violent.

xoonaka @ Jul 6th 2009 3:36PM

It's really the first Z Rated game in Japan? Considering the Japanese Game Industry tendency to have any and all games about naked school girls, I'm pretty shocked about that.

Reader @ Jul 6th 2009 4:11PM

Maybe because they recognize violence is more "bad" than nudity.

GrungeSpoo @ Jul 6th 2009 4:14PM

What? Can you name any mainstream videogame from Japan with explicit nudity?

sony boy @ Jul 6th 2009 4:16PM

any anime game.

nomnomnom @ Jul 6th 2009 4:44PM

"Can you name any mainstream videogame from Japan with explicit nudity?" That one where you had to rub butts. Joystiq covered it.

butaneko @ Jul 6th 2009 4:57PM

What? Can you name any mainstream videogame from Japan with explicit nudity? Additionally if you could provide the name of any retailers that offer the game it would also be appreciated.

xoonaka @ Jul 6th 2009 5:10PM

@GrungeSpoo

Mainstream? Who said anything about mainstream? I just said they exist, en masse. Don't think I want to do a Google search on this topic at work... I'll get back to you. A couple off the top of my head are Season of the Sakura and Three Sisters' Story.

WhatIsThatThing @ Jul 6th 2009 5:46PM

I think everyone here is missing the main headline. Let's read it: "GTA Chinatown Wards is the first Z-Rated DS GAME in Japan."

As in, there have been other Z-rated games in Japan. This is just the very first DS game to get that rating. Your creepy anime fantasy butt-rubbing game still probably got that same rating when it was released.

xoonaka @ Jul 6th 2009 8:08PM

Well, in my original post, even though I didn't mention DS specifically, I'm still shocked its the first DS game to get the Z rating. I mean, the most popular system I figure is sure to have at least one.

devilsei @ Jul 6th 2009 9:31PM

Its still a shock to me, considering that the old site, DS Fanboy, had a section of titles for the DS that were adult-oriented. This is one of those gems:

http://nintendo.joystiq.com/2008/07/25/half-elf-tentacle-assault-hentai-ds-game-invades-comiket/

That was just ONE example, I remember seeing a few "graphic novels" released on the DS through homebrew. So while technically this is the first "official" one, there's plenty worse before it.

KaBob799 @ Jul 6th 2009 10:35PM

Perhaps naked girls are 17+ material in Japan? Or maybe the other games just didnt bother getting rated.

GrungeSpoo @ Jul 6th 2009 11:09PM

Ah, a minor brain fart on my part.

butaneko @ Jul 6th 2009 4:56PM

Z for "ZOMG this is violent!"

maybe?

dargondarkfire @ Jul 6th 2009 5:13PM

have any games ever been released to sale that received the AO rating in the US?
I thought any game that recived the AO rating was banned from sale till it reached the M rating.

devilsei @ Jul 6th 2009 9:33PM

Not really no, its just most retailers refuse to have games with that rating even come near their shelves, no matter where it is. Same with some companies. Thats what happened to Manhunt 2, it was forced to add in those horrid filters to push its rating (which was M rated compared to the first) down for retailers.

Pensier @ Jul 7th 2009 12:50AM

That's US and it's a console/retailer deal. American Consoles and retailers refuse to sell anything of AO standard.
@devilsei There was more then that. The game was cut to 1/4th of the actual ammount of gameplay. They removed some items, they changed some kills around, and stopped you at the lite ending. Yes, there was suppose to be more of the game. If you did mostly of the Yellow or Red kills the game continued to a certain point where you needed to do mostly red kills to go beyond. If you didn't do mostly red kills (I can't remember their official name) you then got an ending at that point and had to restart. Then unless you did all red kills you didn't get the true ending. Plus they had to take out the rating system to rate you on your time, kills, and stealth.

SoCoolCurt (PSN: KillaKornbread - XBL: SoCoolCurt) @ Jul 6th 2009 5:39PM

i wonder how big of a deal that is in Japan since here in the US an AO ratings is almost commercial suicide since no big retailers will sell it. actually, the only AO game i've personally ever seen was GTA: San Andreas and that was just a sticker they slapped on it.....and i've been gaming since the Super Nintendo/Genesis days.

Propaganda_inc @ Jul 6th 2009 5:51PM

First of all, it's not the first Z-rated game in Japan, it's the first Z-rated DS game in Japan. Second, Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft don't allow AO games on their systems- but they exist for the PC. There's a list on whattheyplay.com .

mko @ Jul 6th 2009 6:25PM

Excuse my ignorance but, what is the difference between Mature and AO?

Feba @ Jul 6th 2009 9:37PM

Mature is 17 and up. Like the movie industry's R rating, there's typically an age restriction, but they're still widely accepted.

AO is Adults Only. 18 and up. Like NC-17, it tends to get your product banned from most places. It's typically reserved for pornographic material, or stuff that is very violent.

AO is commercial suicide; most big retailers refuse to stock them for fear of consumer outrage, and tarnishing their brand. Console manufacturers won't let you put an AO game on their hardware; so you'd basically stuck on PC, too.

Go to the ESRB's site and look up AO. It's basically all PC-based porn games, because anything else would die.

mko @ Jul 6th 2009 9:58PM

Thanks for the info.
It's quite interesting how much difference that 1 year makes :)

JRM @ Jul 10th 2009 8:56AM

it's not the age, it's the content. The ESRB just has to draw that imaginary line somewhere. As for Japan, there are literally hundreds of games with pornographic content--particularly for PC and PS2 (I haven't come across too many PS3 games; surely they wouldn't have any for the 360), but they are all manga-art derived. They have their own section (their own floor, actually) in the larger videogame stores, or their own particular shops. I don't know if they have an AO rating, but in Japan I know sex is tolerated far more than violence--and especially drug use.

I would say it's the drugs that puts this out of reach for the mainstream Japanese audience.

mko @ Jul 10th 2009 10:44AM

Well I guess each culture has it values. Europe and North America cultures are much closer to each other rather than Japanese culture.

For example drugs. From what I understand drugs usage is relatively acceptable in North America. It's even legal in some European countries.
But in a country where drug usage is very low (I'm assuming it is in Japan) I think it's normal for officials to try to keep it that way

A fun side note: I live in Turkey, we don't have game rating board. (Probably because piracy rating is about 80%) If there were a rating this game would be 'Refused Classification'. I'm 21 and never even heard of most of drugs featured in this game.