R18+ fail: Australia bans Saints Row IV

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saints-row

news In a move which will be seen as a challenge to the efficacy of Australia’s new R18+ video game classification category, the Classification Board yesterday revealed that it had refused to classify the upcoming title Saints Row IV, due to what the board said was implied sexual violenace and illicit drug use.

The lack of an R18+ classification has previously resulted in various popular video games such as Mortal Kombat and Left 4 Dead 2 being censored for the Australia market or refused classification so that they are unable to be sold locally. In the past, the highest legally available classification category for computer games has been MA15+.

However, the new legislation introduced in June 2012 amended the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 and made a consequential amendment to Schedule 7 of the Broadcasting Services Act 1992, to introduce an R18+ classification for video games, as there is in other media such as film and TV. The R18+ category would inform consumers, retailers and parents about games that are unsuitable for minors to play, and also act to prevent minors from buying unsuitable material.

Strong support for this legislation has been evident during wide-ranging public consultation conducted over the past two years. The Attorney-General’s Department received 58,437 submissions in response to its recent discussion paper on the establishment of an R18+ classification category for computer games. Of these responses, 98 per cent were in favour of the introduction of such a category. The Federal Government has collaborated with State and Territory Governments on this issue, which will introduce complementary legislation. The Federal Government’s legislation took effect on January 1, 2013.

However, in a statement released yesterday, the Classification Board revealed that it was still seeing issues with some major titles released in Australia, noting that Saints Row IV would be the first game to be refused classification under the new guidelines, failing to make the grade even for the new R18+ rating.

“In the Board’s opinion, Saints Row IV, includes interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context,” the statement read. “In addition, the game includes elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards. Such depictions are prohibited by the computer games guidelines.”

Acting classification board director Donald McDonald said said the Classification Board had now been applying the new computer games guidelines for almost six months and this was the first game to be refused classification. “Apart from today’s decision, since the beginning of the year, the Board has classified 17 games R 18+ under the new guidelines,” McDonald said.

It does not appear that the full decision by the Classification Board is online. However, Kotaku has reported that some of the objectionable content in the game included the use of what is referred to as an “Alien Anal Probe”. “In the Board’s opinion, a weapon designed to penetrate the anus of enemy characters and civilians constitutes a visual depiction of implied sexual violence that is interactive and not justified by context and as such the game should be Refused Classification,” the Classification Board wrote in its decision, according to Kotaku.

It was also reported that the Classification Board objected to Saint Row IV’s depiction of “alien narcotics” as a performance booster in the game. Kotaku has since reported that the developer of Saints Row IV has confirmed it is working on a revised version of the game for Australia.

Industry lobby group the Interactive Games & Entertainment Association, which was one of the key driving forces behind the adoption of the R18+ classification, has issued the following statement in response to the ban:

“We can’t specifically comment on the Classification Board’s decision to issue Saint Row IV with a Refused Classification as we aren’t privy to the specific content of the game. Broadly speaking though, one of the key reasons an R18+ was introduced was to ensure that we strike a balance between giving adult Australians access to adult games while protecting children from inappropriate content.”

“Under the new guidelines, we celebrate the fact that adults can now access age-appropriate games which may have otherwise been refused classification, but as we have argued, we also must accept that there will be some video games which will fall outside the scope of the R18+ guidelines. Whether we agree or not with this specific classification, it highlights that the classification system is functioning as it should and that R18+ was never meant to open the ‘floodgates’ for all types of content.”

“Overall, we remain confident that the Classification Board is applying the new guidelines as they see appropriate, but we also recognise that with any change to a system as subjective and complex as applying classification guidelines, there will always be a ‘settling in‘ period where all stakeholders strive to find an appropriate middle ground.  Currently, we’re at the ‘high water’ mark where there’s a natural inclination to err on the side of caution.”

opinion/analysis
Look, I don’t know about you, but I’m a 32-year-old man, and I don’t find the concepts of ‘alien anal probes’ or ‘alien narcotics’ to be disturbing in the slightest. In addition, I have to say that I don’t think many people above the age of 18 in Australia would. Seriously … popular culture has long included such concepts in film, television and books. Are we seriously at the stage where we’re happy to watch decapitations and torture in shows like Game of Thrones, but are banning games because of cartoonish depictions of alien anal probes? I think our society can survive such things just fine. Hell, we’ve seen things a thousand times more disturbing in South Park.

