Australian GTAIII ban upheld

An Australian governmental review board has upheld a ban on Take-Two Interactive's Grand Theft Auto III in that country. The review board maintained the game's RC rating, which means that under the country's Office of Film and Literature Classification guidelines, GTAIII cannot be distributed, sold, demonstrated, or advertised in any form. Take-Two Interactive has said that it plans to review the OFLC ratings and make the appropriate changes to rerelease the game in Australia. The company did not elaborate on the specific changes but said that the game could be ready for rerelease by January.

Grand Theft Auto III has been available in North America since late October. In that territory, the game received a Mature rating from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board. Retailers are prohibited from selling M-rated games to consumers under the age of 17.