Syndicate Banned in Australia - UPDATED

[Farther than stars]

"The game will not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government's recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games - cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies,"

Surely they mean "archaic"?

Oh wait, this is EA, they're not famous for their brains, and in fact are famous for their LACK of brains.

Silly me.

No, they mean arcane. Archaic wouldn't even make any sense. Games haven't been around for long enough to be archaic, let alone the Australian government's notoriety for banning them.
Either way, I don't mind whether you like EA or not, but don't go knocking them for something as simple as this.
And personally I would never call them stupid. Sure, they've done some dumb things but looking at the over-all record; getting into bed with studios and copyright holders that brought them games like the Happy Potter series, The Sims, Mass Effect (and by extension Dragon Age), Dead Space, just to name a few. I would call that pretty smart business practice.

 

[Char-Nobyl]

Oh maaaaaaaaaaaaaan!

I was waiting for Yahtzee to tear the game apart!

You think this is going to stop him? He's reviewed 'banned' games before. He just has to have them imported first.

EDIT: I think EA's response is a shame for Australian gamers, but still a necessary move. Australia's censorship laws have held up for this long in part because big publishers were willing to pander to their asinine terms and neuter their games to get access to the Australian market. Gamers might have been annoyed by this, but ultimately, they still got something close to the game they wanted.

Now? EA's actually made a move that can be described as 'ballsy' rather than 'dickish.' They've made a lot of questionable choices, and a good number of unquestionably bad ones, too, but this is actually a move to be admired by them. They're one of the biggest publishers in gaming, and if they're finally going to stop appeasing the Australian censorship board's demands, gamers won't have a censored but still servicable copy of a game to convince them that they can live with such dickish censorship laws.

 

[Char-Nobyl]

"The game will not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government's recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games - cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies,"

Surely they mean "archaic"?

Oh wait, this is EA, they're not famous for their brains, and in fact are famous for their LACK of brains.

Silly me.

No, they mean arcane. Archaic wouldn't even make any sense. Games haven't been around for long enough to be archaic, let alone the Australian government's notoriety for banning them.

You know that 'arcane' generally just means 'magic,' right? Its literal definition is 'mysterious' and such, but I've never heard it used in any context except magic. So unless EA is deriding Australia for its use of warlocks in enforcing their gaming bans, they were probably shooting for 'archaic.'

Either way, I don't mind whether you like EA or not, but don't go knocking them for something as simple as this.

You're assuming that he meant literally archaic. I highly doubt that. If you're referring to a law as 'archaic,' it means the same thing as 'dated': it's a law that isn't up to date with the current era. And frankly, the fact that games are a relatively new industry only lends credit to the idea that Austria's laws are dated. They're knee-jerk responses by self-declared morals 'n values crusaders who are latching on to the latest trend in entertainment because it's not longer accepted to do the same thing with radio, literature, comics, film, etc.

And yes, these are the sort of standards that were forced on other entertainment mediums when they were first conceived. It's just that most of them collapsed at least a few decades ago that makes this sort of thing seem particularly stupid. The US had 'film codes' that forbade (and this is not an exaggeration) criminals from ever being portrayed in a positive light. Like, at all. It was as insane as it was stupid, and it's astonishing that we apparently didn't learn enough the first half-dozen times we went through this cycle.

 

[Farther than stars]

"The game will not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government's recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games - cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies,"

Surely they mean "archaic"?

Oh wait, this is EA, they're not famous for their brains, and in fact are famous for their LACK of brains.

Silly me.

No, they mean arcane. Archaic wouldn't even make any sense. Games haven't been around for long enough to be archaic, let alone the Australian government's notoriety for banning them.

You know that 'arcane' generally just means 'magic,' right? Its literal definition is 'mysterious' and such, but I've never heard it used in any context except magic. So unless EA is deriding Australia for its use of warlocks in enforcing their gaming bans, they were probably shooting for 'archaic.'

Either way, I don't mind whether you like EA or not, but don't go knocking them for something as simple as this.

You're assuming that he meant literally archaic. I highly doubt that. If you're referring to a law as 'archaic,' it means the same thing as 'dated': it's a law that isn't up to date with the current era. And frankly, the fact that games are a relatively new industry only lends credit to the idea that Austria's laws are dated. They're knee-jerk responses by self-declared morals 'n values crusaders who are latching on to the latest trend in entertainment because it's not longer accepted to do the same thing with radio, literature, comics, film, etc.

