Deadly Premonition Denied Australian Release

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Rising Star Games has decided not to release their upcoming survival horror game, Deadly Premonition, in Australia. The game casts the player as a detective investigating murders that plague a small town. The players get to examine crime scenes, question people, and fight zombies using guns, knives, and metal pipes.

Their reasons for not giving a game an Australian release are detailed in their press release.

As part of our normal procedures in submitting any game for classification, it was determined internally at Rising Star Games that the game would not satisfy the criteria for an MA15+ rating in Australia and further that any changes to the game would not be possible. It was therefore decided, with regret, the game will not be released in Australia.

The ESRB lists the game as containing Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, and Suggestive Themes. Although the first paragraph of their rating summary tells everyone what can be seen in games released in Australia, the second paragraph of their rating summary paints a more disturbing picture.

Graphic depictions are presented during investigations of crime scenes, where players sometimes discover the victims: a woman is found tied to a tree with her abdomen sliced open—blood surrounds the open wound (hair partially obscures her breasts); another woman is strung up by wires in a shower, covered with blood, and strangled by an elaborate trap; and a “profile”-montage depicts still-frame images of a struggle between killer and victim amid sounds of crying and desperate pleas (e.g., “stop, please . . . I swear . . . I won’t tell anyone . . .”). A couple of cutscenes are intense as well, depicting suicides via gunshots to the head. The dialogue contains mild sexual innuendo (e.g., a woman at a gas station says, “Let me know if you want me to pump it”) and more direct commentary about sex: “She’ll scr*w anyone” and “Oh, I sleep with anyone I wish. Anyone I prefer to sleep with . . . I could sleep with you, if you’d like.”

If an R18+ rating already existed in Australia, then Deadly Premonition would have gotten a release here.

Although the Classification Board was not involved, it is the first time a game developer chose to boycott Australia due to the failure of our game classification system.

Greens support R18+ Game Rating

Friday, August 13th, 2010

GameSpot’s “I Game and I Vote” article has a rundown of where the major political parties stand in regard to the R18+ issue. Although Labor and the Coalition is fence-sitting on the issue, The Greens have replied with:

“The Greens support the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games in Australia. We believe that it is time to change the system. It is bizarre that Australia is one of the only countries in the Western world without an adult classification for games. We believe that a change to the classification system should occur in the next term in parliament.

“The Greens will continue to support a campaign for R18+ for games. We also believe that the games industry and gamers have done a really good job of highlighting the issue and putting it on political agenda. We’re going to play our part in parliament and the community to make sure people know about the issue. We plan to raise this issue during our upcoming federal election campaign and make sure it is part of the debate.”

You can use the article to determine who to vote for. It even has a section for you to contact your Federal member via e-mail.

Source: Kotaku

WA Liberal State Conference Rejects R18+

Wednesday, July 28th, 2010

R18+ Games Australia understands that a motion was moved to adopt party support for an R18+ classification at the recent WA Liberal State Conference.

The Western Australian Union of Liberal Students, the peak body of all University Liberal Clubs in WA, moved a motion to support the creation of R18+ classification for games at the annual conference. The conference was attended by Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, state and federal MP’s and Ministers, as well as industry leaders. Although the motion was defeated 74 votes to 67, we understand the debate was well received within party ranks and that the issue is gaining attention.

To this date, neither major party supports this much-needed change to the ratings system. And with an election campaign well under way, it is doubtful that this issue will even come back on the agenda for the next few months.

SCAG Meeting Postponed

Saturday, July 24th, 2010

The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, who meet up to determine changes to Australia’s classification system, last met earlier this year to discuss the public consultation and after much deliberation, were seeking to hear both sides of the argument so that they could make a final decision.

That decision was going to be made at the meeting that was to be held at the end of this month. Unfortunately due to the upcoming Federal Election, this meeting has now been postponed until November 4-5.

Source: Games.On.Net

Dead Rising 2 escapes censor’s hands

Monday, July 5th, 2010

According to Games.On.Net, Capcom’s game, Dead Rising 2, is an upcoming, violent zombie shooter which has questionable content. It has been rated MA15+ by the Classification Board. Not many people expected DR2 to get past the Board as the game “encourages players to combine household items into ridiculous killing machines (like double ended paddle saws).”

Ironically, this is the same type of content that saw Left 4 Dead 2 get banned in Australia. Were an R18+ rating for games had been introduced years ago, the censors would make sure that the game was restricted to adults. DR2 is rated 18 in the UK and Europe, and will be released in September.