Gamers in Australia who are upset about being stuck with an edited version of Fallout 3 can rest easy – it turns out the entire world is getting the same modified version you are.
After being refused classification by Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification, a decision which effectively banned the sale of the game, changes were made to some parts of the game’s content in order to make it more palatable to the country’s censors. Bethesda Softworks has steadfastly refused to comment specifically about what modifications were made, but it’s widely accepted that references to drugs, a staple of the Fallout games, were the cause of all the problems.
As a result, it was believed that the Australian version of the game would have those references changed or removed while the rest of the world, which for the most part lets big people play big people games, would enjoy the game as it was originally designed. According to Edge Online, however, that isn’t the case at all.
“We want to make sure folks understand that the Australian version of Fallout 3 is identical to both the U.K. and North American versions in every way, on every platform,” Peter Hines, Bethesda’s vice president of PR and marketing, told the site. “An issue was raised concerning references to real world, prescribed drugs in the game, and we subsequently removed those references and replaced them with fictional names. To avoid confusion among people in different territories, we decided to make those substitutions in all versions of the game, in all territories.”
“I didn’t want people continuing to assume the version in Australia was some altered version when it’s not,” he continued. “There are no references to real world drugs in any version of Fallout 3.”
So there you have it. Instead of assuming that an Australian version of the game would be created to mollify Australian censors, you can now assume that Australian censors have the pull to affect the games you play no matter where you live. Aren’t you glad that’s been cleared up?
via: GamePolitics
