Here in Britain, even with all that content, it would only probably get a 15. I think our censors just don't like vice. | |
American here, it's likely to get an M rating, but that won't stop thirteen year olds from getting their hands on it | |
Yes, we're definitely getting an M rating for it in America, no doubt. | |
They'll give it an M rating here. And some people will probably complain. But the kids will get it anyway. I hope they enjoy it. I know I will. Americans tend to have a loose attitude in regards to "law" with respect to themselves. Most of them are all for limiting the freedoms of other people, as long as they get everything. | |
M all the way. Heck, it would get an M for the gore alone. | |
Gah, it's not even most Australians that are worked up over this... it's just one Attorney General. The OFLC, while filled with pricks that seem to look down upon games, have their hands tied about this issue, due to them having to follow Australian law. I hate censorship, but this time, (and this doesn't really make sense to me either), but it's not the censor's fault... well, not the OFLC anyways. | |
Not sure, I think it will get an 18 certificate here because of the swearing, bloody mess, prostitution etc... I must say the BBFC (The UK's censors) have been getting a little less ridiculous recently, although they did ban Manhunt 2 (not that anyone really cares). I still think the various Governments should go with using the ELSPA system, as the industry is fairly responsible and realise there is no benefit to them if a 12-year old buys a really violent game. In the UK we are having some ridiculous review of children's mental wellbeing (groan) and they seem to be focussing on computer games as the main cause of societies ills again. We've had a lot of stabbings recently, and it's always computer games people seem to want to blame, rather than the fact these kids come from horrible sinkhole estates, live in poverty, have a poor education and no opportunities, have illiterate parents, are involved in gangs and drugs etc... The problems above are difficult ones to fix, and politicians and censors love to blame computer games because that is much easier for them to deal with and win some votes from. | |
Someone else want to say "the M rating" again? Yeah, I'm a 14-year-old "that guy", but all my friends at the same age, younger, and abit older, all play games that are 15+, 18+. I get it if a baby cannot control what he says, and when he hears "shit", then he automatically says it everywhere, but what should gore and sex do to a teenager more, than it does to a grown up? And about the game-editing thing with Australia, all I have to hope, is that one day Australia will be flooded by the United States. Wait no, the whole Escapist community would collapse when Yahtzee would die. But I heard there's only one law away from getting ESRB to Australia. Or something, can't remember what a guy said to me once. | |
Way to have a backbone. I kid. But seriously, I can't say I blame for toning it down, but still, there was once day when artistic integrity meant something. Unfortunately, today all it means is less money and the right to pretentiousness. | |
It generally pisses me off when they do things like this. I'm not even an Aussie and this makes me angry at whoever makes these stupid decisions. At least this time it was drugs and not just sex. | |
It'll get an M rating here, but that won't stop anyone from getting it. | |
Didn't Vault 69 have like 1 guy and thousands of women? The ship sailed on artistic integrity a long time ago, and the ship "Don't deny me a fun experience because it can't be absolutely what you want" has been in port ever since. The ship "Run On Sentence" is also in dock. | |
I can see how the whole herim in v69 is inappropriate for little kiddies but for those of us who're the target audiennce it's meh. It's not mean't for little kids and they can't buy them because the vast majority of stores deny them, so they bring in parents who are so ignorant they don't even bother looking at the clearly stated esrb warning, then they see what their kid's doing and think 'this is the spawn of satan! quick billy to the bathroom!' and get mad and blame everybody but themselves for having their kid be 'influenced' by it. soory just think all bad parents shloud have their kids torn away and imprison the so called parents.(wow that was a mouthful and maybe a slighter punishment but you get the jist) | |
Now here's a novel idea I've pitched before, and will again... Just make the gods be damned game, and take whatever rating they assign it for how you made it. I wish companies wouldn't care so much if they got an AO or whatever rating. Gamers don't pay one damn bit of attention to the rating, we pretty much unanimously think the ESRB and all other censorship boards and all members therein can go fornicate incestually with the corpse of their great grandmothers while someone sodomizes them from behind with those black censorship bars. Seriously. Gamers will buy the game based on what the game is, not the rating. Most parents are irresponsible pillocks who pay no attention to what they're buying their kid, and the few responsible parents who actually DO pay attention probably aren't going to allow their kid even the censored copy anyways. I know, Walmart won't sell AO games and supposedly in the US they're such a superpower that if Walmart won't sell it then companies won't make it... Well ya know what? Walmart too can go