Rockstar Games just can't keep out of the news. The PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV is looming this week, and - just like with the console versions, there's been a bit of a furore over censorship.

Despite the fact that Australia (and New Zealand) got an edited version of the console title, a spokesman for the publisher has this week publicly announced that "The PC game is unedited in any way and identical in content to the international version." But... how can that be? We've gotten our hands on the reports from the Classifications Board to try and shed some light on the topic.

Over the past twelve months, there's been some amazing drama surrounding the adventures of Niko Bellic. Firstly, last December, the Classifications Board declared the game suitable for Australians. In April of this year, it was revealed that the developers had submitted an edited version to the Board, and we were told the reasons for the decision boiled down to Australia's lack of an adult R18+ rating. It is easier (and cheaper, and quicker) to submit an edited version of a controversial title, rather than it being Refused Classification and requiring a resubmission.

While some rumours floated around about just what had been removed from the game, Rockstar remained tight-lipped before release, leaving it up to gamers to determine the changes for themselves. Despite the lack of an official statement, the general consensus is that the main change to the AU/NZ version of Grand Theft Auto IV removes a camera angle, so gamers watch Niko's interaction with a prostitute from outside the car, rather than inside.

It's important to remember at this point that the international console version of GTA IV was never banned in Australia - it was never submitted to the Board, and so there has never been any official judgement made on the original content.


The facts, as we know them:

• The original Grand Theft Auto IV multi-platform console submission was classified MA 15+, for "Strong violence, Strong coarse language and Drug and Sexual references".
• The new Grand Theft Auto IV - for PC - was classified MA 15+, for "Strong violence, Sex scenes, Coarse language and Drug references".

The PC report also states:

This revised version of the game for the PC contains additional scenes related to the classifiable element of sex.

We're not quite sure what happened in the twelve months since the initial submission, but it appears that somehow, Rockstar Games changed their mind and submitted an 'uncut' version of the game to the Australian censors - with the report going into some detail on the twenty, fifty and seventy dollar services that are available in the game. The camera is no longer stuck outside for these interactions, but even staying inside the car, you won't get to see too much excitement.

The Board notes that the player can change the angles of the scenes and can zoom in. However, the player does not interact with the sexual activity other than choosing which service from a menu. The characters also remained fully clothed and no depictions of genitals are visible.

So - to recap, the Classification Board has not backflipped on the matter, as they never saw the controversial footage in the original submission. A simple, official statement from Rockstar Games reiterates that:

Grand Theft Auto IV PC has been rated MA15+ Strong Violence, Sex Scenes, Coarse Language and Drug References by the Australian Classification Office. The PC game is unedited in any way and identical in content to the international version.

What this will mean for further console copies of the game remains to be seen. While the original submission was for a "multiplatform" title (meaning that if, say, the game was ported directly to Wii, it wouldn't need to be resubmitted prior to release), this new one is just for the PC. This suggests that any edited or 'uncut' versions of Grand Theft Auto IV for console - as they are markedly different to the original - would still need to be re-submitted for classification, even though the end result, the glowing MA 15+ remains the same.