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?
Nintendo has
Been a long time since I posted last. Bloody university getting in the way of life. Glad to hear that you guys are now part of the next gen. My opportunity has fallen through, as the Game store that I pre-ordered my console from tried to bait-and-switch me twice for a more expensive PS4 bundle which I did not want. That and I withdrew my pre-order as all the games I wanted to play have been deferred till next year. Probably will get it when Elder Scrols comes out.
@EA
Ok I will admit it. Humble bundle was a stroke of genius. EA tried competing with Steam for years via Origin with poor results. But Humble Bundle blew Steam clear out of the water. They may not be making money with this, but Humble Bundle is a brilliant positive publicity generation tool. That is something that EA needs more than money.
@The name is Bond. James Bond. A level 72 Dark Elf Warlock in service of Her Majesty the Queen.
I can see the point of this. Gamers are impressionable people, mostly in their teens and early adult years. They are perfect targets for criminals. If you are fresh-out-of college/university unemployed, your opinions can be easily swayed. Maybe that’s what the intelligence agencies are looking for.
@Neverwdning Story
The media industry rule of thumb is that a franchise should finish with a number 3. Anything that goes beyond that is just dragging the series out. Unless there is a reasonable time gap between the releases (i.e Final Fantasy, Halo).
Assasin’s Creed is now planing it’s 7th game. I am currently playing the 3rd one. Since I don’t do series marathons I will probably catch up to the series in 2020. That is rather daunting. Maybe they should really bring Prince if Persia back…
@Disney’s Indiana Wars: Raiders of the Lost Ark Strike Back. Excelsior edition.
To be honest, I think it is a good thing that Disney is sponging up all the abandoned IPs. Not only do they inject it with money, they do a good job marketing it as well. Indiana was idle for quite some time. He should be out of retirement kicking Nazi ass about now.
PS: I remember Disney wanted to acquire Mortal Kombat. And now imagine a 12+ Mortal Kombat experience. The horror…