Exactly How Bad is the Nintendo Situation?

Nintendo’s first-quarter financial resultsreveal that 160,000 Wii U consoles were sold in the entire world between the start of April and the end of June this year. I don’t think anyone was expecting a sudden resurgence after the grimace-worthy figures of the final three months of last financial year, but that is below even the most pessimistic expectations. It’s more shocking when you break it down by territory; of that paltry number, 90,000 were sold in Japan, 60,000 in the Americas, and just 10,000 in Europe, Australia and the rest of the world.

Less than 10,000 consoles in the whole of Europe in 3 months. That’s almost unbelievable. The older-gen consoles sell far more than that weekly. Software sales of just a touch over 1 million hardly ameliorate the situation. The Wii U launch was strong - 3 million in its first few months - but although it was widely known that sales had fallen right off a cliff since then, nobody knew it was this dire.

This is bad news. But how bad is it, exactly? Do we need to be seriously worried about Nintendo’s future?

The short answer, for now, is no. Nintendo isn’t about to go bust. It still posted a profit, thanks to its assets and investments and favourable changes in the currency market. The Wii U is costing money, which means that Nintendo is making an operating loss when it comes to actually selling games and consoles, but it’s a very, very long way from bankrupting the firm. The 3DS, meanwhile, is a big success - it’s not matching the insane sales that the original DS was generating, but then the original DS didn’t have smartphones to compete with.

“

The Wii U is costing money, but it's a long, long way from bankrupting Nintendo.

Despite that, the 3DS is generally confounding the widespread expectation that smartphones and tablets have killed the handheld market stone dead. 11.4 million 3DS games were sold in three months this quarter alongside over a million 3DS consoles - the hardware number’s solid, but the software number there is amazing, especially when you compare it to the Vita. Sony has been clumping Vita sales together with PSP sales in its financial reports, ostensibly to mask its performance, so we don’t know exactly how much it’s sold - but you can bet it’s a fraction of that.

The 3DS is keeping Nintendo afloat, then, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Wii U is still tanking right now. At this point it’s 200k units behind where the Gamecube was at this point in its lifespan, when the overall games market was much smaller - and the Gamecube hadn’t even launched in Europe by that point. It also wasn’t being sold at a loss, as far as I know.

Even the Nintendo consoles that aren’t regarded as particularly successful - the Gamecube and the N64 - have always made Nintendo money. This is, let’s remember, a company that has only posted one year-end loss in its entire history, in 2012. This is one of the reasons that Nintendo’s future isn’t in jeopardy: the company is extraordinarily solvent. It’s got warehouses full of cash. Seriously, take a look at Nintendo’s assets: it has 492,334,000,000 yen in cash. That’s $5,038,214,927.30. More than 5 billion dollars. In cash. And almost that much in “short-term investment securities”, which are essentially bonds.

It’s too early to write the Wii U off as a failure already, but even if things don’t pick up and the console does end up a flop, Nintendo could weather it. It could weather several such failures. Other companies - Microsoft’s Xbox division and Sony Computer Entertainment among them - have operated at huge losses for years on end, but Nintendo has never done business that way.

“

Even if the Wii U doesn't pick up, Nintendo could weather a failure. It could weather several.

This is why, if you ask me, there is no chance that Nintendo will exit the hardware market. Certainly not in the medium-term future, and possibly not ever. Why would Nintendo release its games, its major selling point, on other people’s platforms when it can continue to have total control over its own? Of those 11 million 3DS games sold in the last 3 months, most of them were Nintendo-published, and Nintendo didn’t have to pay a penny to any other platform holder.

Nintendo can afford to own its own platforms for a long time yet. The Wii U is really, really struggling, but in the grand scheme of Nintendo’s operations it actually doesn’t matter as much as you might expect. That’s reflected in Nintendo’s share price, which took a 6% hit in the past week but is actually 37% up on this time last year.

All of this ultimately leaves Nintendo in profit, ticking over and not in immediate danger, but faced with the increasingly real possibility of its first proper home-console flop - and with an operating loss of around $50m to try to correct. It certainly does not leave Nintendo on its knees. The Wii U in isolation, however, is a different story: the console is in huge trouble, and it’s going to take something special in the next six months to turn the situation around.

