Midnight sees the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, a video game that had to be censored for Australian release due to its explicit content.
So how come gamers in other countries will be playing the original, unedited version? It's all to do with Australia's gaming classification scheme. Unlike the US and Europe, Australia lacks an adult rating for games with high-impact violence, sexual content and drug use. Our highest rating is MA, and to fit into this classification, games must be deemed suitable for people aged 15 and up.
This means that games that are too explicit for 15 year olds are either censored -- like GTA IV -- or banned altogether. Recently Dark Sector was banished from the Australian market because its mutant hero did a little too much decapitating with his magical razor frisbee. This same game is freely available on American shelves to anyone aged 17 or older.
While some Aussie gamers have been using words like "puritanical" and "draconian" to describe the nation's ratings scheme, others see no need to overhaul a system that keeps explicit content away from local consoles. Would an R rating for games give adults more choice, or is it a fast track to a flood of nasty titles? That's what we're asking in this week's Whaddyareckon?
Dean
28/04/2008 04:47 PM
If people don't want an R18+ rating for games, do they also want to scrap the R18+ rating for movies and magazines?
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Leon
28/04/2008 04:58 PM
PS3 is region free, UK (PAL) X360 unedited. With a game this good, with online content (meaning little to no piracy) Australia just doesn't want the money.
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Shadzzy
28/04/2008 05:04 PM
An R18 Rating should be allowed, and leave it up to the kids parents to decide if the game is right for the children. The Gov't needs to realise that adults are able to make their chocies and not have the Gov't force outdated ideals on them
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Bob
28/04/2008 08:07 PM
The Prime Minister is a big fan of censorship (just look at his plans for the internet). I would not be at all surprised if he shares his predecessors view that "video games are for kids, thus there should be no adult games". He might be 15 years younger but that is still 20 years too old!
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iconfess
28/04/2008 09:45 PM
This post has been flagged as inappropriate and was censored accordingly.
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Kob
29/04/2008 05:59 AM
It is notable that the 'ratings' in the US are NOT purchase restrictions. With a handful of exceptions, anyone of any age can buy a game with any rating. the rating system is voluntary and holds no force of law whatsoever. A retailer who sells an M rated game to a 8 year old is not breaking the law.
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Kob
29/04/2008 05:59 AM
It is notable that the 'ratings' in the US are NOT purchase restrictions. With a handful of exceptions, anyone of any age can buy a game with any rating. the rating system is voluntary and holds no force of law whatsoever. A retailer who sells an M rated game to a 8 year old is not breaking the law.
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Asmodai
29/04/2008 08:09 AM
Continued refusal to give an R18 rating to Australian gamers, many of whom are over 18 (I'm 32) is an insult to adults who want to play games. We are being punished by extension for the parents who don't care to monitor their child's consumption. This absence will not decrease the amount these games are played as they are typically available on import or via piracy, but it will give the do good wowsers a nice sense of wellbeing that all the other kids are now safer (ironically these people never worry about their own kids because they are such "great parents"). I'm not a child and to be treated as such is insulting.
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Dean
29/04/2008 09:13 AM
Kob: What kind of parent gives their kid $100 to buy a video game on their own? Surely the parent is *there* when they buy the game?
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biggie
29/04/2008 12:12 PM
Can't we just buy the euro version instead?
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Prydie
01/05/2008 07:15 PM
As a PS3 owner I feel kind of bad for Xbox 360 owners who have to put up with censored Aussie games. No region coding for Sony really does have its appeal. Its just a pity I have to spend my money overseas.
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dcohen88
03/05/2008 01:27 PM
My copy of GTA IV has a nice big European 18+ stamped on the front of it. That's appropriate for a game like this which shouldn't be launched at MA15+. Too bad the pollies here don't see that.
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cornwallace
21/05/2008 01:34 PM
Order your games online and uncensored from Europe. Get a VISA debt card for security. Like you dcohen88 I have a fat 18+ stamp on the front of my gta4 copy. Screw all those pollies censorless!
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aurotaro
16/06/2008 01:39 AM
sex scenes and nudity are regular on australian free-to-air television. you really think under 15's can't change a channel on TV.. bugger the law... its bullshit.
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Dan
18/06/2008 02:11 AM
My opinion: Its ridiculous. Completely ridiculous. The issues for and against are very clear-cut and simple, and there is quite simply no good reason to continue this madness, punishing Australian retailers, encouraging piracy, and putting barriers up for honest game-loving adults who don't want to put up with intentionally de-realised graphics. Gaming demographics have completely changed since the laws were introduced... And someone please, PLEASE show me some sort of evidence that violent video games are any more psychologically damaging than violent books or movies. Help me believe that our politicians aren't simply the mouthpieces of the cranky (but very vocal) conservative morons. I don't think it exists, and based on my own acquaintances and experiences, I would in fact say that video games help people avoid crime. This is because video game culture is not one of sociopathy or drug-taking, and not even one of machismo or racism. One could argue that immersing yourself in that culture is bad for your physical health or sexual development (think Ventolin-puffing ubernerds), but not your sense of morality or urge to commit real-world crimes. Too bad for the Christian right (who really seem to be the only people against video games for some reason), they've yet again chosen a flawed line or argument. While I sincerely hope that the politicians will see reason, I am resigned to the fact that the 20-somethings that post in forums such as this will never get organised enough to present a cogent argument for the R18+ rating in a political forum. As a result, we will simply have to wait until the scared old (organised) Mothers Against Videogame Addiction and Violence die of hypertension-induced heart attacks and strokes before we can legally buy these games in Australia.
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jezza
22/06/2008 02:38 PM
the only thing i see wrong with it is that there aint 2 many 18 yr old hardcore gamers. A lot of money will be lost and the censored games dont deter any1 from buying them
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