Grand Theft Auto V Gets Thumbs-Up For Australia

[Andy Chalk]

Grand Theft Auto V Gets Thumbs-Up For Australia

Grand Theft Auto V will be intact and unedited when it lands on Australian shores.

Worry not, Aussies! The shifting winds of your videogame rating system are blowing your way this week, as Grand Theft Auto V, the latest addition to Rockstar's epic violent crime franchise, has been given an R18+ rating. According to the Australian Classification website [http://www.classification.gov.au/Pages/View.aspx?sid=1rhDjetqedVcsbMwMH44Tw%253d%253d&ncdctx=%2bi%2boeuP9%252ftLCgVsS9nmdwi8hVxWibVueNnhHGueadBrYDlO8tsO%2bY6qgDMIjQ56y], the game is rated "strong impact" for Themes, Violence, Language, Nudity and Sex, and "high impact" (which is even worse) for Drug Use.

And just to be clear, a Rockstar rep confirmed with GameSpot that the rating is for the "original" version of the game, the same that everyone else in the world will get. Grand Theft Auto V is the first game in the series to be given what I think we can all agree is an appropriate R18+ rating; the rest were crammed into the more restrictive MA15+ category.

It's good news for Australian gamers, but it may also be a tad baffling for the folks at Deep Silver: While Grand Theft Auto V got the go-ahead on its first try, the upcoming Saints Row IV has been refused classification not just once, but twice [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/126393-Saints-Row-IV-Refused-Classification-in-Australia-Again].

via: GameSpot [http://www.gamespot.com//news/grand-theft-auto-v-rated-r18-for-australia-6412331]



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[Erttheking]

Enjoy that one guys! I'll see you on GTA online. Just don't fly fighter jets into my penthouse.

 

[lacktheknack]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

 

[Buizel91]

I thought i heard somewhere that games where banned in Australia...meh, maybe i misheard or dreamt it.

Still good news for aussies! glad to see you guys are getting good treatment again

 

[Dr.Awkward]

This has "playing favorites" written all over it. Rockstar owned Team Bondi, and its home is in Sydney, Australia. Now this is where it gets interesting - Australia's game industry is actually suffering. Given the number of closings of Australian development houses over the years, often by publishers trying to trim the fat, it sounds like the government it trying to keep on Rockstar's good side by greenlighting this game despite being slightly more serious than SR4. What if they didn't? Would the company that actually brought in jobs (even if they were terrible) decide to no longer do business with the country, causing more controversy against the government?

Maybe that's what they're trying to do - In order for SR4 to be given the thumbs-up, Deep Silver has to start an development house in Australia, hiring talent from former development houses such as THQ Australia and Pandemic's Brisbane office.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

The Censors clearly don't understand the "Refuge in Audacity" vibe that SR4 is going for.
That being said, if anything GTA V should get the harsher judging, SR is a parody of GTA at this point while GTA is much more grounded in reality.
I'm not saying they should ban it, but by their logic, GTA should be more likely to be censored as, unlike SR, the violence and crimes in it can actually be done in real life, until the Anal Probe...

OT: I'm happy about this none the less, my friend in Australia has been hyped for this game and I'm glad he can actually play it ^_^

 

[VonKlaw]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

I suppose its because they probably view it that at least drug usage in a "grittier" setting is more likely to show a realistic outcome (like the painkiller addict guy in GTAIV becoming a paranoid, emotionally stunted weirdo) rather than Saint's Row style "I JUST DID FOUR LINE OF COCAINE AND NOW I'MMA JUMP ENTIRE BUILDINGS" weirdness.

 

[VanQ]

Of course it did. The Classification Office didn't want to poke THAT hornet's nest. If a GTA game got the ban here, there'd be riots.

 

[Ruairi iliffe]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

Eh might be context, Looking at SR4 it might be mad as all hell but I think the drugs in question might be beneficial in some capacity which I believe is the sticking point for the Aussies (another example being fallout 3's morphine cut). While GTA5 while more grounded could show negative effects of use, an example of such is Franklin is hinted at hating drug pushers in his area.

Or Rockstar are threatening to cut off their balls, anything is a given these days.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

I'll assume it's because the drug use in GTA is generally more realistic and serious in tone. They show drugs but a lot of the time they also show the consequences that come with those drugs.

Saints Row has because so much more childish and cartoon-y lately that they may have seen it as encouraging drug use. Showing what may have been interpreted as "benefits" without showing any consequences.

Just my speculation though. I'm not sure I'd go calling it a "double standard" just yet.

 

[Lost In The Void]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

The entire set up doesn't make sense to me at all. I'm happy GTAV got through for Australia's sake but honestly I find it odd that a game that's taken a more brutal and real stance towards drugs and violence can get through when the comical over the top ideas of Saints Row are apparently too horrid to allow.

 

[KOMega]

I find it odd that a game that's taken a more brutal and real stance towards drugs and violence can get through when the comical over the top ideas of Saints Row are apparently too horrid to allow.

That might be the exact reason. Maybe.
Is drugs something they are really sensitive with?

 

[1nfinite_Cros5]

It's kinda strange that a year ago we'd all groan in frustration that a game would get an R18+ game in Australia, because it wouldn't get distributed. Nowadays when a game gets that rating, we jump for joy because it's getting the go-ahead.

It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but a strange thing to reflect on.

 

[Xenowolf]

It's kinda strange that a year ago we'd all groan in frustration that a game would get an R18+ game in Australia, because it wouldn't get distributed. Nowadays when a game gets that rating, we jump for joy because it's getting the go-ahead.

It's a good thing, don't get me wrong, but a strange thing to reflect on.

Games didn't get given an R18 in Australia a year ago because the maximum rating for video games was only MA15, so any game with content that exceeded that rating wasn't distributed because legally, all games must be rated in order to be sold.

 

[TiberiusEsuriens]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

It's because adult content is not rated as harshly when it's given context. Saints Row is a series known exclusively for being bat-shit insane just for insanity's sake. When the ratings board looks at these to games GTA5 is seen more as a 'Godfather II' archetype where SR4 looks like 'National Lampoon.'

Another way to look at it is that GTA games typically show crappy people in crappy situations abusing people and substances, and in turn get abused and more downtrodden. SR shows people abusing substances and anal probing and then getting elected president and called savior of the universe.

See the difference? It's directly BECAUSE Saints Row is the bonkers one.

 

[Best of the 3]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

Gonna guess because GTA depicts it's themes like drug use and violence in a grittier light and therefore shows it has consequences while SR maybe just uses them for the hell of it with zero consequences? That's my guess anyway.

 

[Hazy992]

I think it's pretty telling of how stupid the Australian classification board really is when a game with adult themes actually gets approved.

And as others have already pointed out, GTA getting a pass for drug use but Saints Row not is bullshit

 

[MCerberus]

What if the SR4 refusal was a conspiracy? Rockstar is trying to muscle out the competition.

 

[Captain Anon]

How on earth did Grand Theft Auto, the gritty one, get away with drug usage, and Saints Row IV, the completely bonkers one, doesn't?

This doesn't compute. At all.

it's bollocks isn't it I mean what the actual fuck?!