Grats Australia

[mudshovel]

The federal Cabinet has approved an adult rating for computer games after finding that many classified as suitable for 15-year-olds in Australia had been ruled suitable for adults only overseas.

As many as 50 games are now available to children as young as 15 but should rightly be played by over-18s only.

...

Seventeen days before my fifteenth birthday, my government decides 'hey, we've made an R18+ rating, and that means fifteen year olds can't play all those games they used to be allowed to!'

Plus, my parents were sceptical about me buying the M (Teen) rated Medal Of Honour 10th Anniversary, so there's no way in hell they'd buy me an R rated game that used to be MA.

I was so close to just being able to go into a game retailer and legally buy all these games, without having to get friends to or go through some other ridiculous method. Now I have to wait another three fucking years. And of course then it'll be election time and of course someone's going to get elected and introduce... I don't know, an AO21+ rating or something.

Timing couldn't have been worse for me

Sorry, but you really shouldn't be playing those games anyway.

If we don't have an R18+ rating, games like Left 4 Dead 2 get censored or banned.

It horrifies me when students in my year 7 Science class talk about playing CoD or Fallout 3.

 

[TundraStalax]

FINALLY! AN R18+ rating, it seems Julia Gillard has advanced our society by at least a couple of years...

 

[UberNoodle]

The federal Cabinet has approved an adult rating for computer games after finding that many classified as suitable for 15-year-olds in Australia had been ruled suitable for adults only overseas.

As many as 50 games are now available to children as young as 15 but should rightly be played by over-18s only.

...

Seventeen days before my fifteenth birthday, my government decides 'hey, we've made an R18+ rating, and that means fifteen year olds can't play all those games they used to be allowed to!'

Plus, my parents were sceptical about me buying the M (Teen) rated Medal Of Honour 10th Anniversary, so there's no way in hell they'd buy me an R rated game that used to be MA.

I was so close to just being able to go into a game retailer and legally buy all these games, without having to get friends to or go through some other ridiculous method. Now I have to wait another three fucking years. And of course then it'll be election time and of course someone's going to get elected and introduce... I don't know, an AO21+ rating or something.

Timing couldn't have been worse for me

It'll be exactly the same as movies have been for years and years. It is the right way to do it, finally. Be thankful that you could enjoy the screw up while it lasted. That is, if the move isn't somehow rejected. And their won't be a "21+" rating because this move isn't about adding a rating; it's about granting a rating that has until now, been denied for games. It'll mean that games shoved into MA15+ via censorship will be available in full, for when you're old enough. Relax guy!

 

[Zeriah]

The number of non-Australians in this thread completely misinterpreting this is hilarious.

This isn't America, we have age restrictions on all media here. It's been that way for decades, it's the same for movies, tv shows, games, porn etc. This is not the government putting its boot up our figurative asses and turning us into China, it is the Government finally realizing that games NEED to have a rating above MA15+ which would put it in line with all the other forms of media. Because of this GOOD change we can finally have games that do not fall under the MA15+ category come into Australia completely uncensored and perhaps even more importantly it will stop games being falsely branded MA15+ when it really should be R18+. This also allows parents to decide if their child is mature enough for the game, instead of him going out and buying it himself secretly.

We as a nation APPROVE of this classification system on media. Honestly it is a good thing, children should really not be allowed to buy games (or other media) that are clearly unsuitable for them, at least not without their parents deciding that they are mature enough to handle the content (in which case they can buy it for them [though with R18+ games it would be illegal, though impossible to enforce]).

 

[UberNoodle]

Sorry, but you really shouldn't be playing those games anyway.

If we don't have an R18+ rating, games like Left 4 Dead 2 get censored or banned.

It horrifies me when students in my year 7 Science class talk about playing CoD or Fallout 3.

Students in my Japanese kids classes of the same age, still talk about watching Doraemon, reading One Peice and playing Mario Party. The most mature they go are Tales, DQ and FF RPGs and of course, Monster Hunter.

 

[Kortney]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/game-over-for-children/story-e6frezz0-1225965671392
I bet all of you Aussie gamers are happy to see this.

Please expand why you find this to be a good thing.

It seems like this is a step towards all out censorship.

Because games with 18+ content can be sold in Australia now. Previously they would either be banned or censored heavily. It's a good thing.

 

[Zaik]

I mean, they ban small breasts and women projectile pissing

Hahahaha... 'projectile pissing'...

The ban is on female ejaculation not pissing.

The ban on the mythical beast is because they feel that there is no true female ejaculation demonstrated by this "squirting", but rather every instance of said event is actually women forcibly pissing during orgasm or to simulate having one.

