Australia Bans CrimeCraft for Drug Use

[Greg Tito]

Australia Bans CrimeCraft for Drug Use

Australia's Classification Board will not allow the sale of the crime simulating MMO, CrimeCraft, for rewarding drug use with in-game benefits.

Late last week, the board ruled that the online shooter could not be sold in the country because of "boosts" in the game which mimic real world drugs. "In the board's opinion, there is insufficient delineation between the 'fictional drugs' available in game and real-world proscribed drugs," the report stated. There is no indication whether Vogster Entertainment, makers of CrimeCraft, will be releasing a version without the drug-use.

The board's report specifically calls out the drugs in CrimeCraft:

Boost parallels the names, chemical elements, administration, treatment and addictive elements of real-world proscribed drugs, and when used provide quantifiable benefits to a player's character. The game therefore contains drug use related to incentives or rewards and should be refused classification. In addition, the names of boosts mimic the chemicals and colloquial names of proscribed drugs. Examples include K-Dust, Birth, Chimera, Majoun, Betadyne ResistX and Zymek Stim-Ex, as well as the anabolics Raze and Frenzy.

The relationship between the Australian government and the games industry has been strained of late, with Bethesda created a Fallout 3 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96329-Atkinson-to-Appeal-Modern-Warfare-2-Rating-in-Australia] in which drug-use was less prominent for the Australian market. It is unclear if Vogster is willing or able to operate two different versions of CrimeCraft, as it is a persistent multiplayer world.

I'm not sure I agree with game companies accepting this kind of censorship. It is a slippery slope.

Source: GameSpot [http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6241564.html]

Permalink

 

[zombie711]

poor assuies will the world ever be sain, and just let you guys play games

 

[aarontg]

I wonder how long it will take for yahtzee to pack up aand leave.

 

[Superasil]

*sigh* im getting tired of these bans on video games, will somone please just give these people a smack and tell them is a freaking game.

 

[Gxas]

Australia needs to chill out a bit.

Now, I'm not from there, I'm an American, but from what I see, they take their censorship way too far. It's one thing to have an AO rating on a game for having a hidden, unlockable sex scene in it. Its another to outright ban a game from being sold in the country due to drugs or excessive violence.

It just seems extremely stupid to me. Maybe I missed something.

 

[The Rockerfly]

It's ridiculous how much crap you Australians get in the video gaming world. The prices are higher, the release dates are usually later and the stupid amount of censorship makes me think why any of you want to play video games?

 

[Simalacrum]

eh, I'm not suprised with the Australian censorship anymore.

But really, isn't it becomming un-democratic these days? These bloody politicians deciding what to do when the people's opinion is pretty much polar opposite... oh wells, I guess its not as bad as the completely un-democratic process of the selection for the president of Europe.

 

[Jared]

I do feel for the Australians...the rest of the world has the choice there of there about and the Aussies need to put up with it /sigh

The censorship board and politicians need to realx a little bit...

 

[Wintermoot]

o noes real-life isues in games! seriously THESE GAMES ARENT FOR KIDS!I think yahtzee will stick around for 6 months with all these bans/censors

 

[HardRockSamurai]

Poor Australia. Honestly, this may be the stupidest reason for banning a game that I've ever heard of. Violent or Sexual content, I can sort of understand, but this is just stupid.

The ironic thing is that an MMO as such would probably keep people from doing drugs.

 

[geldonyetich]

In Crimecraft's case, it's lucky it's not universally banned on the grounds of being a crappy pay-per-month Counterstrike clone slathered with sleazy ghetto dressing.

 

[Royas]

Not one of those drug names is even vaguely close to any real life drugs, so I'm pretty sure there is a clear difference between the real life narcotics and those fake ones. The Australian ratings board is, once again, talking out of their collective asses. What. A. Surprise. Might as well ban every other shooter too, for allowing health packs and stim packs. Those have about as much a similarity to reality as Crimecraft's drugs.

I'm not sure I agree with game companies accepting this kind of censorship. It is a slippery slope.

I have no doubts on this one. I don't agree with it. I feel that if a game is currently banned in Australia, the developer should just shrug their collective shoulders and leave it as is. The fans who really want the game will import it, and as for the rest... Well, you don't like what your government is doing, work to change it. The developer shouldn't change their vision of a game just because one country out of the entire world gets a stick up it's ass about something.

 

[DeathWyrmNexus]

Ah Australia, you never disappoint whenever I need a backwards thinking part of the world to laugh at. I am starting to wonder if Japan and Australia are secretly or not so secretly trying to make me xenophobic or give me a sense of superiority that is deserved for a change...

 

[Woodsey]

I doubt if people want to try drugs or continue using them, that pressing a button in the game will fulfill that requirement.

Why is the game classification system still based on the absurd paranoia of old men in grey suits?

 

[Hybrid Sight]

Banning video games is just dumb. The paranoia is just absurd.

 

[Trivun]

It's Australia. Does this even count as 'news'? Moving on...

Seriously though, game developers are just bowing down to the Australian Classification Board and this just gives them more power and lets them continue making these stupid rulings. What we need to see is several large developers, such as Bethesda, Valve, Ubisoft, Infinity Ward, and so on, joining together to call for an end to this. We need to see more developers taking a stand and trying to call for the Classification Board to allow games to be classified instead of banning their sale and release, and we need to see said developers lobbying more for an R18+ rating. Otherwise retards like Atkinson will simply continue to push their agendas and Australia is going to lose out even more, and it'll soon start getting to the point where such people manage to get some sort of power and following elsewhere. We've managed to keep Keith Vaz and Jack Thompson in the 'ridicule' category so far, bu events in Australia threaten to give them more fuel for their self-absorbed fires.

 

[Doug]

It's ridiculous how much crap you Australians get in the video gaming world. The prices are higher, the release dates are usually later and the stupid amount of censorship makes me think why any of you want to play video games?

I think the delays and price hikes are linked to the censorship - i.e. it takes longer to get through the review board, and the cost of editting to meet their standards gets passed onto the customer.

 

[The Rockerfly]

It's ridiculous how much crap you Australians get in the video gaming world. The prices are higher, the release dates are usually later and the stupid amount of censorship makes me think why any of you want to play video games?

I think the delays and price hikes are linked to the censorship - i.e. it takes longer to get through the review board, and the cost of editting to meet their standards gets passed onto the customer.

Quite possibly, that does make sense. It's still ridiculous, I hear you guys don't have an 18 rating?

 

[Doug]

It's ridiculous how much crap you Australians get in the video gaming world. The prices are higher, the release dates are usually later and the stupid amount of censorship makes me think why any of you want to play video games?

I think the delays and price hikes are linked to the censorship - i.e. it takes longer to get through the review board, and the cost of editting to meet their standards gets passed onto the customer.

Quite possibly, that does make sense. It's still ridiculous, I hear you guys don't have an 18 rating?

I'm not Australian, I'm British, and we do have an 18 rating. Australians don't. And the Michael Atkinson doesn't think gamers are adult enough to deserve it:
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/96194-Michael-Atkinson-Once-Again-Dismisses-Gamers

 

[countrysteaksauce]

Australia should ban the original Toy Story because of intense toy abuse.

When will the Australian gamers inherit the Australian parliament and change things?