New Games: New Take-Two Interactive Chairman Strauss Zelnick sto...

slapped with an AO rating by the Entertainment Software Rating Board in the U.S. The British Board refused to grant the game a rating, meaning the title can’t legally be sold anywhere in the U.K. IFCO issued a prohibition order, declaring the game can’t be sold in Ireland because “the level of gross, unrelenting and gratuitous violence is unacceptable” in the game, it said. ESRB’s rating could end up achieving the same result as in Europe because most major retailers refuse to sell AO-rated games and Nintendo and Sony Computer Entertainment don’t permit AO-rated games to be released on their game systems. Take-Two wouldn’t say if it planned to edit the game. But Zelnick said his firm “believes in freedom of creative expression” as well as “social responsibility.” He added that “not all of our products are intended for all consumers; in fact, we specifically make certain of our games for adults” and it believes parents and consumers, “once informed as to the nature of any entertainment product, should be able to make their own choices.” The game “fits squarely within the horror genre and was intended to do so,” he said, calling the title “a fine piece of art” that “I stand behind… fully”… Activision’s Spider-Man 3 for PS2, in its seventh week available, was again the top-rented videogame in the U.S., according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended June 17. The only game new to the top 10 was Ubisoft’s Call of Juarez for Xbox 360 at number eight in its second week… Vivendi’s World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack moved up one to become the top-selling PC game in the U.S. during May, NPD Group said. Its original World of Warcraft moved up one to number two. Midway’s Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar -- April’s top- selling PC game -- slipped to number four. The Sims 2 H&M Fashion Stuff Expansion Pack was the top-selling PC game for the week ended June 9. World of Warcraft and its expansion pack followed at numbers two and three… Midway will ship a collector’s edition of John Woo Presents Stranglehold in “limited quantity,” at $69.95 during August in the U.S., it said. A bonus disc will feature a behind-the-scenes documentary, extended cinematic scenes not in the final game and other extras. Midway already said it would ship a collector’s edition at the same price for its PS3 SKU. Standard versions of the game will also ship for PS3 and 360 at $59.99 each. The game will also ship for PC at $49.99.