Following trouble with the Australian ratings board, all versions of Fallout 3 have been modified to tone down incentives for drug use, and all references to real-world drugs have been removed.
Bethesda's highly anticipated post-nuclear adventure, Fallout 3, has been under fire by the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification, the down-under equivalent of the ESRB. The game was initially refused classification by the board, effectively banning it from sales, but has recently been granted a rating thanks to changes that have been made to the game's approach to drug use.
Originally, players would be able to dull the pain inflicted by life in the wasteland with real-world painkillers like Morphine. This was objectionable material according to the OFLC, as "material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use" is grounds for refusal of classification.
In a move likely made to avoid similar debacles with other ratings boards, all versions of Fallout 3, including those to be released in North America and the UK, will be modified accordingly to remove these real-world drug references.
According to Pete Hines in a recent statement to Edge Magazine, "An issue was raised concerning references to real-world, proscribed drugs in the game, and we subsequently removed those references and replaced them with fictional names. To avoid confusion among people in different territories, we decided to make those substitutions in all versions of the game, in all territories."
While real-world drugs are freely integrated into fiction in the realm of film, literature, and television, videogames are often taken to task for including such content. Those looking forward to a mature role-playing adventure in Fallout 3 should remain confident that the game's gratuitous violence is unlikely to create as much of a stir.