Nintendo might in a dominant position when it comes to handhelds, but when the Wii U can’t even come close to keeping up with the current-gen consoles, including its 7-year-old predecessor (which sold 210k this quarter), you’ve really got to ask yourself whether it has any chance at all of holding its own against the PS4 and Xbox One later this year.

“

You've really got to ask yourself whether the Wii U has a chance of holding its own.

There are good games on the way for Wii U, but two of the most important - Smash Bros and Mario Kart - aren’t coming until 2014, which might be too little, too late. With two more new consoles on the market by the end of the year, there’s still nothing that makes the Wii U look essential. I just don’t think Nintendo is in that fight - but then, Nintendo’s E3 showing suggested that Nintendo doesn’t think it’s in that fight, either.

There are two stories told in this morning’s results. The first is of an impressively solvent company that’s making a profit and shows no signs of ill health or imminent collapse, with one very successful product and one that’s struggling to take off. The second story is of a console whose post-launch period has been nothing short of a total disaster, and which now faces an extremely tough battle to claw back some ground before its competitors launch later this year. They’re not contradictory. Nintendo should be extremely worried about the Wii U, but we don’t need to worry about Nintendo.

Keza MacDonald is in charge of IGN's games coverage in the UK. You can follow her on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Exactly How Bad is the Nintendo Situation?

Nintendo’s first-quarter financial resultsreveal that 160,000 Wii U consoles were sold in the entire world between the start of April and the end of June this year. I don’t think anyone was expecting a sudden resurgence after the grimace-worthy figures of the final three months of last financial year, but that is below even the most pessimistic expectations. It’s more shocking when you break it down by territory; of that paltry number, 90,000 were sold in Japan, 60,000 in the Americas, and just 10,000 in Europe, Australia and the rest of the world.

Less than 10,000 consoles in the whole of Europe in 3 months. That’s almost unbelievable. The older-gen consoles sell far more than that weekly. Software sales of just a touch over 1 million hardly ameliorate the situation. The Wii U launch was strong - 3 million in its first few months - but although it was widely known that sales had fallen right off a cliff since then, nobody knew it was this dire.

This is bad news. But how bad is it, exactly? Do we need to be seriously worried about Nintendo’s future?

The short answer, for now, is no. Nintendo isn’t about to go bust. It still posted a profit, thanks to its assets and investments and favourable changes in the currency market. The Wii U is costing money, which means that Nintendo is making an operating loss when it comes to actually selling games and consoles, but it’s a very, very long way from bankrupting the firm. The 3DS, meanwhile, is a big success - it’s not matching the insane sales that the original DS was generating, but then the original DS didn’t have smartphones to compete with.

“

The Wii U is costing money, but it's a long, long way from bankrupting Nintendo.

Despite that, the 3DS is generally confounding the widespread expectation that smartphones and tablets have killed the handheld market stone dead. 11.4 million 3DS games were sold in three months this quarter alongside over a million 3DS consoles - the hardware number’s solid, but the software number there is amazing, especially when you compare it to the Vita. Sony has been clumping Vita sales together with PSP sales in its financial reports, ostensibly to mask its performance, so we don’t know exactly how much it’s sold - but you can bet it’s a fraction of that.

The 3DS is keeping Nintendo afloat, then, but that doesn’t change the fact that the Wii U is still tanking right now. At this point it’s 200k units behind where the Gamecube was at this point in its lifespan, when the overall games market was much smaller - and the Gamecube hadn’t even launched in Europe by that point. It also wasn’t being sold at a loss, as far as I know.

Even the Nintendo consoles that aren’t regarded as particularly successful - the Gamecube and the N64 - have always made Nintendo money. This is, let’s remember, a company that has only posted one year-end loss in its entire history, in 2012. This is one of the reasons that Nintendo’s future isn’t in jeopardy: the company is extraordinarily solvent. It’s got warehouses full of cash. Seriously, take a look at Nintendo’s assets: it has 492,334,000,000 yen in cash. That’s $5,038,214,927.30. More than 5 billion dollars. In cash. And almost that much in “short-term investment securities”, which are essentially bonds.

It’s too early to write the Wii U off as a failure already, but even if things don’t pick up and the console does end up a flop, Nintendo could weather it. It could weather several such failures. Other companies - Microsoft’s Xbox division and Sony Computer Entertainment among them - have operated at huge losses for years on end, but Nintendo has never done business that way.

“

Even if the Wii U doesn't pick up, Nintendo could weather a failure. It could weather several.

