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?
“The One Ring”
Great show guys, enjoyed the topics greatly.
@Joystiq no longer scoring: I agree I never liked the scoring of any game it never told me what I really needed to know about the game. Saying 3/5 stars or 90% is like saying Banana or starfish! Completely arbitrary and meaningless, I need and want to know how the person felt about the game they played. Take Dragon Age Inquisition, I have heard many detailed reviews from people I know about the game what they liked and didn’t; and I value that over some random score some review site gives. As you guys pointed out someone who doesn’t like a genre of games may be biased against it and will hate it no matter what. I had argued with someone the other day who felt that since Dark Souls had no story it was a bad game, when they were clearly missing the point of that game all together. So I am glad they have decided to drop scoring a game and entice people to actually read the review.
@Jonah joining NC: Speaking of reviewing Wow that is awesome, have you made videos for them already?
@Hatred AO rating; My first impulse to hearing this was good, I don’t think little children should be playing this violent a game, and before Paul says it yes the parents should be paying attention to what their kids play. I guess I can’t deny they have the right to make whatever game they want and make it available but stores do have the right to refuse to sell something if they don’t want to sell it. I’m fine with the rating to make it clear just how violent it is, course there are plenty of violent games but do have much more context as to why the violence is happening. I remember being bothered when my daughter was playing Fable 2 and she wiped out the starting village, for some reason the game didn’t summon any guards for that action.
There is a double standard with the violence being more acceptable for kids to witness. I’ve asked myself this, why is it ok to have a movie or game that kids kill people or see violent acts yet you get some nudity and then suddenly everyone losses their mind. I think at least for me it’s because violence is wrong and sex is not. It’s easy to say “well this is fantasy and we’re just having fun make believe” but sex there’s nothing wrong or bad about it, it’s a natural thing and can be difficult to discuss with someone who isn’t mature enough to handle it yet and I mean the real intimate details and not just “when two people love each other”. It is a difficult subject and it’s up to each parent to decide when to talk to their children about these things.
@Pose able toys: I think this idea really Is brilliant to have movable figures that would respond or give signals to in game actions. That would greatly increase interactive ness. I am also tempted to get some amboii’s if for no other reason than to display them, this is a DLC I can get behind.
A side note next time someone has a very noisy background that even the co-host can’t hear you maybe they should mute their mic or find a quieter place to record.