Striking Distance Studios announced that The Callisto Protocol won’t be released in Japan as they don’t want to compromise on the game’s age rating.
“The Callisto Protocol has decided to stop the release of the Japanese version. As of now, the CERO rating cannot be passed,” the game’s Japanese Twitter account explained. “We have decided that we would no longer be able to provide you with the experience you need. We hope everyone in Japan will understand. If you have already pre-ordered, we will refund you.”
— The Callisto Protocol (@CallistoGameJP) October 26, 2022
CERO is Japan’s video game rating board and it seems like they were unhappy with the level of gore and violence within The Callisto Protocol. It looks like Striking Distance Studios did not want to comply with toning those aspects of the game down, so the game will be canceled in Japan.
According to Japanese video game industry analyst Serkan Toto, CERO has censored other western games in Japan, including The Last of Us, The Witcher 3, and Grand Theft Auto V. He explains that sometimes, there are two versions of a Japanese game, the censored release and the “gory” one, the latter of which typically sells better. Toto says that the “gory” version usually has the CERO’s “Z” rating which is for ages 18+. However, even those are censored as well compared to the international and western versions.
Digital Trends recently went hands-on with a preview of The Callisto Protocol and praised the game’s grotesque horror: “I was unsettled but enthralled the entire time. Making players uncomfortable in a way that’s still engaging is tough to pull off.”
The Callisto Protocol launches on December 2 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S,
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.