This is why, if you ask me, there is no chance that Nintendo will exit the hardware market. Certainly not in the medium-term future, and possibly not ever. Why would Nintendo release its games, its major selling point, on other people’s platforms when it can continue to have total control over its own? Of those 11 million 3DS games sold in the last 3 months, most of them were Nintendo-published, and Nintendo didn’t have to pay a penny to any other platform holder.

Nintendo can afford to own its own platforms for a long time yet. The Wii U is really, really struggling, but in the grand scheme of Nintendo’s operations it actually doesn’t matter as much as you might expect. That’s reflected in Nintendo’s share price, which took a 6% hit in the past week but is actually 37% up on this time last year.

All of this ultimately leaves Nintendo in profit, ticking over and not in immediate danger, but faced with the increasingly real possibility of its first proper home-console flop - and with an operating loss of around $50m to try to correct. It certainly does not leave Nintendo on its knees. The Wii U in isolation, however, is a different story: the console is in huge trouble, and it’s going to take something special in the next six months to turn the situation around.

Nintendo might in a dominant position when it comes to handhelds, but when the Wii U can’t even come close to keeping up with the current-gen consoles, including its 7-year-old predecessor (which sold 210k this quarter), you’ve really got to ask yourself whether it has any chance at all of holding its own against the PS4 and Xbox One later this year.

“

You've really got to ask yourself whether the Wii U has a chance of holding its own.

There are good games on the way for Wii U, but two of the most important - Smash Bros and Mario Kart - aren’t coming until 2014, which might be too little, too late. With two more new consoles on the market by the end of the year, there’s still nothing that makes the Wii U look essential. I just don’t think Nintendo is in that fight - but then, Nintendo’s E3 showing suggested that Nintendo doesn’t think it’s in that fight, either.

There are two stories told in this morning’s results. The first is of an impressively solvent company that’s making a profit and shows no signs of ill health or imminent collapse, with one very successful product and one that’s struggling to take off. The second story is of a console whose post-launch period has been nothing short of a total disaster, and which now faces an extremely tough battle to claw back some ground before its competitors launch later this year. They’re not contradictory. Nintendo should be extremely worried about the Wii U, but we don’t need to worry about Nintendo.

Keza MacDonald is in charge of IGN's games coverage in the UK. You can follow her on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

300: Rise of an Empire 'Living Poster' Debut

After a releasing a load of new character posters for 300: Rise of an Empire over Comic-Con, Warner Bros. has unveiled this awesome new 'Living Poster' showcasing Sullivan Stapleton as Themistokles and a tidal wave of blood.

It doesn't tell us much more about the forthcoming prequel, due out in March next year, other than fans of the original's OTT violence and gore are probably not going to be disappointed!

The film's official synopsis reads:

Based on Frank Miller’s latest graphic novel Xerxes, and told in the breathtaking visual style of the blockbuster “300,” this new chapter of the epic saga takes the action to a fresh battlefield—on the sea—as Greek general Themistokles attempts to unite all of Greece by leading the charge that will change the course of the war. 

“300: Rise of an Empire” pits Themistokles against the massive invading Persian forces led by mortal-turned-god Xerxes, and Artemesia, vengeful commander of the Persian navy.

300: Rise of an Empire is out in cinemas March 7th, 2014.

Tom is IGN's UK Social Media Editor and resident Whovian. You can stay abreast of his current pet peeves by following him on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Shiny Legendary Pokemon Coming to UK Game Stores

Nintendo has announced UK Pokemon trainers will be able to get their hands on shiny versions of the legendary Pokemon Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina for a limited time only.

Starting at the end of August, anyone who owns the original Pokemon Black & White, or Pokemon Black & White 2 will be able to get the exceedingly rare versions of the Pokemon at participating Game stores.

For those who are unaware, shiny Pokemon have unusual colouring and are very difficult to come across, though there is a slim chance they'll be encountered through normal play. One of the most famous is the Red Gyarados that is encountered during Pokemon Gold & Silver and their remakes.

If you want to net a shiny Dialga, the Steel and Dragon type will be available at participating stores between August 30 and September 12. Once it departs, the Water and Dragon type Palkia will be available between September 13 and 26, before it's replaced by the Ghost and Dragon type Giratina from September 27 until October 12.