It is actually corroborated by the facts that the only thing hooked up to the vagina that can supply the amounts of fluid moving there is the bladder, and that said "squirting" is not a common thing. Basically if this was an actual ejaculate, all the women who don't ejaculate all over the place would have issues with bacterial infections in these mythical areas that would hold all this fluid that aren't there after people die.

 

[mudshovel]

It horrifies me when students in my year 7 Science class talk about playing CoD or Fallout 3.

Why? Games like that are not damaging to kids.

Because they are still developing socially and mentally and interactive gratuitous violence is not something you should expose children to. I wouldn't let my children play or watch anything rated MA or R.

Children are children, and at the age of 12 they shouldn't be exposed to extreme violence if it can be helped. Fallout 3 isn't a game for children. Neither is Call of Duty.
To argue that it is suitable for 12 year olds is sheer madness.

Students in my Japanese kids classes of the same age, still talk about watching Doraemon, reading One Peice and playing Mario Party. The most mature they go are Tales, DQ and FF RPGs and of course, Monster Hunter.

My daughter plays Plants vs Zombies and Kirby. However, I am dubious about letting a seven year old play a game with a cannibal.

 

[UberNoodle]

It horrifies me when students in my year 7 Science class talk about playing CoD or Fallout 3.

Why? Games like that are not damaging to kids.

Those games have plenty of potential to affect kids in undesirable ways. I'm not talking about juvie crime potential, but the kids ability to process the content of those games. Honestly, Western society has become so egalitarian that it even assumes children have the same ability to process the world as adults do. For the most part, they don't. That's not old fashioned or antiquated thinking either. I question any parent who's fine with allowing their kids free access to such adult content. Sure, there are problems with trying to make "one rule" for all kids, as there are for doing so with ANY demographic, but that's how society works, and it for the most part, it does. Denial of access to some media content is not the most pertinent issue that children face today. Studies for and against media's affect on people suffer corruption from both sides, and it is today's laziness that accepts statistics and sound bites over common sense.

 

[adam5396]

Can we PLEASE get some facts straight here.

"Over time, we've allowed games to get into the hands of 15-year-olds that would not have been available in comparable countries; that should not have happened." And Mr O'Connor also gave a guarantee he would not allow games that had been banned in Australia to be approved for release under the new R18+ classification, if it is approved.

Because games with 18+ content can be sold in Australia now. Previously they would either be banned or censored heavily. It's a good thing.

From what I got form reading the article. This isn't about the 18+ rating. This is that games that should've been 18+. Will be 18+. That does not equal us getting a 18+ rating.

Also, like he said, no games will be unbanned when they're changed to 18+. I assume it just means the ones that were censored will be uncensored.

Correct me if I read something wrong. But this is what it looks like to me.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

