M-rated copies of Halo 4 illegal

  • Breaking
  • 07/11/2012

When Halo 4 was released in New Zealand earlier this week, copies of the game were labeled with the Australian 'M' for mature rating certificate - but a new ruling makes it illegal to sell Halo 4 without a New Zealand R13 rating.

Under the New Zealand Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act (1993), games that are rated by British or Australian ratings boards in a way that declares they have no restricted content (including an Australian M rating) are not required to be classified in this country.

Halo 4 was submitted to the New Zealand classification board anyway, and has since been rated as R13 - restricted to gamers 13 and over, with a classification note that simply states 'Violence'.

Under the New Zealand's classification legislation, copies of Halo 4 with the blue 'M' rating are now in breach of the act, and selling them without the new R13 label is against the law. As a result, TradeMe is blocking copies of the game from being sold until such a time as they are correctly labeled R13.

This restriction includes all sales of the game including secondhand. People who bought the game with an Australian M rating and wish to apply a New Zealand R13 sticker can obtain one from Xbox support.

NZGamer.com

source: newshub archive