It's a good day to be a Nintendo fan this morning, with ratings for two popular and anticipated Nintendo titles spilling out onto the internet's dirty, dirty floor. I'm always excited when ratings for games are announced because it means they are on the horizon, since the ratings boards won't rate a game until it's at least mostly finished.

Firstly, the ESRB has rated Punch Out!! for the Wii, giving it an expected E rating and confirming that the game might actually make it out in the near future. There's still no news on what the game might play like, but the trailer showed at the Nintendo event a few months ago sure as hell made it look like a throwback to the original, and the ESRB's description of Cartoon Violence seems to stand by that. Also rated was Super Punch Out!! for the Virtual Console, which shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.

Also on the ratings front is the BBFC's (British version of the ESRB) 18+ rating of Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars. I don't think anyone expected the game to get anything lower, but it does mean that GTA will be one of the only Mature rated games on the system, and definitely the highest profile title. The board also commented on the cut-scene length, stating that there was 168 minutes worth on the DS cartridge. That's more than many console releases, and should quiet anyone thinking the game is going to be a cheap cash-in on Rockstar's part.

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