And yes, these are the sort of standards that were forced on other entertainment mediums when they were first conceived. It's just that most of them collapsed at least a few decades ago that makes this sort of thing seem particularly stupid. The US had 'film codes' that forbade (and this is not an exaggeration) criminals from ever being portrayed in a positive light. Like, at all. It was as insane as it was stupid, and it's astonishing that we apparently didn't learn enough the first half-dozen times we went through this cycle.

It doesn't generally mean magic. It's generally used to describe magic, even though it doesn't have to be. But that tangent aside, that's quite a nice bit of reasoning you have there. Although I must say I would have prefered to have heard it from the orginial poster.
Never mind, I can take you on, but saying what you just have, I would argue that either words would be equally valid in that position. And that being the case, shouldn't we just let EA give that sentence the meaning they did, rather than debating what it should mean?
I'm glad you brought up criminals though, because now I get to remind everyone how television and video games are what got kids off the streets and kept them out of gangs. In that light, the Australian government should be thanking the gaming industry on its knees.

 

[Inglorious891]

Eh...
I'm only mildly considering getting the game, so it really doesn't matter to me.

Props to EA though, finally saying something all gamers want to say to the Australin Governemt/Rating Board.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

so after having a wicked awesome trailer, this happens?

Hm...this game is sounding more and more enticing by the minute. will have to watch it closely.

 

[Dryk]

Surely they mean "archaic"?

Oh wait, this is EA, they're not famous for their brains, and in fact are famous for their LACK of brains.

Silly me.

No, our government is literally using black magic to stop people from realising what they're doing. Dead. Serious.

If anyone else can think of a reason how people can't see through all the blatant populism and pandering flying around Canberra at the moment I'd like to hear it

 

[Varil]

Whoa. EA said something awesome? I...I need to lie down.

Sucks for you, Australia. To be fair, it's an EA game, so it'd probably be a huge disappointment anyway.

 

[idarkphoenixi]

Australia needs to get out of the 1990's and grow the fuck up...

Games are no longer a childs plaything. In fact, most customers now are full grown adults. If you allow porn, violent movies and rap, then you can allow games.

 

[Xangi]

"The game will not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government's recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games - cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies,"

Surely they mean "archaic"?

Oh wait, this is EA, they're not famous for their brains, and in fact are famous for their LACK of brains.

Silly me.

No, they mean arcane. Archaic wouldn't even make any sense. Games haven't been around for long enough to be archaic, let alone the Australian government's notoriety for banning them.
Either way, I don't mind whether you like EA or not, but don't go knocking them for something as simple as this.
And personally I would never call them stupid. Sure, they've done some dumb things but looking at the over-all record; getting into bed with studios and copyright holders that brought them games like the Happy Potter series, The Sims, Mass Effect (and by extension Dragon Age), Dead Space, just to name a few. I would call that pretty smart business practice.

Arcane makes significantly less sense, no matter how you define archaic. Also, if you think telling a government to shove it is smarter than appealing to them to get your product sold (in terms of business), then you clearly should never run a business. The ideal handling of this situation would be to do what smart game companies ALWAYS do when dealing with Australia, make a special censored version. Or, better than that, just give them the German version, since that one is already going to be censored.

Also, EA is not known for smart business practice in the realm of PC gaming. If you had played DS2 or ME2 on PC, you'd realize what a hassle it is to deal with Securom, which they insist on putting in their games. Sure, they do great on 360 and PS3, but soon that console generation will be forced into obsolescence by Nintendo starting a new generation, and then what? What happens when Mass Effect 6: Shepard goes to college doesn't sell? They'll be wishing they didn't alienate the whole PC market.

tl;dr
Archaic makes more sense no matter how you slice it (though if English is not your first language I can see the confusion), and EA is still dumb.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

And naturally our country is still being run by a bunch of senile old farts, a woman who wasn't even born in Australia, and a nanny country to all things from road rules to Video Games.

 

[Chosen_Chaos]

only one way to describe my anger at my government... FUCK YOU GUYS!!! I blame this all on Julia Gillard, first she screws the economics, and now delaying R 18+ games to be alowed?!?! now that out of my system, Im so damn sick of the Australian government thinking that parents are irresponsible, so they dont allow any good things in, like Mortal Kombat atleast Dead Island got through i guess...