Let me also say that personally, I find the fact that this kind of material is in a game to be hilarious. I probably don’t do this kind of thing too much now, but in my 20’s, it was very common for my mates and I to sit around having a few beers and laughing our asses off at precisely this kind of material. If video games are sanitised to the extent that this kind of material is no longer included, it will be a very sad thing indeed.

Of course, ultimately you have to suspect that the developers of Saints Row, Volition, will actually be pretty pleased by this kind of ban. It generates great publicity for the game, and no doubt Saints Row IV will prove all the more popular when it actually launches in Australia in a slightly revised form. It’s always been my impression that one of the main aims of the Saints Row games, as with the Grand Theft Auto games and even the Duke Nuken series in the previous decade, has been to push the boundaries about what’s acceptable in video games, and expose the overly conservative nature of existing classification categories.

Image credit: Volition

66 COMMENTS

  1. Are we really surprised, just look at what , or more so, who, the classification board comprises of.
    The R18+ move was nothing more than a show pony

    • Indeed, including someone who would obviously be suffering from years of mental stress having to bear a moniker like Donald McDonald…

  2. Classification officers are almost always over 50, and just follow the guidelines. The guidelines that tripped up the game in this particular case, for a particular reviewer in this case were:
    1. Sexual Violence not justified by game context
    2. Using drugs or other illicit substances as rewards or incentives

    It doesn’t matter whether you know what is right/wrong, whether a reasonable person might be offended, or whether it may or may not be implied or depicted.

    The classification system doesn’t allow for rational thought, just black and white law

    • How do you know that “Classification officers are almost always over 50”? Supporting facts are needed for your statement.

      I must point out that a lack of supporting facts are apparent in this statement.

      “The guidelines that tripped up the game in this particular case, for a particular reviewer in this case were:
      1. Sexual Violence not justified by game context
      2. Using drugs or other illicit substances as rewards or incentives”

      The fact is that you don’t know that only one reviewer made the decision. It is just as likely that the initial RC classification was peer reviewed. The Classification Board would be pretty dumb if they didn’t get a number of opinions before issuing an RC classification because there were obviously going to be screams of dissent from experts who had never seen the game.

      I am happy to say that I agree with your reasons that a game can be given an RC rating. but that is what is written in Schedule 7.

      My belief is that when classification is used as a precursor to censorship it tends to make the classification system irrational and the public perceives it as a bad joke. Things haven’t really changed that much in my opinion even with the R18+ rating.

  3. Really, is anyone surprised at this? There was not a snowflakes chance in hell that the introduction of an R18+ classification was going to mean the AGs of this country actually gave a shit what mature gamers (43 years old here) get to play. Unfortunately that now means that my cash will be going to an overseas retailer in lieu of my local JB HI Fi.

    Ohh and one other thing, it still wont stop kids playing it cause their parents can’t be bothered to read or try to understand the rating system on game packages.

    Well done AGs, give yourselves a pat on the back.

  4. It’s extra irritating because, to me, it has little to do with the content of the game and the notion that old, ignorant men think they have a moral superiority over everyone else in that they believe they can determine what people can and cannot see. I’m an adult. You are not allowed to determine what I can or cannot see. Unfortunately, you can’t make this argument to these cretins due to them always hiding behind the content that got the game banned. As if the person playing it is of lesser quality and, somehow, “bad”. They are fantastic at dodging the actual issue.

    But, in this day and age, it shouldn’t hurt you too much. Importing a copy can happen and if you’re on PC you can pirate it pretty easily and go to the companies store and buy some merchandise to reward them.

