JAPAN: Chinatown Wars gets Z rating

Following the precedent Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars set in the UK when it became the first 18 rated DS game to hit the shelves, the critically acclaimed title is set to become the first Cero Z rated title for Nintendo’s handheld in Japan.

A Cero Z rating is much the same as the ESRB’s AO (Adults Only) rating seen in North America, though unlike in the US where many retailers will not stock AO games, a Cero Z certificate does not pose the same sales barrier in Japan – all of the GTA games to date have been Z rated.

Siliconera reports that the game will not be the first Nintendo title to receive the certificate, however – that honour falls to GameCube’s Killer 7.

Chinatown Wars will not, like recent Grand Theft Auto releases, be published by Capcom in Japan. Cyberfront, the publisher of the PC version of GTAIV, will be handling duties instead.