Saints Row IV Refused Classification in Australia (Again)

[Upbeat Zombie]

So is this a video game specific issue in Australia? Or do they not show drug use in a idealized way in any other form of media?

 

[martyrdrebel27]

So, them passing that R18+ thing was just an empty, feel good experience? because that's what it's looking like. seriously, what has changed there? i can't tell. as far as i can see, they just added a logo, no change in policy or procedure.

you know what the worst part is? when i was a kid, i DREAMED of visiting australia. However, because of the past few years of gaming culture bullying, i have ZERO interest in it anymore. the whole place seems like it's run by the worst types from the American Republican Party, a bunch of out of touch, irrelevant old people and overpriveleged snotty yuppies.

And that's just one person. Hey Australia, how many more people AROUND THE WORLD do you think you are alienating with your backwards policies? You're costing yourself money. Once by making people not come visit, and a second time by making all your gamers import games instead of buying them in your country.

Gamers are no longer a quiet little niche group you can bully. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget.

EDIT: Yahtzee, I call on you to do the responsible thing here and move away from Australia and set up the Mana Bar in New York City. Your continued presence in Australia is just the sweet Siren's Call the rocky deaths of censorship and repression.

 

[Bestival]

Hm? ...... What? Sorry was I supposed to be surprised? I can't, Australia isn't going to surprise anyone unless they release a game called "donkeyf***er's murdertime extravaganza"

This is funny, because Donkeyfuckers' Murdertime Extravaganza would be a perfectly fine alternative title for Saints Row 4.


So how long till Australia just straight up outlaws fun? What the hell do people do around there? Can't go outside because literally everything will kill you in the most fucked up way possible, and all fun media is banned.

Seriously, even the cutest thing in the world, the Koala Bear, turns into this when wet:

You see that? That is nature trying to recreate GREMLINS!

 

[Shamanic Rhythm]

As someone living in Australia, it's actually amazing there's apologists supporting this second banning of something that doesn't take a fucking government to dictate to the common man in terms of restraint and control.

It makes me sick that I'm in the same country with such sheeple.

The real problem is that despite having the same age categories as TV and film, games are still viewed through this prism of being more influential due to the 'interactive' part. Unless I'm wrong, no one has actually facilitated that kind of research and shown conclusively that interactive media have a much greater effect on conditioning than non-interactive media, but the ACB still goes by this bullshit claim anyway. Which is why they come down on anything with drugs like a tonne of bricks, but ease up the second they change the name to something not real like 'stims'. Utter rubbish.

Still, I can't exactly get worked up enough to feel sorry for Volition, as the whole 'anal probe' thing kind of suggests the game isn't worth defending.

 

[Programmed_For_Damage]

I'm not surprised as this game seems to have gone full retard, and everyone who's been keeping an eye on the classifications board knows that anything with drugs in it gets slapped with the big RC. Just recently I noticed State Of Decay pop up on my dashboard, which go refused classification because of drug use, so I wonder what they changed to get that passed.
So to the classifications board movies about drugs, they're fine; go nuts. Games that feature incidental drug use, knock that shit off. Games that feature a plethora of drugs, no fucking way. Seriously, do they think anyone is going to play SR4 and then run off down to Springvale to score some meth? As it is if it passes it will be with an R18+ rating and try and tell me that an 18 year old doesn't already know where to score drugs if they wanted them anyway.

 

[SSJBlastoise]

It's a miracle no one has beheaded any of those puritan fucks who give ratings to games in Australia.

It's because, despite what the board may think, gamers don't replicate their behaviour from in a game into the real world.

 

[RicoADF]

Would they refuse a game classification if the main character was a cancer patient and their reward for completing missions was a dose of chemotherapy drugs?

Nope because then it would fall under "within context" clause.