    • To be honest.. It is cheaper buying games from the UK over ebay and online stores (usually much cheaper) than to buy them in AU anyway. $50 for a game that costs about $90 in-store here.
      Most of my games are from the UK :-)

  5. Well I for one actually agree with the ban.
    Keeping in mind that Volition will be making a revised version purely for AU. Which I’m sure will simply remove the offending material.
    Who the fuck would want to force an anal probe up someones arse? HA, GAAAAAAYYYY
    Also, drug use related to incentives and rewards? Drug use should not EVER be depicted as something beneficial. Regardless of whether it was fictional or real drugs and in a game or real life.
    Volition need their stupidity levels examined, and fortunately our country’s classification jockeys were the ones to do it.
    I’m happy to buy the revised version. I do not want to be anally probing people or taking drugs in a game for rewards.

    • I can’t tell if you’re serious or taking the piss…
      The whole “Drug use should not EVER be depicted as something beneficial” says serious to me…
      What the hell, I’ll bite… Some real world drugs ARE beneficial, though they sometimes can have nasty side effects, by this logic if in a game you were ill, and you took a cure… that would qualify as drugs as beneficial and would therefore be inapropriate? I don’t think so.
      The Anal probe thing is a bit juvenile, but I think most australian adults can deal with this without having some kind of breakdown.
      The problem with the R18 we got is that it didn’t change anything much other than stopping the classification board making judgment calls on whether kids should play it, it did not fix some of the poor rules in the system. Calling the probe a “visual depiction of implied sexual violence that is interactive and not justified by context” is misleading, there have been lots of games that let you shoot men in the privates, isn’t this effectively the same thing?

    • Hi Stevles,

      Firstly let me reply you’re thoughts on the Anal Probe. I’m guessing from your post that you haven’t actually played any of the previous SR games? If you had you might realize that one of the joys of the game is the outlandish ways you can go about things. Whether it’s dispatching an enemy or even getting from point A to B there are no rules. The game is fun and satire is one of the core rules to play. For anyone, in particular mature gamers to look at that and go EWWWWWW, or as you so eloquently put it “HA, GAAAAAAYYYY”, need to grow up more than gamers do.

      Secondly, drug incentives and rewards are in the majority of games around today. Get shot in a FPS, whats the first thing you do, give yourself a shot of whatever the game says you need to take to keep going. Playing Diablo 3 and you need health, you take potions or mana or whatever. They are all the same thing just with different names. It’s like pork, bacon and ham.

      Lastly, you might be happy to live in a word where you are spoon-fed what is right and what is wrong by a bunch of people that have no real idea about what the mature gamers of this country wants, and frankly gets influenced by fringe focus groups instead of listening to the population as a whole, but someday they will ban something that you were looking forward to, and I hope it gets so sanitized that it’s nothing more than Barbie standing in a field.

      Frankly this 43 year old gamer does not need to have morals shoved down my throat, because it’s making me sick.

      • I’m glad that your opinion of everyone is so linear.
        Pity you are mistaken in virtually every way. I am 25 and have been gaming since I was a small child. Some of my best memories lie within Wolfenstein and Doom. I have also played all three Saints Row games, and will definitely be playing the fourth. Getting damaged in a game and taking drugs to relieve the pain/regain your health is a vital component to survival. In real life and in game. There is a very large difference between that, and simply saying “here have some of these awesome narcotics that will give you an advantage in some way”.
        Many of the games I have been looking forward to in the past were “sanitized” as you say.
        Left 4 Dead 2 being the most memorable. Once the R18+ classification came in, I no longer had to worry about this happening again, due largely to the fact that most of the things restricted from an R18+ classification in Australia were things that I largely agree with.
        The stupid ways you can kill and hurt people in Saints Row does amuse me. Sticking an anal probe up someones arse does not seem very amusing, however.

