Australian Government Rolls Out R18+ Game Rating Guidelines

[Dubaian]

This clearly needs a little bit of revision, but it seems Australia really is growing up with respect to video games as a proper form of entertainment, like any other medium.

 

[Metalrocks]

thats australia for you. always behind. if WW3 would break out, they would know about it a year later.
i am so glad i moved away from there. i had to import L4D2 from the US bc i coulndt get it uncut in AUS.
i am wondering if the R+ rating will be successful.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

It's also perfectly legal to eat both animals... which is good because they're tasty. How many other countries say "here are our national emblems... would you like them grilled or fried?"

How many other countries have national emblems that can outrun and chase them down before killing them in a less than dignified manner? Never tried emu or kangaroo. Have tried crocodile, didn't taste as good as I thought it would.

I wonder what will happen to all the games that they banned prior to this new legislation, will they be re-evaluated?

 

[ChupathingyX]

Wait a minute... WAIT A MINUTE.

Do Australians seriously have Emu in their official symbol?

What's so bad about that? The Kangaroo and Emu are national symbols of Australia and are only found in Australia.

Not to mention both the Kangaroo and Emu could kick your ass anyday, seriously a Kangaroo and Emu can not only run faster than you, but they will give you a pretty big kick, the nail on the Emu's toe is about the size of a knife and will seriously hurt if you piss it off.

And don't get me started on the Cassowary...or the inland Taipan.

 

[farq1414]

FINALY for goodness sake
now on to the topic of mortal kombat

 

[klawhammer]

The problem is that it will still cost less to import games from America than buy them here

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

I wonder what will happen to all the games that they banned prior to this new legislation, will they be re-evaluated?

Only if the publisher/distributor resubmits them, otherwise RCed titles will remain RCed.

Hopefully the publishers/distributors of some horribly mutilated edited versions will resubmit unbrutalised versions for classification as well.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Only if the publisher/distributor resubmits them, otherwise RCed titles will remain RCed.

Hopefully the publishers/distributors of some horribly mutilated edited versions will resubmit unbrutalised versions for classification as well.

I wonder, if in order to make people happy that purchased an altered title only to have it re-released, will be able to download a patch that will re-enable the removed content.

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Wait a minute... WAIT A MINUTE.

Do Australians seriously have Emu in their official symbol?

I think it was supposedly something about Kangaroos and Emu's not being able to go backwards, or something.

That is correct. Our current prime minister just loves to use the words 'moving forward' attached to everything she does, despite actually going back to old Howard government policies like sending asylum seekers to offshore detention.

Someone in her government has obviously been sitting down with a calculator and has worked out that the 'adult gamer' vote is far more lucrative than the 'think of the children' vote, which is the only reason they're finally making progress on this issue.

 

[jackpipsam]

Wait a minute... WAIT A MINUTE.

Do Australians seriously have Emu in their official symbol?

we do, is there an issue

thats australia for you. always behind. if WW3 would break out, they would know about it a year later.
i am so glad i moved away from there. i had to import L4D2 from the US bc i coulndt get it uncut in AUS.
i am wondering if the R+ rating will be successful.

funny since USA was late to both WW1 and WW2 while Australia wasn't

The problem is that it will still cost less to import games from America than buy them here

that has nothing to do with governmental or rating systems

 

[TheRealCJ]

Wait a minute... WAIT A MINUTE.

Do Australians seriously have Emu in their official symbol?

Both animals are capable of killing you wholesale.

Incidentally, both are delicious, as is the wreath on the bottom (we're the only country to eat the entirety of our official symbol.)

 

[TheRealCJ]

"Violence is permitted except where it offends against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults"

In other words you better not have shocking violence in your fantasy even though you'll find plenty of it in the real world.

This sentence is vague enough to still allow censorship.

These restrictions are too restrictive. When talking about material for adults EVERYTHING should be OK in fantasy content-wise.