OT: So once again the escapist constrews the truth to make a sensationalist headline. No R18+ was NOT supose to allow every game in no matter the content, it was always meant to bring it upto films standards and a film can also be banned for depicting illicit drugs in a positive light. Bravo escapist, once again you show your the internet version of Fox news, "who cares about the truth just say whatever gets hits!"

I think an important thing to note is that I believe ratings require an all or nothing vote by the states. There is no majority decision process, all states must agree or the item is RC'd. I could be wrong, but I think that's how it works. It also explains why the current R18+ rating is crippled, because it was introduced purely to appease the growing dissent by gamers in this country. The Federal Govt. stepped in finally and said 'Do it already' and they did. But the ACB, being the backward organisation that it is, continues its campaign to treat game playing adults like children. They never intended otherwise.

Best solution is to write angry but rational letters to the board.
http://www.classification.gov.au/About/Pages/Contact-Us.aspx
Don't email, it will be ignored. Hey, a fax might work, that takes a modicum of effort. But write a letter on paper, put it in an envelope, address it and stamp it and send it. Their mailbox filled with gaming adults rationally stating they'd like to be treated as adults should have some weight.

The states have nothing to do with which games get rated what, the games are rated by the classification board which is an independent group selected from the community (and as such it's inconsistent). I believe the state can still stop the sale of a game if it breaches a state law but that's a different matter. Yes the states were required to add the R18+, but they don't vote on each game.

We requested that they rate games like movies and music, adding an R18+ for adault games and they have done that, it does not mean everything gets through.

 

[RicoADF]

So is this a video game specific issue in Australia? Or do they not show drug use in a idealized way in any other form of media?

Showing drugs in a positive light would get a song or movie banned as well, books I'm not certain about.

 

[1Life0Continues]

Would they refuse a game classification if the main character was a cancer patient and their reward for completing missions was a dose of chemotherapy drugs?

Nope because then it would fall under "within context" clause.

OT: So once again the escapist constrews the truth to make a sensationalist headline. No R18+ was NOT supose to allow every game in no matter the content, it was always meant to bring it upto films standards and a film can also be banned for depicting illicit drugs in a positive light. Bravo escapist, once again you show your the internet version of Fox news, "who cares about the truth just say whatever gets hits!"

I think an important thing to note is that I believe ratings require an all or nothing vote by the states. There is no majority decision process, all states must agree or the item is RC'd. I could be wrong, but I think that's how it works. It also explains why the current R18+ rating is crippled, because it was introduced purely to appease the growing dissent by gamers in this country. The Federal Govt. stepped in finally and said 'Do it already' and they did. But the ACB, being the backward organisation that it is, continues its campaign to treat game playing adults like children. They never intended otherwise.

Best solution is to write angry but rational letters to the board.
http://www.classification.gov.au/About/Pages/Contact-Us.aspx
Don't email, it will be ignored. Hey, a fax might work, that takes a modicum of effort. But write a letter on paper, put it in an envelope, address it and stamp it and send it. Their mailbox filled with gaming adults rationally stating they'd like to be treated as adults should have some weight.

The states have nothing to do with which games get rated what, the games are rated by the classification board which is an independent group selected from the community (and as such it's inconsistent). I believe the state can still stop the sale of a game if it breaches a state law but that's a different matter. Yes the states were required to add the R18+, but they don't vote on each game.

We requested that they rate games like movies and music, adding an R18+ for adault games and they have done that, it does not mean everything gets through.

I stand corrected, however I still believe games get a harsher review process than other media. This is a board that allowed a DOCUMENTARY on men who fuck donkeys and called it an 'art piece' and excluded it from classification, but a FICTIONAL movie about a gay zombie that has sex with dead bodies is banned [Source: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/donkey-sex-gets-thumbsup-from-censors-20120914-25x24.html] The inconsistency needs to be changed and a system in which the emotions of the quite frankly easily offended members are not part of the process. The classification process needs to be held apart from the moral ideals of the high and mighty, and instead on the plain facts. Do I agree that the anal probe weapon was probably a bit much? Yeah. But the giant purple dildo was allowed in SR3? Again, consistency. Not to mention, said dildo was funny for 30 seconds then most people switched back to a gun and forgot about it. The anal probe will likely go the same way.

