Square Enix Introduces "Extreme Edge", A "Mature" Game Identifier - News
by VGChartz Staff , posted on 27 April 2010 / 4,555 Views
Square Enix is growing and expanding steadily, sending out its Japanese tentacles for new shores and hearts. That fact is probably best seen in the action of the company purchasing UK publisher Eidos for £84.3 (US $120) million back in February of 2009, a significant publishing figure in the west with a host of coveted franchises such as Hitman, Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and more. These westbound tentacles soon return to Japan, and not without some specially-labeled gifts.
Old and profane psychos are obviously "Extreme!!!1"
It's no secret that western titles tend to be more violent and graphic, thus pushing them toward higher age ratings - when SE acquired Eidos, they, naturally, got hold of their IP's, some already mentioned in the previous paragraph - and some profane enough to be eligible for high ratings, most notably, Kane & Lynch. SE is a company that is mostly known for their fantasy titles, and also one that feels the need to distinguish their new games line from their usual stuff. Enter the corny "Extreme Edge" label.
There's still no clear verdict on beautiful and adventurous women, though...
The (corny!) label will, as reported by Andriasang, act as a method to distinguish "mature" western titles from SE's well-known fantasy lineup. In order to be eligible, a game has to be rated CERO (Japan's ESRB/PEGI) D (17+) or Z (18+) and be of western origin. We're gonna see it in action pretty soon, too - Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is due in Japan on August 26th and it is rated CERO D. Perhaps sales will show whether people care for the new disclaimer.
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Hopefully the long awaited Fear Effect game will be eleased and wind up as Extreme Edge as well as new Laura Croft, Batman, and Blood Omen games.
Next up Final Fantasy Porn. Rated A for Awesome.
Isn't Xenogears(Gears not Saga) rated CERO D? That is the rating it was given when it was released on the Japanese PSN. The US version of the game was obiously censored since it was a Teen rated game here.
I can't think of a single Japanese Square-Enix CERO D/Z rated game. So that might be why they are using it for western games only.
But where will CERO B/C western games fit? Not all of Eidos' properties are violent. And they are publishing Blur for Activision. Blur is no more violent than Mario Kart basically.
Why must they be of western origin? Seems like it would be less confusing to simply mark all "mature" games with this new moniker.
TR's actually CERO C. With no game beyond Underworld announced, the verdict is still out on a TR game published and developed by SE.
Funny how Tomb Raider and some shooters with no blood get raitings like 'Cero D'. Yet Final Fantasy games with clear references to booze, half naked girls and what would be considered 'violence' get 'Cero C'.
Just goes to show you even in Japan, favoritism runs rampant.
I SEEE what they did there.