fornicate incestually with the yada yada yada... Bungie released Halo, and it was such a hit that people were beating eachother senseless in line to buy Halo2 and Halo3. Now if Bungie decides on making Halo4, it WILL sell millions of copies even if it's wrapped in human feces and anthrax. If the fans can't buy it at Walmart, they'll go elsewhere to get it. If they can't get to a store, they'll order online and/or direct download. If that doesn't float, they'll cross the border into Canada where Walmart is a minor-to-insignificant player in the game sales market, just hit up any Futureshop or EB. The players WILL go out of their way to buy a game they're interested in. Fuck Walmart, fuck censorship, give us something in gaming that would rate at least an 18A/R were it a movie, and watch Walmart weep as people go elsewhere to buy it. /Rant | |
And watch the other commonwealth countries weep bitter tears of rage at your stupid indignation, because now the game's illegal as they won't rate it. | |
Khell, you fail to realize that Nintendo and Sony have also refused to handle any AO games, as has Target and Gamestop. | |
Well lets take a look at that conundrum shall we? Gamestop is more or less EB Games up here. Don't know EB's stance on AO, but I'm fairly certain they'd carry it if the game was AO rating wasn't simply because of graphic sex content. Target doesn't even exist up here, like Walmart, it's a null-issue in Canada. As to Nintendo and Sony... Well Nintendo's a hypocrite, because Conker's Bad Fur Day was AO. But I really didn't expect "Super Mega Gore Battle w/ Tits 3" to come out on the Wii anyways. Sony, well that counts out the PS3, but has no impact on PC gaming.
If unrated content is illegal, get the laws changed or purchase it online. Seriously, I don't think the cops are going to bust down your door because you're playing a videogame with less than 10% of the eroticness already available over the internet. Bottom line people, these nazi-run morality police will always control you until someone has the balls to stand up to them. If just one company would take a stand and refuse their ratings, be it a gorefest FPS or a casual game for 3rd graders, just say "Fuck off ESRB, we don't need your crap anymore", what can the ESRB do? When "Reader Rabbit 2009" comes out with an AO rating, it may just open peoples' eyes to what bullshit the ESRB is. | |
Whenever the media goes crazy and starts blaming video games, we can always fall back on the truth that "You're lying about the game's content" because 9/10 it's true. And most voters are STILL on the seat's edge about them. I think there will come a day when we have to stand up and say enough's enough, but I also think doing so too early may make our little community crumble into the dreaded pit of D&D=Satan worship in the public at large's understanding. Video games are becoming more socially accepted every day. If we're patient and wait for people to adjust, we'll be far better off.
Or it may trigger a video game-equivalent of the Comics Code. | |
The whole point of the ESRB is to avoid this dilemma. So... I say we stick to the ESRB. | |
I live in Australia... and to ALL the OLD, GRANDMOTHERLY, MATERNALISTICALLY MINDED women on the OFLC Classification board: Hurry up and die so new generations can think for themselves you hags. | |
I resent them giving this game an M rating. Punching someone's head off with a pneumatic fist is too goofy to warrant such an act. | |
I agree with you, though I don't think you quite understand that the OFLC have their hands tied in the matter. They are but adherers to the guidelines set down by the Attorney-Generals, and if it says that any use of realistic drugs in video games automatically warrants a R18+ rating, then it has to get one. No, your hate should be directed to Michael Atkinson, the sole reason we don't have the R18+ rating for video games. | |
This is another reason why buying games online is the better option. | |
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Bethesda's Pete Hines Frustrated By Censorship Rules
Bethesda Softworks still refuses to discuss details about the changes made to the Australian edition of Fallout 3, but Product Manager Pete Hines says dealing with varying censorship laws in a large-scale international game release is "frustrating."
In an interview with CVG, Hines said the wide-ranging standards of acceptable content in major markets presents a real challenge for game publishers. "The frustrating thing for us is that the standards and rules can be so varied across territories, that we work with five or six ratings agencies and each one has different 'hot buttons'," he said. "In one place nudity is a big deal but violence is fine, and in another place drugs are a problem but nudity is fine."
"I guess that's the way of the world - not every country is the same," he added. "You're not aiming at one target, you're aiming at six different ones worrying about how each one will feel about different things."
But Hines claimed that while adjustments to games had to be made to accommodate individual markets, like dialing down the drug use in Fallout 3 for the Australian release of the game, the impact of censors on overall game design is minimal. "We just go through and make the game that we want to make," he said. "We have our eyes wide open, mindful of the things that could be flagged up and how we're going to resolve them if that becomes a problem."
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