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Grand Theft Auto IV is not banned in UK

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Dela @ Apr 02, 2008 04:11 | 2 comments

Despite fears among eager gamers about a possible ban on the next title in the Grand Theft Auto series in the UK, the rumors are false and the game has in fact been given an 18 Certification by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The Register contacted the BBFC and confirmed that the rumors were fueled by a misinterpretation of classification documents.

The game goes on sale in the UK on April 29th and has just received its 18 rating. It is unclear exactly how the released documents led to a fear of a ban reminiscent of the Manhunt 2 case. A document is usually released about 10 days before a game comes out, detailing exactly what factors led to its age band.

In the case of GTA IV, since the BBFC was unaware of the release date, these documents surfaced earlier than usual but are now once again unavailable. They will be re-released on April 19th, 10 days before the store date for GTA IV. There was some controversy during the BBFC's research on the game however. At one point, it provides ingredients for an unknown drug, which forced the BBFC to investigate further.

It turned out that the ingredients cannot be used to make a "real drug". Manhunt 2 nearly didn't make it onto UK shelves because the BBFC thought the content was too violent. It's decision was overturned and Manhunt 2 was given an 18 certification later.

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Comments

Comment by: Bladerz05 (Apr 02, 2008 07:37)

hah...yeah and just what rockstar wants to have on there hands after the hot coffee incident, the creation of a mystery drug.

Poor rockstar, the government is just out to get them.

Comment by: r0b0t3ch (Apr 02, 2008 21:50)

The moment ANY frakkin' game, music album or movie "banned" from a territory or country is the moment that governments have officially taken WWAY the responsibility of others to "do the right thing" or "make the right decision". At that moment, one could only hope for a plague taking out all politicians OR citizens of EVERY country to overthrow their government. The wrong people are in power making the wrong decisions. Regular peeps should NEVER be absolved of their responsibility to make a decision..................and if it's a bad one with bad results, well then, consequences are there for all of us.