Bethesda vice president of marketing Peter Hines has decided to clear the air regarding the banning and subsequent unbanning ofFallout 3in Australia over what their governing body called an improper in-game use of the prescription drug “morphine.” The body, the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, bans games on the basis of “promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use.”
After the initial ban, Hines related that Bethesda removed the prescription drug name fromFallout 3universally, and replaced it with a fictional drug. He said that it was an attempt to “avoid confusion among people in different territories.” After replacing the famous painkiller’s name with a bogus name, the game was rated by the OFLC without an issue.
Hines brings up this fact because he feels that a “misconception” has been perpetuated by the media surrounding this issue. He wants to make sure that consumers realize that every version ofFallout 3is the same. Also, to make sure that every region has the same experience, Hines and his team at Bethesda developed a new universal language. This language, while new and relatively uncharted, is easily learned in minutes if you buy their software.
[viaEdge]