WHAT HELL THIS WONT STOP ANYTHING THERE WILL 5 YEAR OLD SCREAMING IN THE MIC Caps make me fell cool

~~~ Also i think Rockstar,EA, AND All LEADING GAME BRANDS WILL LOSE LIKE %50 OF THER PROFITS
BECAUSE ALL PARENTS BUYING THE GAME OR 15 YEAR OLD WITH A FAKE I.D ARE MOST OF THERE CUSTOMERS

What are you like 6? they won't lose any of their profits. These games are designed for adults and adults being the audience will purchase these products. "Kids" or minors generally make up a smaller part of the gaming market, not even a quarter, Australia itself makes up less than 1% of games sold in the world, so what would a quarter of 1% even do to a company, nothing.

 

[UberNoodle]

It horrifies me when students in my year 7 Science class talk about playing CoD or Fallout 3.

Why? Games like that are not damaging to kids.

Because they are still developing socially and mentally and interactive gratuitous violence is not something you should expose children to. I wouldn't let my children play or watch anything rated MA or R.

Children are children, and at the age of 12 they shouldn't be exposed to extreme violence if it can be helped. Fallout 3 isn't a game for children. Neither is Call of Duty.
To argue that it is suitable for 12 year olds is sheer madness.

Students in my Japanese kids classes of the same age, still talk about watching Doraemon, reading One Peice and playing Mario Party. The most mature they go are Tales, DQ and FF RPGs and of course, Monster Hunter.

My daughter plays Plants vs Zombies and Kirby. However, I am dubious about letting a seven year old play a game with a cannibal.

In many ways I can see how kids are far more mollycoddled now, by society. Growing up, I never realised how much more respect I received from my kids shows, UNTIL I wanted kids TV today. Awful. In the first few episodes of Astroboy, there are the themes of parental neglect, degradation of father-son relationships, grief over the loss of a child, slavery, racism. I realised how much of my moral code was influenced by this show. Astro taught several generations of kids the world over, the so many strong personal, familial and societal values. In contrast, kids shows today are so controlled, we don't allow kids the chance to be intellectual. They have the capacity. It is a knee jerk reaction that has stripped away such chances for kids, and perhaps a lack of faith in writers and creators of kids media. That said, I agree that maturity and sophistication is seldom found in a bucket of blood.

 

[Zeriah]

The federal Cabinet has approved an adult rating for computer games after finding that many classified as suitable for 15-year-olds in Australia had been ruled suitable for adults only overseas.

As many as 50 games are now available to children as young as 15 but should rightly be played by over-18s only.

...

Seventeen days before my fifteenth birthday, my government decides 'hey, we've made an R18+ rating, and that means fifteen year olds can't play all those games they used to be allowed to!'

Plus, my parents were sceptical about me buying the M (Teen) rated Medal Of Honour 10th Anniversary, so there's no way in hell they'd buy me an R rated game that used to be MA.

I was so close to just being able to go into a game retailer and legally buy all these games, without having to get friends to or go through some other ridiculous method. Now I have to wait another three fucking years. And of course then it'll be election time and of course someone's going to get elected and introduce... I don't know, an AO21+ rating or something.

Timing couldn't have been worse for me

Sorry, but you really shouldn't be playing those games anyway.

If we don't have an R18+ rating, games like Left 4 Dead 2 get censored or banned.

It horrifies me when students in my year 7 Science class talk about playing CoD or Fallout 3.

Hmm... of course, you're totally right, I shouldn't be making my own decisions and I should let the government regulate what I experience because they know much better than I do what I should be doing with my life.

It is your parents who decided this, not the government. Unfortunately for you, if your parents think you are not ready for such content well, it could be possible that you aren't. You don't think you should be entitled to go buy porn from the corner shop, or see R18+ movies do you? Games should be the same as everything else.

 

[UberNoodle]

Hmm... of course, you're totally right, I shouldn't be making my own decisions and I should let the government regulate what I experience because they know much better than I do what I should be doing with my life.

Oh of course! You're almost 15 and know all there is about the world and yourself! The gov't should be ashamed, as am I for misjudging you. My sincerest apologies.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Did anyone seriously think that the introduction of a R18+ rating won't see a number of MA15+ games reclassified?

That was always on the books as part of the price for getting R18+ introduced.

 

[Moromillas]

I feel like the control in Australia keeps going over more and more to the government. Can an Aussie intelligently explain the whole political situation down there?

Sure.

An age ago, the attorneys-general (think jedi council for all things legal) got together and decided that these awful things called "video games" are only intended for children, and any game that has "horrible stuff" it it should be banned. Hence they didn't see a need for an R18+ rating. We don't have an R18+ rating.

I'd say about 90% of the games in EB atm (that are rated 15+) are rated 18+ overseas. To achieve a 15+ rating, either the classification board sugar coats the violent themes, or the game is heavily modified (censored), this also attributes to cost increase. Any game that can't get this 15+ rating is banned from sale, yet an 18+ game can still be shipped in from overseas, more cost increase/stress for local business. They're also still games intended for adults, with or without censorship, the "15+" on the box is often a lie. Parents also seem to have no idea about the disparity between our VG ratings and the ones overseas, and at the end of the day they're the ones who should decide what to buy their kids, they're the ones who should be more informed.

If we get an R18+ rating, then this banning and censoring nonsense wouldn't be happening.

 

[UberNoodle]

Can we PLEASE get some facts straight here.

"Over time, we've allowed games to get into the hands of 15-year-olds that would not have been available in comparable countries; that should not have happened." And Mr O'Connor also gave a guarantee he would not allow games that had been banned in Australia to be approved for release under the new R18+ classification, if it is approved.

Because games with 18+ content can be sold in Australia now. Previously they would either be banned or censored heavily. It's a good thing.

From what I got form reading the article. This isn't about the 18+ rating. This is that games that should've been 18+. Will be 18+. That does not equal us getting a 18+ rating.

Also, like he said, no games will be unbanned when they're changed to 18+. I assume it just means the ones that were censored will be uncensored.

Correct me if I read something wrong. But this is what it looks like to me.

No games were ever actually BANNED in Australia. What was happening is that some games were being rated beyond MA15+, and because there was no allowance for such a rating FOR GAMES, they were unable to be sold. There is a big difference between a BAN and a refusal of sale. Australia does not ban the content found in those games. It is easily found in other media. However, through ignorance, games were not allowed to possess that higher rating. Being "granted a R18+ rating" does indeed mean that games that recieve that rating will be therefore sold under it. Later in the article, the is a quote about moving forward to adapt to the "covergence" of media types, and that games should be treated "like film".