A new draft of the R18+ classification has been released by home minister Brendan O’Connor through the Australian Federal Government. The new guidelines closely match those in place for Australia’s film industry. The new R18+ rating removes restrictions on bad language, drug use and nudity; in contrast, the current guidelines forbade the classification of any adult-themed games.
O’Connor’s draft claims that the R18+ rating will allow “virtually no restrictions on the treatment of themes”, and violence in games “except where it offends against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that it should not be classified.” As far as sex, the draft says, “Sexual activity may be realistically simulated. The general rule is ‘simulation, yes – the real thing, no'”.
Of course, “standards of morality, decency and propriety” is still troublesomely subjective, while “simulation, yes, the real thing, no” is comicly inept for videogames, where everything is simulation. You may be able to tell when live actors are actually performing sexual acts, but when can you tell a videogame character is actually having sex?
O’Connor stated:
“The Gillard government wants to provide better guidance for parents and remove unsuitable material from children and teenagers. The introduction of an R18+ classification will help achieve that and will also bring Australia into line with comparable nations. This issue has been on the table for many years, without the necessary progress to make a change. We’ve recently seen several states publicly express their support for an adult only rating for games and I’m keen to reach a unanimous decision at the July meeting.”
Rather than banning games, why not punish stores for selling mature games to underage children? Or put the onus of raising children on the parents?
Apple approves
@Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12 PC controversy rages
Having an MMO as the multiplayer component of a game is actually a good idea. The problem is the ‘only 3 months free’. I mean in such cases you’d better add a free-mium MMO.
@THQ: Next-gen consoles will be discless:
That will make it easier to distribute games, in areas with good bandwidth.
Question is: if the costs of the physical medium is removed, why won’t the price of the games go down?
As for Steam, do you know that you can back up your games on a separate storage media?
@Quantic Dreams claims they lost 10M euro on used games
Gah! You can’t lose something you never had.
Make the product more attractive new. Dunno, add multi-player validated by the CD key.
@3DS sales jump 260% following price drop
The big question is, does this cover the costs? Otherwise, 260% or not, they’re still at loss.
@Syndicate reboot finally confirmed and unveiled by EA
So, this will become something like DeusEx mixed up with E.Y.E. . Quite original 😛
I guess that if it is well polished, it might become a multi player hit.
As for hate mail Paul, make sure you’re on the show.
“I hope you die”? Really? Here’s a news flash: everybody dies.
@QOTW: I can’t really remember any remakes; on the other hand I became a PC gamer in 2001, so that’s one possible explanation.
And while Doom 3 can be considered a remake of the first Doom, I didn’t play the first one so I can’t compare the two.
@QOTW: but! If UT 2003 can be considered a reboot of the UT franchise, then yes, UT2003 was a bitter disappointment: the flak cannon – turned a bit lame. No sniper rifle. No assault game mode.
help!!!!!! I cant download the episode
somethings wrong with the link plz fix it
yes it now works
Tiger Woods PGA PC – I honestly can’t believe that people play golf games in general, let alone the PC. I can’t see how swinging a mouse forward and back could be interesting to anyone. EA is probably thinking that if you’re dumb enough to buy this shit, you don’t deserve a full game.
Next Gen Discless – Nope. In no way would I see that working out. Like Jordan said, look what happened to Patapon 2. Or just look at the PSP Go, that didn’t work out nearly as well as they thought.
Losing Money on Used Games – I’m sure that they did loose a lot of money on used games, but nowhere near the amount that they claimed. There are various other reasons why there are more people playing than copies sold.
3DS Sales Jump – That doesn’t mean much at this point. Like Herr Alien said, they are still in the negative, as they were when they first launched it at the price of $250. They could mark them down to a dollar and I’m sure the sales would jump enormously, but it wouldn’t be covering the money that they had to spend to get the product to the consumer.
QOTW – Bionic Commando was pretty bad, but that is the only one that I can think of. Wasn’t ever a big fan of Duke Nukem, so that doesn’t apply to me, but I’m sure it does to millions of others.
Now, the hate mail. Paul, possibly being my favorite on the show, is going to be hard to hurt in fear of him calling me a “Loser.” The mere fact that you are asking for hate mail signifies that your bloated ego needs something to take it down a peg, only so that it may rise and be a more cocky, douchey version of the one left behind. No one leaves you hate mail because you are simply undeserving. I care more about the gum cemented into the sidewalk than I do the hopefully fictitious character known as “Paul”. You are the cancer of the earth and may God have mercy on your soul.
Alright. Is that good for Paul. It is out of love that I do this, not hate. Hope to hear back on the next show. 😀
dang, my comments didnt make it can you re post it here plz