Be sure to let us know which one you're keenest to get your hands on in the comments.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Kevin Smith Readies Walrus Movie

We’re a bit late to the party on this one, but as it’s such an intriguing story, we thought we’d post…

Following the climax of Comic-Con last week, writer-director Kevin Smith took to Facebook to explain that his next film – Tusk – is set to shoot in Los Angeles and on location in Canada in September, in the hope that it will be finished in time for the Sundance Film Festival.

The crazy comes from the fact that the film’s premise comes from a by-now infamous Gumtree advert in which a Brighton resident sought a lodger to dress up as a walrus.

In the original advert, the man explains that he spent three years alone on St. Lawrence Island, where he befriended a Walrus named Gregory. He explains “I have, over the last few months, been constructing a realistic walrus costume, which should fit most people of average proportions, and allow for full and easy movement in character. The take on the position as my lodger, you must be prepared to wear the walrus for approximately two hours each day.”

He continues “Whilst in the walrus costume you must be a walrus – there must be no speaking in a human voice, and any communication must entail making utterances in the voice of a walrus.”

Smith was alerted to the advert, discussed it on one of his many podcasts, and soon enough a plot was taking shape.

“The listing got my creative juices flowing” he explains on Facebook. “And I began reconstructing the whole thing as an old British Hammer horror film, in which a mad scientist intends to sew some hapless lodger into counterfeit blubber, creating a chimera in an effort to answer the ultimate riddle, ‘Is man, indeed, a walrus at heart?!,’”

Re-locating the story to the backwoods of Canada, Smith has already cast Red State star Michael Parks as the man with the blubber fetish, while he’s also written a part for Quentin Tarantino – Guy Lapointe, “the French gumshoe on the trail of the human-walrus.”

Blumhouse Productions – the company behind the likes of Insidious, Sinister and the Paranormal Activity movies – will oversee production, while Smith is hoping that effects maestro Greg Nictoero will craft the walrus suit.

From Gumtree-to-podcast-to-film makes the Tusk journey somewhat unique – let us know what you think of the concept in the comments, and check out the below video in which Smith talks Tusk and also discusses Clerks 3.

Chris Tilly is the Entertainment Editor for IGN in the UK and wonders if anyone out there fancies being my lodger-penguin. He can be found talking nonsense on both Twitter and MyIGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Nintendo Financials Reveal Dire Wii U Sales

Nintendo released its financial results for the last quarter today, revealing strong 3DS sales alongside Wii U sales that are below even pessimistic expectations.

Nintendo remains in profit overall thanks to the strong performance of its assets and the recovery of the currency market against the yen, but it made a slight operating loss of just under 5 billion yen, around $50m, meaning that the business of actually selling games and consoles was not profitable. Nintendo attributes this loss to "total selling, general and administrative expenses [which] exceeded gross profit due to enhancement of advertising and promotion of Nintendo 3DS overseas to increase sales, and research and development for the Wii U software."

This is an improvement on last year's 10 billion yen operating loss over the same April-June period. Nintendo's overall net profit for the period was 8.624 bn yen, or $88.1m.

As ever, the sales figures tell the most interesting story. The Wii U sold just 160,000 units globally between the beginning of April and the end of June, an astonishingly low number. That's less than half the 390,000 units that it managed to sell in the final three months of its last financial year. Software figures were not much better: 1.03 million total for the quarter. Total Wii U sales now stand at 3.61 million.

The Wii, meanwhile, sold 210,000 in the same period, with 3.67 million games sold. It's just nudged over 100 million lifetime sales.

The 3DS, with 1.4 million units sold and an impressive 11.4 million games sold, has kept Nintendo afloat this quarter.

A number of 3DS games were very successful, chalking up huge sales. Animal Crossing: New Leaf, having already sold over 3 million units in Japan, sold another 1.59 million in the West up to June 30th. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon sold 1.43 million worldwide, and the report states that Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D was "well received", though it doesn't give figures.

Nintendo is not adjusting its full-year financial forecasts, and there is no official comment on these figures as of yet.

Keza MacDonald is in charge of IGN's games coverage in the UK. You can follow her on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Saints Row IV: Capitalising on Classification Confusion

On Monday afternoon it was announced that Saints Row IV had been slapped with a fresh Refused Classification rating by the Australian Classification Review Board. The Classification Review Board is a separate panel which reevaluates classification decisions made by the Australian Classification Board. Its decisions then take the place of the original ones.