        My opinions on drugs are largely based on the fact my older brother died from a heroin/morphine over dose. Anyone that has had their family affected by drugs in any way will surely agree with me that inflicting non-essential benefits to taking narcotics is entirely wrong.
        You may be 43, but from your judging outlook on people before you know them you seem less mature than me.

        • “My opinions on drugs are largely based on the fact my older brother died from a heroin/morphine over dose. ”

          If someone plays a game where heroin use is encouraged and that person then goes out into the real world and procures heroin as a result of the game and proceeds to consume it.. This person was ALWAYS going to die young and it is not the games fault. They could of just of easily gotten the idea from a movie. It’s unfortunate about your brother but censoring the adult gaming population isn’t going to save anyone from a drug overdose.

        • While I am sorry for your loss, the idea could have appeared to him in a movie, or a tv show or even a book/magazine and yes even a game. So are we to ban one brand of entertainment over something like this, when in reality all forms should be?

      • > So don’t buy the game.

        Yes.

        But same reasoning applies to the Classification Board ban. There was a time when their opinion mattered. That time has passed. The game is available to all Australian’s regardless of what the Classification Board says.

        When it comes to games, I am not sure why anyone pays any attention to them now. When it comes to games they are bureaucratic dinosaurs from a bygone era.

    • Then vote with your wallet. Not through censorship. And, if you do play said game, don’t use those items. They don’t force you. Use your brain. Something people who advocate censorship don’t seem to do.

    • “Who the fuck would want to force an anal probe up someones arse? HA, GAAAAAAYYYY”

      …not a big South Park fan I take it, dude?

      • I’m a big South Park fan actually. I loved that episode. The difference is Cartman gets the anal probe and it causes him to fart fire and have giant satellites coming out of his arse.
        At no point am I the one forcing an anal probe up his arse.
        I also think anal sex is disgusting.

    • ” Drug use should not EVER be depicted as something beneficial.”

      Well bugger mate, I hope you do not use western medicine since they use an awful lot of drugs.

      • Man, I gotta stop eating chocolate then.
        It’s beneficial to me, but can kill my pets!
        They get hyper on it, and could die!

  6. The classification board are still clinging to their concept of the more stringent requirement on classification on games vs that of movies or literature due to the interactive nature involved in the genre.

    I do however agree that not all games should be allowed in Australia just because they can be classified as R18. The overall context of the game should be taken into consideration. For example is the game presented as a “serious” reality, such as skyrim, COD, Heavy Rain, Last of Us etc or is it more of a humor filled parody of one reality or another?

  7. I have to ask, when referring to Schlock Alien movies, who DOESN’T think of anal probes?

    I actually think it fits that first one.

    “1. Sexual Violence not justified by game context”

    Game context is an alien invasion in the still of schlock horror alien invasion movies. Anal probes, totally appropriate …. LOL

  8. “I don’t find the concepts of ‘alien anal probes’ or ‘alien narcotics’ to be disturbing in the slightest”
    I hope they aren’t listening! :P

  9. “I’m a 32-year-old man, and I don’t find the concepts of ‘alien anal probes’ or ‘alien narcotics’ to be disturbing in the slightest” ~ Renai Le May

    LMFAO

    You got to admit Renai… that’s pretty funny.

    • I grew up reading science fiction greats like Robert Silverberg, Frank Herbert, Philip K. Dick, Robert Heinlein and others. I assure you that there are far more disturbing things in these novels than alien anal probes or alien narcotics.

      What is the spice ‘Melange’ in Dune, for example, but an “alien narcotic”? And yet I don’t see anyone trying to ban Dune.

      • Thought you would appreciate this Renai, all the way from the historical archives in the Gay Deceiver – after Lazarus stole them of course ;)

        For the first time in my life I was reading things which had not been approved by the Prophet’s censors, and the impact on my mind was devastating. Sometimes I would glance over my shoulder to see who was watching me, frightened in spite of myself. I began to sense faintly that secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy . . . censorship. When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, ‘This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know’, the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything-you can’t conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. – RAH [If This Goes On]

      • “A Boy and his Dog” by Harlan Ellison. It was a short story about a boy surviving in a post apocalyptic city, with his dog.
        One day, they meet a girl by herself. The boy hits it off with the girl, but the dog is hungry. The boy cares more for his dog, then his new friend, and the new friend ends up as dog food. Literally.
        And they made a movie out of this in 1975.

