R18+ Bill to be introduced in Parliament next month

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

According to GameSpot, the office of the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, Jason Clare, has confirmed that the bill to introduce an R18+ rating for video games will be tabled when Parliament resumes on February 7th. A spokesperson from Clare’s office told GameSpot:

“Our plans are to introduce the R18+ bill in the first session of parliament this year. If it passes the Lower House, it will then go to the Senate for the same process.”

For the bill to be passed in the lower house, it requires the support of two crossbench MPs (independents Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor, Andrew Wilkie, and Bob Katter; and Greens MP Adam Bandt), all of them remaining silent on the issue.

To be passed in the Senate, it must be approved by either the Greens or the Coalition. Shadow Attorney-General had doubts about the rating in the past, while the Greens are showed their support.

If the bill is passed, then Mortal Kombat and Syndicate will be able to get released with an R18+ rating, Left 4 Dead 2 would be uncensored, and a majority of violent games such as The Darkness II will get the ratings they deserve.

Three new case studies added

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

It has been a while since two case studies have been added to this site, and now we are pleased to bring you three more.

Duke Nukem 3D was initially self-censored before it was released in Australia, and it contained no violence or nudity. A patch that gave people the uncut version of the game circulated on the Internet, and as a result, the OFLC attempted to reclassify the game before being forced to release the US version of the game.

House of the Dead: Overkill was not Refused Classification, but it is another example of how the Classification Board inconsistently classifies games. It has excessive violence and a high amount of profanity that is available for children aged 15 and over. Meanwhile, overseas rating agencies have classified the game for adults only.

Left 4 Dead 2 was originally rejected for the same type of content that was already present in the original game. Before it was rejected a second time, another version was passed with cuts made by the publishers, such as the removal of dead corpses lying around the environment as well as the amount of violence being toned down. It is now being available in Australia for children age 15 and over.

So grab a sandwich and a cup of coffee and have them while you are reading one of the case studies.

What the Censored L4D2 lacks

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

According to Kotaku, the censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 “no longer contains depictions of decapitations, dismemberment, wound detail, or piles of bodies lying about the environment.”

The Board’s official report states that “…the element of violence in the game has been sufficiently modified and is now able to be accommodated within the MA15+ classification”.

In other words, what was okay in Deadspace and F.E.A.R. 2 is not okay in Left 4 Dead 2. We can only hope that the Classification Review Board agrees, come October 22.

Please welcome Matt, R18+ Games Australia’s newest contributor. Thanks for helping out, Matt!

Censored L4D2 Receives MA15+

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Yesterday at a Sydney press conference Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve Software, revealed that their publishers Electronic Arts have lodged another, censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 to the Classification Board. Gabe stressed that this was merely a backup version in case the appeal process to have the original, uncensored version classified as MA15+ was unsuccessful, and that they would prefer not to have to use the censored version if at all possible.

This morning, we awake to the news that the Classification Board have granted Left 4 Dead 2 an MA15+ rating for “Strong, bloody violence”. According to Softpedia, this classification applies to the censored version, as the appeal process for the original, uncensored version is not due to commence until October 22.

Thanks to everyone who emailed in this morning with this news!

Left 4 Dead 2 News

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Understandably, there’s been quite a lot of reaction to the banning of Left 4 Dead 2. The most notable of course being that Valve are appealing the decision and hoping to get the game passed on an MA15+ rating.

I had the opportunity to speak with the Classification Board as I was commissioned by games.on.net to write them a feature article on the Classification Board’s decision. Below is the full text of my questions and the answers that their spokesperson gave to me.

1) Was Left 4 Dead 2 examined by any of the same members of the Classification Board that examined the original Left 4 Dead?

The Classification Board acts as a body. It does not discuss or speculate on the opinions of its individual members. The Classification Board is broadly representative of the Australian community.

2) Does the Classification Board believe that the level of violence in Left 4 Dead 2 is objectively greater than in the original Left 4 Dead?

The Classification Board determined that the impact of the violence in Left 4 Dead was ‘strong’, and the impact of the violence in Left 4 Dead 2 was ‘high’. The Board classifies each computer game on a case by case basis.

3) Which specific areas of Left 4 Dead 2 would, in the Classification Board’s opinion, need editing in order to meet the requirements for sale and distribution as an MA15+ title in Australia?

The Classification Board does not advise on how material could be edited to receive a lower classification. That is a matter for the distributor of the computer game. The Board’s decision report contains information about the content that caused the computer game to be classified RC.

4) Have the publishers, Electronic Arts, stated or suggested to the Classification Board that they will be seeking a review of the RC rating for Left 4 Dead 2?

I understand the distributors applied for a review of the classification on 25 September 2009.

5) In the case of such a review, would the same members of the board who rated Left 4 Dead 2 as RC undertake the review with Electronic Arts, or would the review panel be composed of different people?

It would be a different board altogether. The Classification Review Board is an independent board, entirely separate to the Classification Board.

6) Is the Classification Board in a position to comment on the Discussion Paper for an R18+ rating for games which was developed by the Attorneys-General, and is the Board aware of any possible date at which the paper will be released to the public?

See answer to next question.

7) Was the Classification Board consulted on this Discussion Paper in any form, or will it be consulted in the future?

The Classification Board’s role is to classify material according to the National Classification Scheme. Changes to classification policy are a matter for Government.

As you can see, the Board was unwilling to provide me with any clarity on their seeming inconsistency with the different classifications with the original and the sequel. It was interesting to learn though that the Classification Review Board are entirely separate to the Classification Board – giving us slim hope that these new people will agree with the original minority decision of the Board to award L4D2 an MA15+ rating.

A big thankyou to everyone who left comments on the last article, the discussion was fantastic to see, and thanks to everyone who emailed in links about the events unfolding after the ban. Let’s cross our fingers and see what happens over the next week.