“

It’s easy to be cynical about what looks like just another layer of classification bureaucracy but publishers have successfully had RC ratings overturned in the past.

It’s easy to be cynical about what looks like just another layer of classification bureaucracy but publishers have successfully had RC ratings overturned in the past. In December 2009 the Classification Review Board quashed a Refused Classification decision for Aliens vs. Predator, opting for an MA15+ rating instead. The Classification Review Board agreed with SEGA’s Australian branch that the violence in the game, while extreme, was acceptable within the context of the Alien franchise.

In the case of Saints Row IV, however, Koch Media’s appeal was unsuccessful. In the end, the Classification Review Board unanimously agreed with the original RC decision; Saints Row IV cannot be accommodated within the R18+ classification guidelines as proscribed drug use related to incentives and rewards is not permitted. The sexual violence Saints Row IV was also pinged for first time out of the gate was not mentioned on this occasion; perhaps the Review Board disagreed it crossed the line or perhaps the fact that the offending alien anal probe gun is apparently Season Pass content rather than in-game content has seen it factored out of the equation.

The big question is, why spring AUD$10,000 for an appeal for the original version of Saints Row IV in the first place? State of Decay developer Undead Labs recently demonstrated just how easy is it to sidestep the strict guidelines against proscribed drug use related to in-game rewards and incentives. You simply change the names of the real-world drugs and/or avoid using terms like stimulants and narcotics, terms that are most regularly used to refer to real-world illegal drugs. State of Decay is out now, rated R18+. Saints Row IV is still in a classification no-man’s-land.

Why fork out the cash, particularly considering the “Australian Edition” of Saints Row IV – which was available for the public to play at PAX Aus – appears to be waiting in the wings? If a single weapon and a solitary drug reference are really the only thing standing between Saints Row IV and an Australian release I can’t see a version sans those not making it through.

However, is AUD$10,000 a small price to pay for another salvo of PR that’ll only serve to make Saints Row IV even more infamous? Perhaps. Especially when, as State of Decay has already proven, eventually squeezing it through classification is likely just a matter of semantics.

We’ve reached out via Saints Row IV Australian representation for comment, but I can already see the one-sheets; “Saints Row IV: So boss they banned it twice.”

Meanwhile, based on some of the hyperbole Saints Row IV’s unsuccessful RC appeal has dredged up, now seems like the perfect time to clear up some of the debates and confusion around the classification problems that Saints Row IV and State of Decay faced in Australia over the past several weeks.

Drug use is permitted under the R18+ guidelines

I really can’t stress this enough. Drug use is permitted in R18+ games in Australia. I actually can’t make this any more plain. Under the R18+ guidelines for DRUG USE it very literally confirms “Drug use is permitted.” The mere presence of drugs in a video game, the sale of them, or even the use of them is not sufficient reason to believe a game should have been (or will be) refused classification. Any claims to the contrary are unhelpful. The guidelines don’t say you can’t see drugs. They don’t say you can’t sell drugs. They don’t even say you can’t use drugs. They just say you can’t get in-game benefits from using identifiably illegal ones.

If you haven’t checked out the R18+ guidelines, you probably should. You may be surprised how broad they are. There are virtually no restrictions on themes and language, and drug use, simulated sex and nudity are all permitted. In terms of violence? If Mortal Kombat is the new yardstick, well, the R18+ rating certainly doesn’t seem to have any trouble accommodating extraordinary gore. All this worry about what game will be next under the axe seems like much ado about nothing, really.

Proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards has always been a problem

The new Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games that commenced on January 1, 2013 are not stricter than the previous ones. The use of proscribed drugs in games has been an issue for several games released in Australia in the past. Don’t confuse proscribed with prescribed. Proscribed means forbidden. When the guidelines talk about proscribed drugs, they’re talking about the ones you wouldn’t want to be caught with a duffle bag full of.

In 2008, Fallout 3 was refused classification for containing “material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use.” It was simply the morphine; morphine is a controlled substance. Bethesda called it Med-X instead and the game was reclassified and released with no further hurdles. In 2007 Blitz: The League was refused classification for associating gameplay benefits with steroid use. In 2005 Narc was refused classification for featuring power-ups gleaned from drug use; for instance, doing speed gave you bullet-time abilities.