        And much worse stuff.

      • And Dune itself was a game back in the… 1990s?
        It was the very first game I ever bought on CD. I’m sure the disc is in one of my storage containers, hopefully with the original box it came in.

        The Sleeper must Awaken Paul!
        Drink some of that alien worm juice there Paul, it’s a narcotic, you’ll feel much better afterward, and be able to see the future and past. If you don’t die that is!

  10. I hear ya loud and clear but taken in isolation it made me laugh. You see the humor in it, don’t you? Or have i misread you completely.

  11. So lets see it was ok for Destroy All Humans way back on the PS2 and PS3 to have alien anal probing as an actual weapon but becasue of the ‘new’ rules it’s not okay anymore.

    It’s ok to have alien drugs in a multitude of other titles but not okay any more.

    Well I know what I’m doing when Saints Row IV comes out.. buying it online and giving a huge Nutpunch [saints row 3 in-joke] to the whole of the idiotic (and they have been since Adult [single-speed] CD-Roms took them by surprise in early 90’s] Censorship board.

  12. I cannot believe the utter crap I’ve read here, and on other sites, pushing the concept that:
    A. an ALIEN anal probe can be considered sexual.
    B. an ALIEN elicit drug, can be considered the same as a elicit drug for a human.

    The concepts are utterly WRONG.

    Was the “anal probe” in Southpark considered sexual? Now, how old is Cartman? You still think it’s sexual?
    How about reality then? Common medical procedures, such as a colonoscopy, require inserting medical apparatus up a human anus. You still consider this sexual? It’s a medical procedure.
    Taking it back to the alien, it still is a medical procedure. It’s a probe. They are checking the insides of whatever they are probing. There is no sexual context.
    For GODS SAKE, you people who think this is sexual, are the ones with SEX on the mind all the damn time.

    And the drug thing. It’s an elicit drug for aliens. Does not equate to an elicit drug for humans.
    You see what some drugs used for human do to animals?

  13. They allow Mortal Kombat a graphic violent fighting game but a game that has real drug names gets banned. As for the saints row anal probe, it has been said that when doing this act, they pixelated it so you can’t make out what’s going on, even though its obvious. Still… No one is forced to do that

  14. The age of the board members is not disturbing. What IS extremely disturbing is that reading the about the hobbies of the members (see link above) – NONE of them are gamers. Why is it that people with no interest or knowledge of the subject at hand get to decide about something they clearly do NOT understand!

    • What the stuff has the hobbies of the board members got to do with the price of eggs?

      Why do we need a gamer to classify films or books?

      The board members are expected to look at all forms of entertainment including literature, film and games. They don’t need to be highly trained in any particular field. What they do have to do is bring to bear their education and experience and determine if there is any part of a work that offends the standards set out in the rules, regulations and guidelines.

      The problem with your attitude and that of a lot of gamers is that you can’t see the forest for the trees. We saw this when submissions were made to the ALRC enquiry.into classification Gamers were often totally incapable of seeing beyond gaming or of making any comment except “have an R 18 + category.for games” Well guess what; you have got your R18+ category and if it doesn’t meet gamers expectations guess who deserves the blame.

      • Really? That’s like saying gays don’t need to enter a discussion about gay marriage since non gays have a good enough understanding of marriage? Do you really think the democratic process as well as the nuances of gaming don’t require someone actually familiar with the concept to be heard?

        I’m sure they can be objective from their point of view, but taking the above example again, how well do you think a straight person can see from the point of view of gay person?

