Curiously, a new rating turned up yesterday on Australia's Classification Board website for a game that was first released nearly eight years ago. Wonder why that would be?
As you can see below, the rating is fresh as of yesterday, for what's tagged as a "modified" version of the classic Grand Theft Auto title Vice City. There's little else of use to be gained from the rating (the "Multi Platform" bit is often inaccurate on Aussie ratings).
Vice City was never banned in Australia, and has already been released in both standard and budget editions on the PC, Xbox and PS2. For a new rating to turn up, this is probably a version of the classic - which I think is the best Grand Theft Auto ever made - for a new platform.
It would be very interesting if this was a PlayStation Network re-release, as downloadable PS2 games have been something gamers have been crying out for ever since Sony gutted backwards compatibility from newer models of the PlayStation 3.
And if it's available on the PSN, could it also be available on Xbox Live Arcade? It's not like the 360 is without precedent for such a thing...
UPDATE - While the game is set for a re-release in the near future, it's not as exciting as I got to speculating before. Rockstar's re-rating is down to "back catalogue PC business", re-submitted to the Classification Board "as part of ongoing work with history products".
It's strange to be doing this - I have an Australian budget copy on the shelf in front of me, and it's already been rated - but hey, Rockstar work in mysterious ways.
[thanks Simon!]