State of Decay featured, among other drugs, several real-world proscribed drugs. They were associated with in-game buffs. Applying the guidelines, the ACB slapped State of Decay with an RC rating. Undead Labs, demonstrating a solid understanding of what was required to navigate the language of the guidelines, responded quickly (“Stimulants out! ‘Supplements’ in!”) and simply changed the names of the in-game drugs. Job done.

In the case of Saints Row IV, the Board’s opinion was that dubbing the in-game drug an “alien narcotic” meant there was “insufficient delineation” between it and real-world proscribed drugs. The Board noted that the label “narcotics” is commonly used to describe real-world, illegal drugs. Slightly anal, sure, but hardly tough to work around, right? Does anybody remember The Warriors? It contained a healing drug you snorted. It was called Flash. Flash, a term commonly associated with what your camera does when you’re sending photographs of your junk to your partner from a poorly-lit room, is not the name of a drug. Sufficient delineation, it would appear, because The Warriors was released in Australia without protest.

Fallout 3, The Warriors, State of Decay, and many more all prove the guidelines are a doddle to work around.

Nope, Max Payne’s painkillers and the anal probe from Destroy All Humans! aren’t the same thing

Yep, painkillers are drugs. However, painkillers are not illegal. Alcohol is also a drug too, and you could swig gallons of it to mend bullet wounds in both Gun and Wet. Beneficial indeed. However, alcohol isn’t illegal either. Any arguments that begin with, “But Max Payne…” don’t take into account the nuances of the guidelines as they deal with drugs.

Incentive or reward is the other element to consider. Yes, the effects of weed were featured in the likes of GTA: San Andreas and Far Cry 3 while torching marijuana plantations, for instance, but in these cases the swaying, blurry effects were hardly helpful. (Strangely enough, weed in Saints Row 2 did actually increase damage resistance, although it also came with several additional gameplay hindrances.)

But there was an anal probe in Destroy All Humans! Sure, but it wasn’t shaped like a cock sword. But there was a dildo in GTA: San Andreas! Sure, but you didn’t stuff it in NPCs' anuses. Saints Row IV just went a bridge too far with this battle, it seems. This kind of stuff exists on a scale. The mere presence of a dildo or similar may raise an eyebrow, but it doesn’t mean the game is in breach. How it’s used is important context.

“Why have an R18+ rating if you’re not going to use it?”

Since January 1 this year, 21 games have been classified R18+. It is being used.

Remember, the Classification Board doesn’t set the guidelines, it applies them. Threatening the board only reinforces violent gamer stereotypes and petitioning the board is simply barking up the wrong tree.

Nobody is required to like the fact Saints Row IV remains rated RC for now, but you can at least be aware of why. The system still has limits. Those limits are sexual violence and rewards related to drug use. There’s no need to spend sleepless nights worrying if your most-anticipated game is going to be refused classification. Is it violent? Well, in Mortal Kombat you can tear a woman in twain, and that’s available in Australia. So relax; it’ll probably be okay. Do you need to inject yourself with something to heal? Is it heroin? No? It’s just a stab-this-in-your-arm-to-get-better syringe, a la Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon (rated R18+ and totally not banned in Australia)? Yeah, it’s probably going to be okay too.

Is it GTA V? I haven’t heard of GTA V containing a sexual assault launcher from outer space or drug-induced power-ups, so I’m going to go ahead and not panic for now.

“

There are plenty of discussions left to have about Australia’s overhauled game classification system.

There are plenty of discussions left to have about Australia’s overhauled game classification system. Considering Saints Row IV hasn’t had the same problem in other territories, is the board being too heavy-handed by deeming an alien anal-probe unacceptable? Does this decision really represent where the community would place this seemingly slapstick weapon on the sexual violence spectrum? Is the focus on prohibiting developers assigning in-game benefits to drug use largely a waste of time considering developers can sidestep the issue by simply not identifying real-world drugs? And is this hardline stance on drug use somewhat odd considering the many types of other antisocial behaviour the guidelines allow for, up to and including cold-blooded murder?

Is self-regulation the next step? Letting the industry police itself, like the Entertainment Software Rating Board in the US or the Interactive Software Federation of Europe’s PEGI system?

All valid questions we need to keep asking. But we need to do it with maturity.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN AU. You can find him on IGN here or on Twitter @MrLukeReilly, or chat with him and the rest of the Australian team by joining the IGN Australia Facebook community.

Source : ign[dot]com