William BagleyThe R18 Rating Fiasco
October 30th 2007 10:31
So I was reading through the orble community, as I always do, and my good friends over at VideoGames.net.au (ok, they aren't my good friends, but I can hope, right?) brought up the following question: When will the Australian censors bring in the R18 classification for games?
This, dear readers, has become one hell of a fiasco for the Australian gaming community over the years, when you consider we're one of only a few countries (if that) to have a constant flow of game bans, for various reasons or another.
So, the question is when, yes? Well, to pass the approval of such a rating, the Attorney-General of Australia (that's Philip Ruddock, for those of you playing at home) has the final say. To get his backing on such a rating, each state and territory of Australia needs to approve it too. And, apparently, most states of Australia WANT the rating ... I say apparently because it's hard to find 100% proof ... yet.
So if the role of the Office of Film and Literature Classification is to protect the general public from overly offensive or disturbing images, so to speak, then why does the movie industry have an R rating and not the gaming industry? Isn't it obvious? Because it's still considered a kids domain.
With that kind of perception of the industry firmly at the forefront of certain minds (no names included), it doesn't leave much room to move for the constantly growing adult market. Sure, the likes of Singstar and Pokemon might top sales charts, but look who's right along side them. Halo 3, Bioshock, GTA, World of Warcraft, Gears of War ... it's an even playing field of mature and family content, not the way it used to be all those years ago when Doom first hit the street.
To many who aren't involved in gaming at all, the first thing they consider is the amount of children under the age of 15 who can get their hands on such content. And fair enough, too, except for one thing. See, what many forget is the fact that while a child shouldn't play an MA15 or higher rated game, that doesn't mean they can't. Because in the end, there are a number of factors that determine how a child can come by such a game. There's their background, their upbringing, the strict or not so strict nature of their parents and/or what said kids can get away with without said parents knowing it about it. It's like the good old days, when kids hid copies of Playboy under their bed, just this time it's Soldier of Fortune or Grand Theft Auto. Doesn't really have the same ring to it, does it?
It's interesting to note some of the titles that have been refused classification down under. Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is a perfect talking point, a game that has little to no violent content or sexual references, but instead has the gamer playing graffiti artist. The game was refused under the grounds of 'promotes and provides instruction for illegal graffiti and real-life graffiti artists.' Ironic, really, since we could easily say the same about Burnout Revenge under 'promoting illegal street racing', or Street Fighter for 'illegal ... street ... fighting ...'.
The Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) have been fighting (pun intended) for many years to prove the increasing average age of gamers as a sign that mature ratings need an overhaul, but it seems no matter how many times a game becomes banned material in Australia causing mass hysteria among industry reps, changes are no where in sight. Unless you really, really want your game released in Australia, therefore a little 'editing' is required (something Rockstar knows all about).
But the longer we go without a greater emphasis on mature rated material in Australia, the greater the number of problems may surface. Banning a high profile title only increases the local demand, which in turn throws a spanner in the works for anyone wishing to turn a profit as illegal downloads work over time. What's worse, having a title banned because of violent material, or something as inconsistent as Marc Ecko (not that the game was good anyway) may cause younger children to do anything to get it. Couple the two, and it completely defeats the purpose of banning the title in the first place.
But if the game were released under an R18 label, would that reduce the above? Perhaps ... perhaps not. There's no stopping illegal downloads, no matter the roads taken. However, having the game released under controlled conditions (flat out refusals to sell the game to minors, even with parents buying it for them, for example) in a similar vein to R rated movies (a regularly available product in Australia), could have a positive turn around, and will at least keep the industry in check across the globe.
At the very least, giving Australian consumers a choice as to whether they wish to buy the product or not should be the appropriate direction for the local gaming industry, not the current direction of outright banning or editing to suit the OFLC system. We can't keep falling on the old 'think of the children' line ... it hasn't stopped kids watching the latest Saw movie, has it?
Yes, interactivity is different to just watching an event unfold, but in all reality, if a a human being of any age allows what he or she watches or plays to have an effect on their behaviour, then clearly there's far more things going on in their head. Especially if a good 90% of our gaming community, world wide (if not more so) haven't gone out causing violence because Grand Theft Auto told them to.
So back to the question. The short term answer is ... not in the near future. But the more our collective voices are heard, the better the chance that Australia will find its rightful place within the gaming community, and not looked down upon as too harsh and critical of adult material.
