Australian ratings system a joke

Brian — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:58:01 +0000

Tom Crago, the President of the Game Developers Association of Australia, has slammed Australia’s computer game ratings system as “a joke” in an interview with IT Wire. Crago’s statement comes just days after the banning from release of yet another computer game in Australia, Koch Media’s medieval role playing game “Risen”, which was refused classification in the country. The problem, as Crago sees it, is the refusal of the country to introduce an “R” rating for computer games, just as there is for films. “The biggest problem we have here in Australia,” he said, “is that we don’t have an R classification for video games. At the moment, the highest a game can be classified is M (MA 15+), which means you need to be fifteen years or over to buy it. It’s ridiculous because it assumes that computer games are fundamentally different to film and outrageous in that it assumes that adults shouldn’t be allowed access to adult content in video games.”

The controversy over the banning of “Risen” follows from the fact that it is merely the latest victim of Australia’s archaic classification system, which has claimed three other games so far this year and a further five last year. Crago believes that Australia’s failure to introduce an “R” rating is making the country a laughing stock in the international scene. Introducing an R rating would, he says, “bring us into line with the rest of the world, and it would ensure that games that are presently refused classification, or shoehorned inappropriately into the MA 15+ bracket can be appropriately rated… We are the butt of a lot of jokes… People cannot believe that we still have this ridiculous system here in Australia, designed twenty or thirty years ago, and hasn’t changed since.”

Risen banned in Australia

admin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 11:34:18 +0000

The computer game “Risen”, from Deep Silver, has banned from sale or rental in Australia. The game, a role playing game set on a fantasy island where the user plays a character who has been shipwrecked and finds mysterious creatures threatening the island, has failed to meet the criteria established by Australia’s video game classification system to meet an MA 15+ rating, the maximum classification allowed for a computer game in Australia. The content which has placed “Risen” on the country’s “banned” list (the third game to go on the list this year, following “Necrovision” and “Sexy Poker”) pertains to “inappropriate sexual material” (namely involving the player acquiring the sexual services of prostitutes) and drug use, pertaining to a fictional drug entitled “Brugleweed” (frequently referred to just as ‘weed’) and the trading of the substance therein.

The Classification Board said the game’s sexual content “is purportedly not a necessary element of the gameplay (but) players can gain rewards or advance through the game more easily by engaging in sexual activity with prostitutes“ rewarded players who used it with experience points… (the game) failed to meet acceptable classification guidelines.” Madman Interactive, who were to be the game’s distributor Down Under, confirmed the ban to Gamespot.com, saying “We’re working with the publishers to come to a resolution, but before that, we’re looking at the options available to us, whether we take it to review or to amend and resubmit.”

The game is set to launch on the Xbox 360 and PC’s in October… everywhere but Australia.

THE GAMERHEADLINES » Risen

Australian ratings system a joke

Risen banned in Australia