        • What an illogical load of claptrap!!!
          I am not a gamer and don’t really have a desire to become an expert gamer. It doesn’t stop me defending the right for gamers to play what games they want to with out interference from me or anyone else. Yes I did put a submission in to the ALRC review. It wasn’t the best submission by a long shot but at least I tried with a bit more than an unsupported statement saying that games should have an R 18+ category with no supporting arguments that was the effort from most of the gamers.

          As far as gays and gamers go I have the same attitude to both. They should be allowed to do what they wish so long as they don’t interfere with my life decisions. Personally I hate censorship of any type and have argued about the stupidity of it for a number of years. Regrettably there is a growing selfish attitude that you don’t have to defend those areas you aren’t interested in from censorship or political interference.

          I don’t like the decision by the Classification Board any more than you or any of the other gamers out there but quite frankly gamers were too bloody lazy to get off their arse, or is that away from their monitor and or gaming console, to argue for a sensible censorship system when you had the opportunity. What the Classification Board is doing is making a classification in accordance with the current law. If that law is wrong and hasn’t been changed to meet the gamers expectations guess who’s fault it is.

          The composition of the Classification Board is totally irrelevant the problem is the law.

          • You make a good point with regards to observing due practise, however my point still stands.

            If the classification board were to represent the democratic process they would have been the first to acknowledge and called to duty a representative of the gamer community. That’s just plain common sense especially considering that games are huge part of the entertainment industry now and it was games that got the R18+ rating.

            Think about it. If that had been the case there would have been a voice of reason when the classifications were assembled in the first place and the interpretation of them also.

            You can NOT create legislation affecting a group without the group having as say and assume it will be represented appropriately, which is obviously what happened here.

            The other point is. Censorship is plain wrong. It should follow the principle of innocent until proven guilty. Until the drug use in a fictional setting (games) is proven harmful, it must always be permitted, otherwise the government is unnecessarily restricting personal freedoms based on a hunch.

          • The Classifcation Board couldn’t give a rats about the Gaming community, the Arts community, the Film community, the Literary community or any other specialist community.. They are there to reflect the wide and diverse views of the Australian community. Not one of them is associated directly with an interest group that is affected by classifications.

            I don’t know why you think that the Gaming community should be more privileged than the other groups affected by classification and censorship and have a dedicated place on the Board. None of the other groups have a dedicated place.

            It is pointless to argue that the law, which was reviewed by the ALRC very recently, is not appropriate for gamers when the submission to that enquiry by gamers were one eyed and self serving. If the gaming community is too dumb to know that they should have been putting in wide ranging and numerous individual submissions to that enquiry they deserve exactly what they get.

            Just for the record the classification system in Australia has been around for a lot longer than digital games.

            While I am totally opposed to censorship in any form I don’t have any sympathy for a group who don’t give a shit about anyone else provided their need are met. Gamers are reaping what they sowed in my opinion and aren’t entitled to any sympathy.

        • Amazing they object to things like this, yet approve content of some FTA shows, like some episodes of say, CSI, and, more recently, a new fave of mine “Hanabal”

          It goes to show they do have N F I, I am an adult, I can make decisions for myself as to what
          I like or find distasteful

          no 7yo, 17yo, 27yo, 57yo or 77yo has the right to decide for me
          no normal person, no religious nutter, no pollie .. no-one, but no-one, has that right.

  15. R18 isn’t the same as RC. Please understand that the rating of R18 isn’t an “automatic pass” for any old content, no matter how good or bad it is.

    Content will at times be un-rated, and thus refused classification. It’s going to continue to happen, as long as censors are required to validate a rating. Because sometimes humans second guess other humans and dumb shit happens as a consequence.

    Also, you would have to be a bit slow not to realise the game developer has a history of seeing just how far it can push. This isn’t the first Saints Row here.

    Censors don’t act on what they do or don’t like; they’re supposed to be objective.

    Having said that, the reasons provided are very weak. It’s the sort of reason something might be moved from MA15+ to R18; not something that might see refused. I would prefer to have seen a clearer statement as to the context.

