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Australia Ratings Board Blocks F.E.A.R. 2
by David Jenkins
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November 26, 2008
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Monolith Productions’ upcoming horror themed first-person shooter F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin has been refused classification in Australia, effectively banning the game from sale.
Due to be released in February by Warner Bros., the original game was praised for its mix of standard shooter elements and horror sequences inspired by Asian movies like The Ring. The original was given an ‘M’ for mature rating in the U.S., with similar equivalent ratings granted in other countries.
The Australian Classification Board and Classification Review Board currently offers no information on specifically why the sequel has been refused classification; Australia again proves one of the strictest countries around the world in terms of age ratings.
The inflexibility stems from the lack of an R18+ rating for video games, despite the age rating being available for non-interactive media. As a result, the highest possible rating for a video game in Australia is MA15+. Several attempts have been made to introduce a R18+ rating for games, so far without any success.
Recent games initially refused classification in the country include Fallout 3, Dark Sector, Silent Hill: Homecoming and Shellshock 2: Blood Trails. All of these titles were later censored to meet the MA15+ restrictions, but it is so far unclear whether Warner Bros. will pursue a similar policy with F.E.A.R. 2.
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Here even comic books are still "children" thing, and I already saw some hentai and western porn comics being sold in the children section of a book store only because they were comic books Oo
but I think that they should add an additional rating to the australian board; I think they would have a very effective system if they did. I feel censorship of any media is bad, no matter how distasteful, but I have no problem with people being informed by an indpendent board about the content of the media (digital or otherwise).
I think Austrailia should take its head out of its ass, putting it as blatent as possible. If a kid can sneak into an R rated movie with little or no effort (and yes they do even in Aus.) then putting an "R" rating, so to speak, on a video game will also have little or no effect on whether or not a kid can get a copy. Its the modern-era "beer-scam". Remember being a kid and asking someone in a parking lot to buy you beer and slip him an extra 5 or 10 bucks? I know if I was still a kid and couldn't buy a game because of my age I would attempt a "game-scam". Though if I had kids I would let them play whatever they wanted.
If the Aussie rating people can rate movies, televison, books, whatever.. they should definitely have a rating system (IF they need one at all, which I'm against in any country) then they should consider the fact that not all gamers are kids. Hell the majority AREN'T kids.
The only thing this will accomplish is hinder the game developers, who most certainly aren't kids, and the end-user such as myself and people here.
Sorry for any grammaractical errors (sarcasm)
But when I walk into the Cinema's and watch Quarantine, which includes a rather graphic scene of a 5-year-old (the lead female interviews the girl earlier in the movie and specifically asks her age) tearing out the throat of a police officer I smell double-standards and hypocrisy.
Boo to Michael Atkinson for (so far) blocking an R18+ rating, double-b00!
Remember guys, the OFLC don't have the luxury of deciding what passes muster. Due to the vagaries of classification law in Australia, adding an R18 classification for games requires changing the mind of one solitary knuckledragger -- South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson.
http://www.agd.sa.gov.au/about_us/ministers.php
...And do you think a man with a face like that is swayed by reason?