Risen Refused Classification
According to Refused-Classification, Risen, the single-player fantasy RPG developed by Piranha Bytes, has been refused classification in Australia. No official reason for the refusal has been given, but the OFLC website has been updated to list the game as RC.
Refused-Classification writes that the American ESRB, which has rated the game “Mature” (unsuitable for under 17’s), has the following to say about the the content of Risen:
This is a role-playing game (RPG) in which players control a castaway on a Medieval island. Players can explore the island, interact with its inhabitants, solve quests for the people, and kill various monsters along the way. Players can use swords to attack characters, including bystanders, resulting in brief splashes of dark red blood.
During the course of the game, players can interact with prostitutes (referred to as “whores” in the game) at a local brothel. Players can trigger a lengthy dialogue to engage in their services; sexual activity is strongly implied, but never depicted on screen. Many of the characters in the game smoke a fictional drug called “brugleweed.” The “wood reefer” plant is described as having a mild relaxing effect on users, and can be bought, sold, and used by players. Some profanity (e.g., “f*ck” and “sh*t”) can be heard in the dialogue.
…all of which fairly accurately summarises another half-dozen games already available on the Australian market, all of which are rated MA15+.
We’ll know more when the game is released, but once again it looks like another case of staggering inconsistency from the Classifications Board. Cases like this continue to prove that the system is in desperate need of an overhaul. If only we had some idea of what our Attorneys-General were actually doing about it, eh?
Just repeating from the last post, I am officially putting out the call for contributors – if you can write well, speak maturely, are abreast of current news, and are willing to contribute to this site on the issue of an R18+ rating for video games in Australia, then please get in touch with me and we’ll work something out.
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Aron says:
I don’t know when exactly this site was created but i thank you for doing so. I’ve been personally raging about the inadequacies at the Australian (game) rating system for some time, and being that i am currently in the process of completing a Game Design and Culture unit at university, and work in a retail game store, i feel like this is pretty damn relevant to me.
In relation to the issue presented in this article, i couldn’t agree more. The idea that one game can get banned for specific content while another can “somehow” pass through without too much issue is laughable. Further more, and to my understanding, the idea that ALL attorney generals must agree to change the game rating system unanimously is ridiculous and an affront to democracy (correct me if i am wrong here, but is the majority not enough in, oh i don’t know – every other aspect of government?).
I would like to know whether the listings you have for the attorney generals in the different states is up to date, because i believe i will be making a creating letters of my own.
– Aron
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Fed up says:
This is just getting ridiculous. It’s time for gamers to get off the couch and hit the streets. How about coordinated nationwide marches, with gamers and their families (potentially tens of thousands of people), a well spoken PR person at each march, and invite local Members of Parliament to come down to the march.
The time for polite (or even impolite) outrage has passed. It’s time to send a message to Canberra that we vote, and we’re pissed off.
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Glenn says:
I read on a Whirlpool forum about the ban, and it was compared to The Witcher, which is a lot worse than Risen as it included plenty of nudity, sex scenes, violence, drugs, etc.