  16. It’s worth remembering that Australia doesn’t have an explicit right to free speech. There’s nothing that guarantees it in our constitution, nor in any laws passed by parliament.
    The only time it was ever defended at the High Court was a right for companies to buy political advertising – that’s the limit of it so far.

    However the opposite is true and becoming more so. We have laws that make many types of speech illegal and more being put in place – the internet bullying and trolling teacup-storm last year and the various religious groups (and other special interests) claiming for immunity from ‘feeling offended’.

    Censorship is part of the Australian legal mainstream.

    If there are not strong laws in place protecting freedom of speech and people defending them, then don’t believe that you have any real protection. This is something we should really be striving to change.

  17. Okay, what the hell is wrong with this country? We let in movies which comprise of rape, drug use and extreme gore and violence that NO ONE should be watching as a source of enjoyment, yet however, when a GAME of the same material is being released, it gets refused. It is obvious that the people on this board are just a bunch of old single minded retards who cant stand change. I get that they want to ‘protect’ younger children and such from this type of content, but they should be more worried about protecting them from the midnight movies shown on sbs and other TV channels in Australia where children have access to content which is more or less identical to pornography. Protect children, not adults. I for one do not need protecting along with millions of Australians who are over the age of 18 and are capable of playing a game and understanding that what occurs in games and what happens in real life are two completely different things. Donald McDonald… u sir need to get laid. :)

    • Oh so you think “We let in movies which comprise of rape, drug use and extreme gore and violence that NO ONE should be watching” and that same criteria should be applied to games because you don’t think it is at present. Classification should be equal across all categories and not differentiated. Two faced, hypocritical and selfish come to mind as a description of the attitude.you have shown.

      Oh that’s right we had an enquiry into censorship by the ALRC and the gaming community support for an appropriate censorship scheme was fantastic. The majority of the submissions from the gamers were limited to “give us an R18+ category for games”. with no regard to any of the other areas that might be effected.by the review. Obviously a very mature approach to the issue of censorship and classification by gamers.

      • uhh, okay… if you say so :/
        I dont know how I am any of the things you described as all I was doing was creating a contrast on the ‘selfish, two faced and hypocritical’ decision made by a few people that unfortunately impacts our freedom of choice as Australians. They obviously believe we should not be allowed to enjoy these types of things represented in games, so my question is, why should we be able to enjoy the exact same things in movie choices? Maybe you should read into comments and opinions more carefully before making blunt and extremely offensive accusations. Thanks :)

        • Excuse me but you are the one that is telling us about those movies that (and I quote) “NO ONE should be watching”

          You have the right to criticise what is being categorised in film and games but I have bad news for you. If there are differences it is your own fault.

          Was the new R18+ category for games shonky. Bloody oath it was, and it was done with the dubious catch cry that interactive games have more impact on a person than a film or a book. What did the gaming aficionados do about this? What they do best, have a little whine and then disappear to play. Why didn’t they highlight and publicise the research that shows any impact of gaming is only short term or call for scientific research to be done comparing the impact of books, film and games.

          When there was an enquiry into the classification system where were the gamers? They couldn’t get past we want an R18+ category for games. How do I know this, I spent hours putting together a couple of submissions to the ALRC on what should be reviewed and then on what should be changed and I read most if not all of the public submissions in both strands.

          Now that the lack of action by the gaming community to fight for a decent universal classification system has come home to roost gamers don’t have a right to whine about their lot in my opinion. Don’t try and blame the Classification Board or its members for what has happened with gaming classification when it was the gamers poor effort that caused the problem not the Classification Board.

          • I stopped reading after ‘if there are differences, they’re your fault. No need to hear any more of the garbage that you have to say.

  18. As a NON GAMER (last game i bothered with was like, doom1), it is true that everything should be applied equally, if its not suitable for kids, it should be R18+, end of story. The only content that should be RC is child porn.

