EPT
According to The Korea Times, an english-language daily paper, the South Korean Games Rating Board has restricted the game to an adult audience because of "the game's level of violence, foul language and depiction of drug use."
The news just keeps getting worse for computer games giant Blizzard Entertainment, which is reeling after Korea's Games Rating Board moved to ban youngsters from playing its upcoming title, ``StarCraft II.''
StarCraft II was obviously the most-anticipated launch of 2010, being the sequel to the original game that has sold more than 5 million copies since its 1998 release, while singlehandedly spawning a whole new industry of ``PC bangs'' (commercial gaming lounges), and professional gaming leagues within a movement dubbed as e-sports.
The decision by the Games Rating Board, a unit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is certainly a letdown, although Blizzard can file an objection within the next 30 days.
A Blizzard Korea spokeswoman said the company has yet to decide whether to challenge the decision by Korean game censors. Should Blizzard opt to adjust the disputed parts of the content and retry the whole reviewing process, as it did with the first game, the release of StarCraft II would likely be delayed until next year.
StarCraft II was obviously the most-anticipated launch of 2010, being the sequel to the original game that has sold more than 5 million copies since its 1998 release, while singlehandedly spawning a whole new industry of ``PC bangs'' (commercial gaming lounges), and professional gaming leagues within a movement dubbed as e-sports.
The decision by the Games Rating Board, a unit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is certainly a letdown, although Blizzard can file an objection within the next 30 days.
A Blizzard Korea spokeswoman said the company has yet to decide whether to challenge the decision by Korean game censors. Should Blizzard opt to adjust the disputed parts of the content and retry the whole reviewing process, as it did with the first game, the release of StarCraft II would likely be delayed until next year.
The rest of the article: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/tech/2010/04/133_64287.html
What do you think? Is this decision to be taken at face value, or is it a move initiated by KeSPA -- an official body recognized by the Ministry of Culture -- to delay SCII and put pressure on Blizzard?
This could be related to the so-called "gaming curfew" that the government is planning to enforce, along with "other attempts to improve gaming behavior and curb compulsive gaming and addictions."
