Despite all the drama which surrounded Take-Two's Manhunt in the United Kingdom, the publisher managed to get Grand Theft Auto IV rated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) and essentially greenlighted for release.  There was no need for developer Rockstar to make any compromises to the game's content in order to obtain its "R18+" age rating through the BBFC.

Unfortunately, GTAIV will not be as lucky in Australia.  The Sydney Morning Herald confirms that Rockstar will be forced to release an edited version of the game for the region, in order to meet the requirements for an "MA15+" rating from the Office of Film and Literature Classification.  MA15+ is the highest age rating in Australia, and applies to literature and media which features "strong violence, strong coarse language, drug and sexual references".

Of course, this isn't the first time a Grand Theft Auto game has been edited in some way in order to meet the minimum requirements for release in Australia with its content.  The news will still prove disappointing to our friends down under, especially as hype for the game continues to grow with less than a month to go before its official launch.  On top of that, there's no word on what exactly gets cut for the game's Australian release.