Britain's
game censors at the BBFC have awarded Twisted Metal an uncut 18 rating for
strong bloody violence.
They kindly explain their decision:
Twisted Metal is a racing game in
which drivers uses various weapons to destroy opponents. The
game was classified 18 for strong bloody violence.
The game includes a series of cutscenes
which use a mixture of live action and CGI to tell the
back-story of each character. These include an attack on a
family, a defensive attack on a character with a pair of
scissors, and a dead woman lying on the road. Although the
BBFC's Guidelines permit strong violence at 15, the
dark tone of the stories and the involvement of a sadistic
and predatory serial killer mean the game is more
appropriately classified at 18.
The game also includes infrequent use of
strong language.
The game in its original format is rated Mature in the US,
which is basically a 17 age rating.
However the game seems to be causing problems in Europe,
presumably with the German censors who don't care for violence
in video games. The European version of the game has therefore
been delayed in order to tone down the violent content. Whilst
the US will be receiving the game on February 14, the European
version has been delayed until March 7th.
Explaining the changes on
NeoGAF, series creator David Jaffe posted that:
To be fair, there have not been that
many cuts.
For example, in the scene we've released
on the net from the intro- where the girl stabs Tooth in the
eye- the SCEE version has this but we cut away right before
the scissors make contact with Tooth's face. It's CLEAR what
she's doing and I think we even keep the sound effects in
and such- but the last few frames are gone. The story itself
tho totally works and- for some folks even who tend to think
this kinda stuff plays better left to your imagination
anyway- perhaps it even works better.
Only a few content cuts for the game-
for example, I think the guy on the gurney from Meat Wagon
is dead so you are exploding a corpse covered with TNT vs. a
screaming man trapped to the gurney. Sucks on my end but at
the same time, I get it and the game play isn't different
and the intent is still there, as is the humor. In some
ways, it's actually much more macabre when you think about
it. Shooting a dude screaming out the back of an ambulance
is pretty stupid and fun and cartoony in a dark, twisted
way. Turning a stolen from the morgue CORPSE a missile? A
bit more disturbing in some ways...not trying to sell you on
it, just thinking out loud.
The game has been passed MA 15+ in Australia without cuts,
but it is speculated that cut European Version was submitted. Of
course it is also unsure which version was submitted to the UK's
BBFC.
An
Oklahoma lawmaker has introduced a bill in the state legislature that would
impose a tax on violent video games. Oklahoma State Representative
William Fourkiller introduced bill HB 2696, which would add a 1% tax on games
rated Teen, Mature, and Adults Only by the ESRB.
Early
Day Motion 2606