"reasonable adults" pretty much means "a fairly large group of "people on the street".

You show most adults (outside of specialist groups) a violent game, and only a small percentage will be personally offended, most won't even bat an eyelid.

This is more about the stuff that the majority of people would disdain from watching; explicit killing of children, rape, overly realistic violence, that sort of thing.

 

[TheRealCJ]

Wait a minute... WAIT A MINUTE.

Do Australians seriously have Emu in their official symbol?

Gentlemen we have our winner. I don't need to read anymore comments as this man has simply landed the hay-maker.

Kudos to you sir, kudos.

OT:

Screw the Australian government, the P.T.C has gotten to them and infiltrated their highest ranks.
Still seeing as they have taken a step forward I should probably welcome them to 1958, Congrats, WW2 is over and 'Nam is in full Swing.

Wont be long before you guys actually catch up to the real world.

Big cricket fan are you?

 

[octafish]

But not everyone is onboard with the new plan. "We remain concerned that these draft guidelines would legalize games with high levels of graphic, frequent and gratuitous violence, including violence against civilians and police, and would not adequately protect the community," said Victoria Attorney General Robert Clark. "I intend to pursue these concerns in discussions with Minister O'Connor."

*Bangs head repeatedly against desk*
What do you think you need to protect anyone from - people have been playing video games for decades now! It doesn't seem to have ended civilization anywhere else yet! What the hell do you mean "impact test" how about you just look at the rest of the damn world! I mean I'm not even Australian and this is making me rage ... Ah, bureaucracy when you absolutely positively can't afford to actually get anything done.

Ahh, Clark is just flapping his trap and shoring up his conservative vote. Brendan has stated that if the Attorney Generals don't grant a R+ classification to games, he will steam-roll right over them.

 

[Realitycrash]

OK... Good news, but some things though... Did they think this through before writing it?

document says. "Sexual activity may be realistically simulated. The general rule is, 'simulation, yes - the real thing, no'."

Now, feel free to point it out if I'm forgetting something here, but unless this was lifted wholesale from the film classification guidelines, this particular statement makes no sense whatsoever.

With a handful of exceptions owing to Full Motion Video (Which nobody really uses much anymore), video games are 100% simulated by definition.

This means 'the real thing' is a meaningless concept when applied to computer games.

Ergo, this comment implies pornographic computer games can get an R18+ rating, while otherwise equivalent sexual content would have an X rating (or be banned altogether).

That's... A very weird statement, to say the least.

"'simulation, yes - the real thing, no'."

Lol? EVERYTHING in videogames is simulated. How the hell can it provide "the real thing"?
Even a Hentai-game is still a Hentai Dating simulator

And consider this from the other angle. "The real thing" will be subject to censorship. What the fuck does that mean? "The real thing" in regards to sex is sex.

Family Guy said it best.

 

[deathninja]

Someone in her government has obviously been sitting down with a calculator and has worked out that the 'adult gamer' vote is far more lucrative than the 'think of the children' vote, which is the only reason they're finally making progress on this issue.

Not the greatest of reasons, but if it gets results...

I've always had something of a soft spot for Aus, the way you guys handle a lot of things, but this just smacked of politicians playing moral crusader to get votes. Hopefully they'll pull their heads out of their asses on this one.

 

[Taddy]

Wait a minute... WAIT A MINUTE.

Do Australians seriously have Emu in their official symbol?

Our original coat of arms had all the native animals we eat on a regular basis. Unfortunately we couldn't fit them all on it, so we had to settle for the kangaroo and emu.

 

[the_green_dragon]

well there goes my business of importing Mortal Kombat to Australia

apparently customs is not allowing it, also u can;t sell them on ebay anyway

 

[RadiusXd]

As a Victorian I would like to officially apologise to the rest of Australia and the world for Robert Clark.

when I get my voting rights next year, I shall do my bit to "alleviate" the issue.