R18+ Draft Guidelines Released

Thursday, May 26th, 2011

Kotaku Australia has just announced that the Federal Ministers for Home Affairs, Brendan O’Connor, has released a draft of the R18+ Guidelines ahead of the SCAG meeting in July. The guidelines are sent to all Attorneys-General and detail what is allowed under the new rating, and what is not. O’Connor has issued the following statement:

The Gillard Government wants to provide better guidance for parents and remove unsuitable material from children and teenagers. The introduction of an R18+ classification will help achieve that and will also bring Australia into line with comparable nations. This issue has been on the table for many years, without the necessary progress to make a change. We’ve recently seen several states publicly express their support for an adult only rating for games and I’m keen to reach a unanimous decision at the July meeting.

For many years, there was concern that the most violent games were being shoehorned into the MA15+ category. The guidelines suggest a tightening of that rating, to make sure that such games are not available to minors. Below are the guidelines for the MA15+, R18+, and RC ratings:

MA 15+ – MATURE ACCOMPANIED
Impact test
The impact of material classified MA 15+ should be no higher than strong.
Note: Material classified MA 15+ is considered unsuitable for persons under 15 years of age. It is a legally restricted category.

Classifiable elements
THEMES
The treatment of strong themes should be justified by context.

VIOLENCE
Violence should be justified by context.
Strong and realistic violence should not be very frequent.
Sexual violence may be implied, if justified by context.

SEX
Sexual activity may be implied.
Sexual activity must not be related to incentives or rewards.

LANGUAGE
Strong coarse language may be used.
Aggressive or strong coarse language should be infrequent.

DRUG USE
Drug use should be justified by context.
Drug use must not be related to incentives or rewards.
Interactive drug use that is detailed and realistic is not permitted.

NUDITY
Nudity should be justified by context.
Nudity must not be related to incentives or rewards.
Note:

R 18+ – RESTRICTED

IMPACT TEST
The impact of material classified R 18+ should not exceed high.
Note: Material classified R 18+ is legally restricted to adults. Some material classified R 18+ may be offensive to sections of the adult community.

Classifiable elements
THEMES
There are virtually no restrictions on the treatment of themes.

VIOLENCE
Violence is permitted except where it offends against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that it should not be classified.
Sexual violence may be implied, if justified by context.

SEX
Sexual activity may be realistically simulated. The general rule is
“simulation, yes – the real thing, no”.

LANGUAGE
There are virtually no restrictions on language.

DRUG USE
Drug use is permitted.

NUDITY
Nudity is permitted.

RC – REFUSED CLASSIFICATION
Note: Computer games that exceed the R 18+ classification category will be Refused Classification.

Computer games will be refused classification if they include or contain any of the following:

CRIME OR VIOLENCE
Detailed instruction or promotion in matters of crime or violence.
The promotion or provision of instruction in paedophile activity.
Descriptions or depictions of child sexual abuse or any other exploitative or offensive
descriptions or depictions involving a person who is, or appears to be, a child under 18 years.
Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of:
(i) violence with a very high degree of impact or which are excessively frequent,
prolonged or detailed;
(ii) cruelty or real violence which are very detailed or which have a high impact;
(iii) sexual violence.
Sexual violence related to incentives and rewards.

SEX
Depictions of practices such as bestiality.
Gratuitous, exploitative or offensive depictions of:
(i) activity accompanied by fetishes or practices which are offensive or abhorrent;
(ii) incest fantasies or other fantasies which are offensive or abhorrent.

DRUG USE
Detailed instruction in the use of proscribed drugs.
Material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use.
As a general rule, computer games will also be Refused Classification if they contain:
(i) drug use related to incentives or rewards;
(ii) interactive drug use which is detailed and realistic

The guidelines also suggest that the G, PG, and M ratings remain unchanged. You can view the proposed guidlines here.

South Australia to replace MA15+ rating for games with R18+ rating

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

In March, Federal Minister for Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor reported that if everybody fails to unanimously agree to a adult-only rating, then the government would be considering other options.

According to Laura Parker, through her GameSpot article, this is exactly what South Australia will be doing, by introducing an adult-only rating, while abandoning the existing MA15+ rating. The South Australian Attorney-General John Rau has stated that his cabinet endorsed the proposal.

I’ve been consulting very broadly on this [issue] for a year now. I’ve been listening to parents and gaming advocates, and I have come to the conclusion that both points of view are legitimate and need to be accommodated. Recent moves by the federal government suggests that there will be an R18+ classification for video games in some form after the July [SCAG] meeting.

Of course, it would be ideal to have a uniform national scheme. That’s why we need to wait now to see how the federal arrangements will shake out. If there is a national opportunity to embrace R18+, South Australia will do it with the quid pro quo that MA15+ is eliminated as a classification and all games that are now rated MA15+ will be made R18+. This is what I want to happen in South Australia.

Laura also reports that the ACT Attorney-General, Simon Corbell, is also considering this approach if there is no unanimous agreement in July.

If the other states agree to introduce the same proposal, then the rating systems for games would be G, PG, M, R18+. This still makes it inconsistent with films that already have an MA15+ rating. Furthermore, the government has no intention of abolishing the Refused Classification category. So if games are still awarded an RC rating, then what’s the point of having an R18+ rating in the first place?

If the MA15+ rating needs to be removed, then why not 1) do it for films as well? and 2) amend the guidelines so that items currently rated MA15+ can fall under the M category and have the rest fall under R18+?

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.

CrimeCraft Refused Classification

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Upcoming MMO CrimeCraft was Refused Classification in Australia last Thursday. CrimeCraft is a free-to-play MMO of team-based co-operative urban combat, and was awarded a Mature rating by the ESRB in the United States, making it suitable for persons 17 years or older.

Refused-Classification.com suggests that since the ESRB’s rating did not mention drug use and there appears to be very little sexual content in the game besides skimpy clothing, it is most likely that violence has been the reason for the banning.

From the ESRB’s report:

Content descriptors:
Blood, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence

Rating summary:
This is a third-person shooter in which players can select a character and gain experience points through completion of various missions/quests. Players can roam around the fictional setting of Sunrise City and engage in several types of massively multiplayer online (MMO) games: team deathmatch, capture the flag, robbery, and free-for-all.

Players are able to shoot and kill other characters by using a wide variety of guns (handguns, shotguns, machine guns, rocket launchers) and thrown weapons (grenades, Molotov cocktails, etc.). Small splashes of red blood indicate successful hits, and bloodstains are depicted on the ground under some defeated characters.

Achievements and mission titles sometimes contain profanity (e.g., achievement called “F**king Ridiculous”; missions called “I Ain’t Movin’ B*tch,” and “Poppin’ a Cap in Yo A*s”). Players can customize female avatars so that they only wear a bra and thong-style panties or outfits that expose deep cleavage; players can also trigger a brief dance in which an avatar caresses her body.

However, if violence is the issue, then again we are forced to question the inconsistency of the Classification Board, as titles like Fallout 3, Dead Space and Mad World – all rated MA15+ for Australian audiences – contain high levels of violence that Crimecraft would surely find difficult to surpass.

We have contacted the Classification Board for comment, and will let you know of any correspondence we receive.

Risen Refused Classification

Monday, August 10th, 2009

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.

Source: RISEN: The Latest Game Banned in Australia (Refused-Classification)