Australia Has Banned Over 200 Games in Four Months
- Thread starter Lizzy Finnegan
- Start date
Errr.. They're Aussies, not Cockneys!Xsjadoblayde said:
OT: What are the games? And what is this back catalogue? Are they on the seedy end of those flash game sites refusing to put ratings on those horrid porn games, or are these actual bonafide games?
You are aware that the goverment over there was democratically voted in yes? Meaning that there was a large enough portion of Australia that is a-okay with what the goverment is doing.Dynast Brass said:
Chances are that video games are pretty low on the totem pole of issues australians are interested in currently.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.877707-Australia-Has-Banned-Over-200-Games-in-Four-Months#22102055 this post lists a few examples of what was banned and looking at those examples nothing of value was lost really.Elementary - Dear Watson said:
Well, this doesn't really surprise me given the positions of our political parties.
But then this has been going on a long time. It appears to be seedy flash games. I just don't see the point. Plus I wonder what the cost to taxpayers is?
We have an R rating now, can we please use it?
But then this has been going on a long time. It appears to be seedy flash games. I just don't see the point. Plus I wonder what the cost to taxpayers is?
We have an R rating now, can we please use it?
If you want shocking levels of censorship then look up The Border Force Act. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-30/detention-centre-workers-face-imprisonment-for-whistleblowing/6584392Dynast Brass said:
Trust me all this is a symptom of government trying to micromanage all facets of life here in the country. And unfortunately this affliction affects both major parties. Even the left-wing opposition party is all for gaming censorship. Although I will say this new classification tool seems to be a step in the right direction at long last.
Alas here in Australia we seem to have two political options. Democratically elect a socialist nanny state, or democratically elect a fascist police state. Fun times...
Seems about accurate although you can delete the Democrat party. They were disbanded because they no longer had enough members to field in an election.JemothSkarii said:Well, this doesn't really surprise me given the positions of our political parties.
But then this has been going on a long time. It appears to be seedy flash games. I just don't see the point. Plus I wonder what the cost to taxpayers is?
We have an R rating now, can we please use it?
Not quite true. A large portion of the population voted for Tony Abbot out of spite towards the political infighting from the now opposition Labor party. The labor party seemed far too engrossed in their own business and the business of stabbing their own Prime Ministers in the back than actually running the country.Karadalis said:
To that end though, yes Video gaming is very low on the totem poll of issues for the majority of Australians. Here they are considered luxury items and thus not essential to the daily needs of the people.
Wooooo. Go nanny state! FML. I seriously hate living in this country sometimes. Seriously was this Atkinson playing the long game?
No I am aware that is cockney, I was not trying to imitate Australian that poorly. Hah! Maybe it would have been less embarrassing to have noted that from the start.Elementary - Dear Watson said:
So one of every 738 games was refused classification...Gregory Heyes said:
And of those games, only one was known to really be any decent/of interest (Hotline Miami 2).
I love all the knee jerk raging about Australia's classification system though. I bet if Steam refused to sell 'virtual weed smoker' or some of that crap the same people would be applauding it for implementing quality control.
Comments like the one you responded to are often made by Americans who don't tend to realize that most western democracies do not have a constitution with free speech guarantees built in. You are quite right in pointing out that most western democracies do indeed ban things, it's just that we ban nearly nothing as far as speech in the U.S., so our citizens assume this is true of most places that share similar cultural values in the west.Halyah said:
It's worth noting that government censorship and a refusal of a specific platform to sell aren't really equivalent. The ethical obligations involved are vastly different. As for Hotline Miami 2 being the only decent one, I'd probably agree but from an art philosophy perspective, it is up to each member of the audience to find their own value in a piece, not be beholden to what someone else thinks is garbage. The strident reactions here are understandable; if someone tried to do this in the U.S., I would myself be blowing my top. I won't do so here because it isn't my country; the Aussies can make their own decisions about their ethical values. I am sympathetic to the harsh reactions though.Shamanic Rhythm said:
Quite! The reaction many Americans have to finding out that government censorship in most Western democracies is a commonplace occurrence is to be shocked. Most of us just assume that any Western style democracy has the same sort of constitution we do with the same general rights built in. The U.S. is actually a bit of an outlier in that. I can imagine that playing through American POV plots that make these assumptions can come off as laughably absurd. Of course we get that same kind of absurd reaction when we consume Japanese media that portrays Americans or American culture; it's like looking in a fun-house mirror.Halyah said:
As an Australian I actually like the system, that said there are still some flaws as Zachary has pointed out. While in general I agree that art should be left alone and censorship is bad there are times when a ban is appropriate. Games/movies etc that encourage illegal things (eg: child porn, drug abuse etc) should be prohibited from sale as it's encouraging illegal behavior.Dynast Brass said:
Does this mean I agree with every choice they have made, no, but I much prefer some level of control over the US system of letting the cat guard the cage. The idea of leaving the system where places that sell the games are responsible for enforcing ratings with no legal requirement to follow them is stupid (conflict of interest), what's the point of the ratings if their ignored anyway? Atleast here little Tom cannot go and buy GTA V behind his parents back as the store is responsible if they sell him a R18+ game. That does not stop his parents from buying him the game if they decide he can handle it (as my parents did while I was young with M15+ games). This puts the power of what kids can watch in the parents hands, where it belongs.
I would also like to remind people that it's the sale and public broadcasting etc of the RC items that's illegal, I can legally own an RC game (assuming it isn't illegal for other reasons).