Disco Elysium: Final Cut the latest casualty in Australian classification denial

[XsjadoBlayde]

Possibly the most critically acclaimed indie darling in the world ever has been refused classification by the Australian board of moral wisdom, for reasons below;

Games 1(a): The computer game is classified RC in accordance with the National Classification Code, Computer Games Table, 1. (a) as computer games that "depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified."

Which means no selly on the continent unless the naughties are snipped. Joining a long list of other games under the ban hammer one can browse;

List of banned video games in Australia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However, as the list mentions, a few game bans have been appealed and overturned while others have had the offending content cut to be allowed sale. What chances are there this game can make it through without censorship, if at all?

Oh, it releases the 30th of March too!

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Possibly the most critically acclaimed indie darling in the world ever has been refused classification by the Australian board of moral wisdom, for reasons below;



Which means no selly on the continent unless the naughties are snipped. Joining a long list of other games under the ban hammer one can browse;

List of banned video games in Australia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However, as the list mentions, a few game bans have been appealed and overturned while others have had the offending content cut to be allowed sale. What chances are there this game can make it through without censorship, if at all?

Oh, it releases the 30th of March too!

Wondering how well this kind of censorship works in Australia. Like, have they ever tracked a before and after scenario of stats on crimes?

 

[meiam]

Can't you just use VPN or something to easily get around it?

 

[Agema]

Possibly the most critically acclaimed indie darling in the world ever has been refused classification by the Australian board of moral wisdom, for reasons below;

That's such hilarious bullshit. These tools have clearly never watched their own country's film output.

 

[laggyteabag]

I remember reading that they added an 18+ rating, so hopefully stuff like this wouldn't happen anymore, but, obviously not.

As someone who lives in the UK, where this kind of stuff doesn't really happen, it's super weird that some random dude, or council of dudes, are the arbiters of what consenting adults can or can't play.

 

[09philj]

That wasn't very disco of them.

As someone who lives in the UK, where this kind of stuff doesn't really happen, it's super weird that some random dude, or council of dudes, are the arbiters of what consenting adults can or can't play.

There's a small number of films that are still banned by the BBFC, and sometimes they do ask for small cuts. PEGI who cover games don't give a shit, but also hand out 18 ratings like they're candy and are far less forgiving of strong violence than the BBFC were when they covered games, and offer very little context for why ratings are given, which frankly makes them pretty useless.

 

[Hawki]

Living in Oz, I can attest that it's a nanny state when it comes to videogames. The MK reboot was banned for awhile because of a lack of an R rating for videogames, despite having one for films.

 

[Trunkage]

I don't understand, how was that classification not applied to the original?

 

[sXeth]

Lulz, based on that wikipedia list, it looks like you get by it pretty easy if you got AAA cash to throw around... or it would be so much bigger with some obvious missing inclusions (*cough*GTA*cough* or even stuff like Metal Gear.). Unless those games didn't get Refusedbecause they never even bothered to apply.

 

[Gordon_4]

I don't understand, how was that classification not applied to the original?

That is a very good question indeed.

Lulz, based on that wikipedia list, it looks like you get by it pretty easy if you got AAA cash to throw around... or it would be so much bigger with some obvious missing inclusions (*cough*GTA*cough* or even stuff like Metal Gear.). Unless those games didn't get Refusedbecause they never even bothered to apply.

I’ve actually been trying to nail down exactly how the process works because the department is nowhere near big enough to rate and evaluate everything that gets vomited onto Steam and it’s contemporaries in isolation, never mind rating film, music and literature too. I can only assume there is some kind of weird ass honour system with steam that if you’re uploading and making available in Australia you have totally submitted the title for review *wink wink, nudge nudge*.

 

[Agema]

That wasn't very disco of them.

There's a small number of films that are still banned by the BBFC...

Technically, the BBFC just agrees to certify with an age rating, or refuse a certification. After that, depends on the medium: I believe the final word on whether to a film can be shown at a cinema is technically up to local councils, irrespective of what the BBFC says.

The BBFC is very lenient, though, these days. Just about the only thing that will reliably set it off is eroticised sexual violence.

 

[SckizoBoy]

Possibly the most critically acclaimed indie darling in the world ever has been refused classification by the Australian board of moral wisdom, for reasons below [snip]

It took my dopey butt waaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to realise whether or not it was actually called that!

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Was the original version of Disco Elysium considered fine? What changed in the Final Cut other than the addition of voice acting?

 

[Trunkage]

Was the original version of Disco Elysium considered fine? What changed in the Final Cut other than the addition of voice acting?

Im Aussie and was able to purchase the original. And the game is probably not as bad as other games I've seen

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Im Aussie and was able to purchase the original. And the game is probably not as bad as other games I've seen

So then why is this specific version being rated differently (or rather being denied a rating)?

A game comes out and it's fine and then a game of the year version comes out and all of a sudden it's a no no? I don't get it.

 

[Dalisclock]

Possibly the most critically acclaimed indie darling in the world ever has been refused classification by the Australian board of moral wisdom, for reasons below;



Which means no selly on the continent unless the naughties are snipped. Joining a long list of other games under the ban hammer one can browse;

List of banned video games in Australia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

However, as the list mentions, a few game bans have been appealed and overturned while others have had the offending content cut to be allowed sale. What chances are there this game can make it through without censorship, if at all?

Oh, it releases the 30th of March too!

Not at all surprised.

Also kinda shocked it doesn't have "Communism" in there as well.

Or is that only a US thing where politicians shit their pants if you so much as utter the word?

Was the original version of Disco Elysium considered fine? What changed in the Final Cut other than the addition of voice acting?

There's some added content as well. Something about "Political vision quests" and possibly a new area to explore(I doubt it'll be as big as the main game but that's fine). We'll find out in a week or so.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

That's such hilarious bullshit. These tools have clearly never watched their own country's film output.

It's just how all countries work. Moralizers can't stop everyone in their own country from doing something they don't like so long as it obeys the law, but they can certainly throw enough of a fit to get their government to screw with everyone else coming in, or get into the government themselves.

 

[Gordon_4]

It's just how all countries work. Moralizers can't stop everyone in their own country from doing something they don't like so long as it obeys the law, but they can certainly throw enough of a fit to get their government to screw with everyone else coming in, or get into the government themselves.

Except no one threw a fit for this. For or against. They added something that for some reason blew it past the R rating that is available to it. And the passage they quoted is more like the section of the classification act that it was found to be in breach of rather than what the breach was.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

And the passage they quoted is more like the section of the classification act that it was found to be in breach of rather than what the breach was.

I don't understand this, would it not be too much trouble for you to rephrase that?

 

[Gordon_4]

I don't understand this, would it not be too much trouble for you to rephrase that?

The language quoted is just the section of the classification act - chapter and verse as they say - that they’re justifying the refusal of classification under. What the article does not say is what content they found to be in breech of that section.