Well, lucky im moving to the UK in 3 months time

In fairness, the problems with the OFLC randomly slapping the RC tag on games have been around since during Howard's time in government. I could also point out that the Gillard government was the one that put out the request for submissions regarding putting a R-18+ rating in place for games, even if nothing seems to have come of it yet.

 

[jonyboy13]

Damn, that sounds awesome.
Oh, EA, talking about censorship... The hypocrisy is so amusing.

 

[[zonking great]]

You know, for being the sons and daughters of a bunch of convicted felons and their jailors, Australians sure are squeamish.

 

[Farther than stars]

"The game will not be available in Australia despite its enthusiastic response from fans. We were encouraged by the government's recent agreement to adopt an 18+ age rating for games. However, delays continue to force an arcane censorship on games - cuts that would never be imposed on books or movies,"

Surely they mean "archaic"?

Oh wait, this is EA, they're not famous for their brains, and in fact are famous for their LACK of brains.

Silly me.

No, they mean arcane. Archaic wouldn't even make any sense. Games haven't been around for long enough to be archaic, let alone the Australian government's notoriety for banning them.
Either way, I don't mind whether you like EA or not, but don't go knocking them for something as simple as this.
And personally I would never call them stupid. Sure, they've done some dumb things but looking at the over-all record; getting into bed with studios and copyright holders that brought them games like the Happy Potter series, The Sims, Mass Effect (and by extension Dragon Age), Dead Space, just to name a few. I would call that pretty smart business practice.

Arcane makes significantly less sense, no matter how you define archaic. Also, if you think telling a government to shove it is smarter than appealing to them to get your product sold (in terms of business), then you clearly should never run a business. The ideal handling of this situation would be to do what smart game companies ALWAYS do when dealing with Australia, make a special censored version. Or, better than that, just give them the German version, since that one is already going to be censored.

Also, EA is not known for smart business practice in the realm of PC gaming. If you had played DS2 or ME2 on PC, you'd realize what a hassle it is to deal with Securom, which they insist on putting in their games. Sure, they do great on 360 and PS3, but soon that console generation will be forced into obsolescence by Nintendo starting a new generation, and then what? What happens when Mass Effect 6: Shepard goes to college doesn't sell? They'll be wishing they didn't alienate the whole PC market.

tl;dr
Archaic makes more sense no matter how you slice it (though if English is not your first language I can see the confusion), and EA is still dumb.

So that's going to be your argument, huh? "Archaic makes more sense, just because it does"? Yes, English is my first language (which you might guess from me being British!) and at least I told you why I think arcane makes a perfectly good adjective there.
Anyway, that aside, I would argue that pandering to the Australian government could possibly be the worst thing to do in this situation. If game studios will just blindly go along with their demands, they'll end up censoring more and more, giving gaming an increasingly bad rep in that country.
Moreover, the way that they did tell the Australian government to "shove it" was rather mild to be honest. In politics, if you want to shine through you need strong opinions and to be able to stand up to your opponents. Otherwise you just seem weak and I wouldn't want that for the gaming industry, no matter who the company is.
And lastly, my money is still on EA, who I think are capable of a lot more than you give them credit for; I suspect they're in it for the long haul. Also, I'd contradict you and say that Mass Effect is a trilogy, but if Halo is anything to go by, I fear you might be right about Mass Effect 6. =/

 

[Roxor]

While I'm not interested in the game itself, I am angry with the Office of Film and Literature Classification for refusing classification just on principle. If they can't classify it, then they should make up a new classification for it. Censorship is never the answer.

 

[Superior Mind]

Urgh, and that meeting of Attorneys-General plus Brendan O'Connor's "dedication" to sort out the matter by the end of the year was so promising... well fucking done Greg Smith you limp-dicked little tool. Everyone was in for it, even John fucking Rau despite his weird ideas, and you hesitated... just that little too long to show that you were weak. Though eventually agreeing it didn't take much from the anti-game lobbyists to make you cave. "Grand Theft Auto is a game that lets you pick up, have sex with and murder prostitutes". I can't believe that they got you with that old argument.

There's always one isn't there. Michael Atkinson was bad and I'm glad he's gone but Greg Smith is just weak.

I think EA is taking the right road here. If the ACB refuses to change, (or others refuse to change it,) fuck them. A game development goes through enough without having to alter itself to adhere to the ACB's fragile sensibilities. Maybe people will start getting angry and start pushing that spineless fool Smith and anyone else like him in the right direction.