    I am not a card carrying member of the extremist nutjobs that are, the aust christian lobby, or the like, I do not need to have my hand held when I cross the road or be told what I can and can not listen/watch/play, or be forced to suffer their morals being inflicted upon me, this is 2013, not 1813.

  19. this post was as a reply to someone elses comment about what I said. As I do not know if its possible to delete this post, then please whoever has read this then disregard it as a single post. Thank you :)

  20. What the hell, PROBING, YUCK. I was looking forward to buying this game. Now I won’t be bloody able to because of this damn R18 rating. Why did they have to have the stupid weapon in the first place. I never actually used the dildo bat in saints row 3. I thought it was gross. But so what, taking drugs in a game and getting super powers, why did it have to be drugs why can’t it be radioactivity. Silly board :( not pleased

  21. Seriously the drugs thing is a crock, anyone heard of Kronic? Its a synthetic cannibanoid that is LEGALLY available over the counter and the effects bear similar resemblance to the actual stuff. It has many different ‘names’ but it all is essentially the same product. The particular names that is out in WA at the moment was banned three months ago temporarily to allow the authorities to actually do something about it, the product went back on sale this week cos no one did anything to progress the ban. Kronic is a highly addictive drug. Point I am making here is that this is happening in the REAL WORLD, RIGHT NOW, IN AUSTRALIA, I personally don’t give a stuff of you like it or.use it.kronic, its your god given free right.

    So with all the above not having stuff all done about it the classification board’s decision of making a video game illegal because of an ‘alien narcotic’ illegal is laughable (anyone remember StimpPacks in Doom, Steroids in Duke Nukem??), Selective decision making much? This decision doesn’t just impact the consumers, it embarrasses our country in the gaming industry, it makes us send retail expense outside of our country as people buy the copy they want overseas, it sends a message that we have a strict ‘big brother’ style control system of our people whilst preaching that we have a great country with freedoms. It does these things and fails in its resolve to stop us getting the game. I had Mortal Kombat Komplete on Xbox months before the RC was lifted in Australia, Thanks Hong Kong and eBay. I bought a banned copy of Thrill Kill for PS1 in Bali, the classification controls are implemented but aren’t effective at stopping banned material which means they are just wasting tax payers money.

    people need to stop blaming their decisions to make bad choices on other people, television, video games, if you want to blame someone for your poor decisions take a long hard stare in the mirror, this generation has the most readily available access to information in the history of mankind, we know what what the difference between right and wrong, we should damn well be able, as adults, to make our own choice about things that have small impact in the grand scheme as video games do.

    and if all else fails, we can at least try for a video game ‘X’ rating *shakes head*

  22. i love gameing.. its my life.. i love my life.. what i cant stand is seeing all these horror movies full of Realistic violence towards women and children that society just dose not care about.. when i was growing up i played alot of games rated 18+ yet i never got nightmares.. nothing about them effected me in a negative way.. now i also remember seeing things on TV.. i got terrible nightmares from these programs.. full of realistic torcher and people being killed Realistically.. i cant believe that society condemns 3D interactive art work which is what all games are.. and yet.. dose not care at all about the most sick and disturbing movies made.. and violence is one thing but sex in a game? not gonna happen.. no game that is released by retail will ever show anything more than breasts which only 3 or 4 games show because they know they can get away with it.. now.. look at all the hardcore porn movies u can go buy at any sex shop.. some of them showing very disturbing violence towards women.. no one cares.. but if a video game showed a vagina.. Banned.. everywhere. society needs to start thinking for themselves.. to be honest i think that the media has brain washed people into thinking video games are for people who “have no lives” people who are “wasting their lives when they could be doing something else” ..i think the media has been in power for along time and they don’t want to see all their costumers taken by the gameing industry.. i know alot of gamers and i am one myself.. we dont watch TV.. we don’t listen to advertisements.. we just don’t do it.. how are they gonna tell us what to buy now? how are they gonna tell us what to think now? they cant.. they are loseing their sheep to gameing.. this is what i believe.. please feel free to contest what i have said.

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