And lastly, as ADULTS, hence the REASON for the R18+ rating, to make it illegal to sell to MINORS, shouldn't WE be the ones to judge what we cannot handle? Shouldn't WE be the ones in charge of our own moral compasses? I don't see why this is such a hard sell to people?

 

[Strazdas]

As, Australia, the pinnacle of modern world censorship, still at it i see.

 

[Strazdas]

As, Australia, the pinnacle of modern world censorship, still at it i see.

Just ignore China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea in favor of bitching about a worthless video game.

Well, as long as you ignore parts of my sentence, im fine with that.
and if you didnt get it yet, i meant two words: "modern world".

 

[Vareoth]

It's a miracle no one has beheaded any of those puritan fucks who give ratings to games in Australia.

It's because, despite what the board may think, gamers don't replicate their behaviour from in a game into the real world.

Ha! It would be a bit drastic to start murdering that filth. That would only serve to undermine our position and rationalise their agenda, won't it?

 

[Strazdas]

As, Australia, the pinnacle of modern world censorship, still at it i see.

Just ignore China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and North Korea in favor of bitching about a worthless video game.

Well, as long as you ignore parts of my sentence, im fine with that.
and if you didnt get it yet, i meant two words: "modern world".

Really those countries don?t exist anymore? Anyway we aren?t even that bad in comparison to first world countries, Germany has banned twice as many games as Australia has.

yeah, it seems you still cannot graps the meaning of "modern world"....

 

[RicoADF]

I stand corrected, however I still believe games get a harsher review process than other media. This is a board that allowed a DOCUMENTARY on men who fuck donkeys and called it an 'art piece' and excluded it from classification, but a FICTIONAL movie about a gay zombie that has sex with dead bodies is banned [Source: http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/movies/donkey-sex-gets-thumbsup-from-censors-20120914-25x24.html] The inconsistency needs to be changed and a system in which the emotions of the quite frankly easily offended members are not part of the process. The classification process needs to be held apart from the moral ideals of the high and mighty, and instead on the plain facts. Do I agree that the anal probe weapon was probably a bit much? Yeah. But the giant purple dildo was allowed in SR3? Again, consistency. Not to mention, said dildo was funny for 30 seconds then most people switched back to a gun and forgot about it. The anal probe will likely go the same way.

And lastly, as ADULTS, hence the REASON for the R18+ rating, to make it illegal to sell to MINORS, shouldn't WE be the ones to judge what we cannot handle? Shouldn't WE be the ones in charge of our own moral compasses? I don't see why this is such a hard sell to people?

I agree that their inconsistent, that's apart of the problem of having a classification board made up of members of the community, not all games are rated equally since every few years the reviewers change. However atleast it is being done by the people and not the government. On the other hand they do have guidelines they have to follow and SR4 hit one that they had to refuse, to not put illicit drugs in a positive light, right wrong or whatever those are the guidelines and they followed it. The anal probe has had a simple solution, sold as DLC. DLC isn't rated by the classification board, issue resolved.

The R18+ was to bring it to the same level as films and music and they do get RCed if they break the same rules, a movie that (for example) showed Estacy (spelling?) as a positive way would get the RC hammer just as fast. Volition knows this but tried to push the boundaries and hit a brick wall, that was their screw up and the downside of making a game all about being a crazy and pushing boundaries as much as possible, sometimes they will cross the line.

yeah, it seems you still cannot graps the meaning of "modern world"....

And it seems you cannot grasp the meaning of "censorship". The government isn't confiscating all copies of the game, arresting people who import it or any crap like that, it is not illegal to buy and own the un-edited game. The classification board determines what can be sold in Australia, that is all, and even then it's just in retail and a few digital stores.