News Room Contributor Posts: 8041 Joined: 12 Nov 2002 | Dark Sector Banned in Australia
The upcoming action game Dark Sector has been banned in Australia, once again highlighting the country's lack of a game rating higher than MA15+.
IGN Australia has reported the "violent and sometimes gruesome game" has been denied a rating by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification, leaving it unapproved for sale in Australia. In the report detailing its decision, the Board noted, "The violence and aggression inflicted upon the protagonist is of a high level, naturalistic and not stylized at all."
In its description of specific elements of the violence, the Board wrote, "When Hayden cuts off his opponent's limb with the glaive, large amounts of blood spray forth from the stump and the injured person screams in agony which increases the impact." The board goes on to cite "decapitation, dismemberment of limbs accompanied by large blood spurts, neck breaking twists and exploding bodies with post-action twitching body parts" in the game, violent acts which it says "exceed strong and as such cannot be accomplished in an MA15+ classification."
Adam Zweck, a representative of Australian distributor AFA Interactive, expressed hope the game could be edited and resubmitted for classification. "This is (hopefully) not the end of the line for the game however, just a pretty substantial, but temporary, setback," he said.
According to the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia, the average age of gamers in Australia is 28, but the OFLC currently does not offer an M (Mature) or 18+ videogame rating, a situation which has led to the banning of numerous recent titles, including 50 Cent: Bulletproof, The Punisher and Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. The IEAA is taking part in an ongoing campaign to introduce a higher-level rating for videogames in order to reflect the reality of the Australian gamer demographic.
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Gone Gonzo Posts: 1434 Joined: 7 Jan 2008 | This game is sounding better all the time...
But perhaps anything that puts it abreast of a 50 Cent game and Liesure Suit Larry must be considered unfortunate.
Actually, on reflection, pretty much all of those actions are featured in Dead Rising. I guess key here is the word "stylized", though referring to action inflicted on the "protagonist" while punching up the point by referring to violent dispatch of enemies is somewhat discontinuous.
Protagonist =/= Antagonist, they may have meant what the player of the game is exposed to, but at least as quoted their lines are nonsensical. |
On the Record Posts: 5674 Joined: 2 Dec 2007 | What?! No! Stupid Australian classification board. We must have the worst in the world. I've only heard few things about this game but they sounded pretty decent. Now we won't even get a chance to see what happens. |
News Room Contributor Posts: 8041 Joined: 12 Nov 2002 | Given that the OFLC has higher ratings for movies, I don't see what's so difficult about just migrating R18+ over to games. Rejig the requirements a bit and away you go. |
Press Junketeer Posts: 490 Joined: 23 Nov 2007 | I never realized Australia's pro-piracy lobby was so powerful. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1256 Joined: 13 Jan 2007 | Geez, the land of scum has become very "pure". Some work really needs to be done, the system is so out of date it's retarded. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3753 Joined: 18 Dec 2007 | Damn damn DAMN! I was lookiing forward to this game!
I don't understand why we can't have an R 18 rating system. Its the same for movies. |
Press Junketeer Posts: 378 Joined: 8 Jan 2008 | Game sounds a little groutesqe. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1054 Joined: 14 Dec 2007 | Malygris:
"When Hayden cuts off his opponent's limb with the glaive, large amounts of blood spray forth from the stump and the injured person screams in agony which increases the impact." The board goes on to cite "decapitation, dismemberment of limbs accompanied by large blood spurts, neck breaking twists and exploding bodies with post-action twitching body parts" in the game...
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Well, thats all the convincing I need. When does this beast come out? I can't wait to start the dismembering. |
Dark Sector Banned in Australia
The upcoming action game Dark Sector has been banned in Australia, once again highlighting the country's lack of a game rating higher than MA15+.
IGN Australia has reported the "violent and sometimes gruesome game" has been denied a rating by Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification, leaving it unapproved for sale in Australia. In the report detailing its decision, the Board noted, "The violence and aggression inflicted upon the protagonist is of a high level, naturalistic and not stylized at all."
In its description of specific elements of the violence, the Board wrote, "When Hayden cuts off his opponent's limb with the glaive, large amounts of blood spray forth from the stump and the injured person screams in agony which increases the impact." The board goes on to cite "decapitation, dismemberment of limbs accompanied by large blood spurts, neck breaking twists and exploding bodies with post-action twitching body parts" in the game, violent acts which it says "exceed strong and as such cannot be accomplished in an MA15+ classification."
Adam Zweck, a representative of Australian distributor AFA Interactive, expressed hope the game could be edited and resubmitted for classification. "This is (hopefully) not the end of the line for the game however, just a pretty substantial, but temporary, setback," he said.
According to the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia, the average age of gamers in Australia is 28, but the OFLC currently does not offer an M (Mature) or 18+ videogame rating, a situation which has led to the banning of numerous recent titles, including 50 Cent: Bulletproof, The Punisher and Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude. The IEAA is taking part in an ongoing campaign to introduce a higher-level rating for videogames in order to reflect the reality of the Australian gamer demographic.
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