I could go on much longer regarding this topic ... in fact, I probably will next week.
This, dear readers, has become one hell of a fiasco for the Australian gaming community over the years, when you consider we're one of only a few countries (if that) to have a constant flow of game bans, for various reasons or another.
So, the question is when, yes? Well, to pass the approval of such a rating, the Attorney-General of Australia (that's Philip Ruddock, for those of you playing at home) has the final say. To get his backing on such a rating, each state and territory of Australia needs to approve it too. And, apparently, most states of Australia WANT the rating ... I say apparently because it's hard to find 100% proof ... yet.
So if the role of the Office of Film and Literature Classification is to protect the general public from overly offensive or disturbing images, so to speak, then why does the movie industry have an R rating and not the gaming industry? Isn't it obvious? Because it's still considered a kids domain.
With that kind of perception of the industry firmly at the forefront of certain minds (no names included), it doesn't leave much room to move for the constantly growing adult market. Sure, the likes of Singstar and Pokemon might top sales charts, but look who's right along side them. Halo 3, Bioshock, GTA, World of Warcraft, Gears of War ... it's an even playing field of mature and family content, not the way it used to be all those years ago when Doom first hit the street.
To many who aren't involved in gaming at all, the first thing they consider is the amount of children under the age of 15 who can get their hands on such content. And fair enough, too, except for one thing. See, what many forget is the fact that while a child shouldn't play an MA15 or higher rated game, that doesn't mean they can't. Because in the end, there are a number of factors that determine how a child can come by such a game. There's their background, their upbringing, the strict or not so strict nature of their parents and/or what said kids can get away with without said parents knowing it about it. It's like the good old days, when kids hid copies of Playboy under their bed, just this time it's Soldier of Fortune or Grand Theft Auto. Doesn't really have the same ring to it, does it?
It's interesting to note some of the titles that have been refused classification down under. Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure is a perfect talking point, a game that has little to no violent content or sexual references, but instead has the gamer playing graffiti artist. The game was refused under the grounds of 'promotes and provides instruction for illegal graffiti and real-life graffiti artists.' Ironic, really, since we could easily say the same about Burnout Revenge under 'promoting illegal street racing', or Street Fighter for 'illegal ... street ... fighting ...'.
The Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia (IEAA) have been fighting (pun intended) for many years to prove the increasing average age of gamers as a sign that mature ratings need an overhaul, but it seems no matter how many times a game becomes banned material in Australia causing mass hysteria among industry reps, changes are no where in sight. Unless you really, really want your game released in Australia, therefore a little 'editing' is required (something Rockstar knows all about).
But the longer we go without a greater emphasis on mature rated material in Australia, the greater the number of problems may surface. Banning a high profile title only increases the local demand, which in turn throws a spanner in the works for anyone wishing to turn a profit as illegal downloads work over time. What's worse, having a title banned because of violent material, or something as inconsistent as Marc Ecko (not that the game was good anyway) may cause younger children to do anything to get it. Couple the two, and it completely defeats the purpose of banning the title in the first place.
But if the game were released under an R18 label, would that reduce the above? Perhaps ... perhaps not. There's no stopping illegal downloads, no matter the roads taken. However, having the game released under controlled conditions (flat out refusals to sell the game to minors, even with parents buying it for them, for example) in a similar vein to R rated movies (a regularly available product in Australia), could have a positive turn around, and will at least keep the industry in check across the globe.
At the very least, giving Australian consumers a choice as to whether they wish to buy the product or not should be the appropriate direction for the local gaming industry, not the current direction of outright banning or editing to suit the OFLC system. We can't keep falling on the old 'think of the children' line ... it hasn't stopped kids watching the latest Saw movie, has it?
Yes, interactivity is different to just watching an event unfold, but in all reality, if a a human being of any age allows what he or she watches or plays to have an effect on their behaviour, then clearly there's far more things going on in their head. Especially if a good 90% of our gaming community, world wide (if not more so) haven't gone out causing violence because Grand Theft Auto told them to.
So back to the question. The short term answer is ... not in the near future. But the more our collective voices are heard, the better the chance that Australia will find its rightful place within the gaming community, and not looked down upon as too harsh and critical of adult material.
I could go on much longer regarding this topic ... in fact, I probably will next week.
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