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.

O’Connor Does Comparison of MA15+ Games

Thursday, April 21st, 2011

According to GameSpot, Brendan O’Connor, the Federal Minister for Home Affairs, has released a comparison between 11 games currently rated MA15+ in Australia to those in different countries, supporting the argument that games that are restricted to adults in other countries are being shoehorned into the MA15+ category.

Among the games in the list are Borderlands Bulletstorm, Duke Nukem Forever, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, F.3.A.R., and Left 4 Dead 2. All of the games in the list are already restricted to adults in Europe, Germany, New Zealand, North America, the United Kingdom, and Singapore.

While touring an EB store in Adelaide, he told GameSpot:

There are dozens of games that are currently classified as MA15+ in Australia, but in other countries, these gaming titles are restricted to adults only. If the new category is introduced, it could result in computer games that are currently classified MA15+ being reclassified R18+, providing a new level of protection for children. Games that are currently refused classification and do not meet the standard required for R18+ classification will remain in the refused classification category.

This issue has been on the table for almost a decade, without the necessary progress to make a change. This is the right decision for Australian families and the right decision for parents who want to be able to make informed choices about the games their children play. The time has come for state and territory attorneys-general to represent their constituents’ views at a national level and lay their cards on the table.

This hopefully means that the new R18+ rating will have its own bracket of classification and any existing game that got rejected, such as Mortal Kombat, will get the rating they deserve.

Bulletstorm passed MA15+ uncut

Sunday, January 9th, 2011

Recently there has been concerns that Epic Games’ upcoming first-person shooter Bulletstorm has been modified to meet the game’s MA15+ criteria according to its rap sheet. But according to Kotaku Australia, this is not the case.

Kotaku has been speaking with both EA and the Classification Board about the matter. The Board states that just because the word ‘modified’ is used doesn’t mean that the game is watered-down.

We usually use the word ‘modified’ when we get a second version of the game in for classification, and that often happens for a number of different reasons.

“For example, if the game is multi-format, and the Wii version has extra characters, then we’ll term that version ‘MODIFIED’. Same goes for any other extra content – extra levels, stuff like that. It doesn’t have any bearing on the classification itself.”

EA confirmed that the Australian release would remain uncut, saying that the game’s ‘modified’ status is the result of the Bulletstorm Epic Edition as well as the extra content in the Gears of War 3 beta.

So, with adult-only games like Left 4 Dead 2 receiving watered-down versions while others like Bulletstorm are getting through unscathed, how can anyone have confidence in our game classification system? If every Attorney-General agreed to introduce an R18+ rating in Australia instead of dragging their feet, then Bulletstorm would have gotten the rating it deserved. Instead, it is rated MA15+, making it available to minors.

Bulletstorm will be released in Australia on February 22, 2011.

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.

L4D2 Censorship Comparison

Monday, November 16th, 2009

A conscientious YouTube user has uploaded this video which demonstrates the differences between the censored Australian version of Left 4 Dead 2 and the uncensored international version.

A word of warning: the video contains material that the Classification Board has deemed unsuitable for persons under 15 to watch.

While this may seem excessive, games like Dead Space and Mad World both feature equivalent, if not greater levels of violence, and yet both have been rated MA15+.

The arch-irony of all of this is that it took users all of two whole seconds to figure out the simple steps to unlock the restricted content so that they could play the uncensored version. Now anybody purchasing the game on the PC in Australia will be able to completely circumvent the censoring and play the game as it was originally intended – which just goes to further prove the pointlessness of trying to prevent the flow of electronic information.

Left 4 Dead 2 goes on sale on November 20 in Australia, under an MA15+ rating.