• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Mortal Kombat refused classification in Australia [Update: Customs Seizing Imports]

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Replicant said:
What's wrong with Australian Classification Board?

Its inconsistent, and we dont have an R18+ rating, which is the problem. Our usual rating system goes up to R18+, but for some stupid reason gaming does not include that level, and instead cuts off at MA15+. Any game that would get an R18+ gets RC'd or censored.

Sometimes its avoidable by wording the documents you submit to the board in a way that puts your game in a favourable light. For example, the only reason Left 4 Dead 2 was censored was because Valve, EA, or whoever submitted the document made the zombies out to be sick humans. From the board's perspective, mowing down sick innocent humans is bad. Had they said they were zombies or monsters the game wouldn't have been censored.
 

fernoca

Member
Though, do they rate the games like ESRB does (or did?) like watching a footage of the "worst things" in the game?

That could explain why God of War III got a pass. In GoWIII, the violent closeups, nipples and gore are usually separated by hours of running around and bathing Kratos in blood from afar. While in this case, everything gets closeups and it's constant.

Not to mention in GoWIII you're usually fighting corpses with armor, corpses with nipples or giant monsters. In MK you're mostly fighting human-looking characters.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
fernoca said:
Though, do they rate the games like ESRB does (or did?) like watching a footage of the "worst things" in the game?

Publishers are required to submit a document detailing the content of their game, and the rating is based off this. Because its a document there's a lot of semantics involved, as per my Left 4 Dead 2 example above.

And I really must emphasize the lack of consistency with the Australian Rating Board. Just because one game is allowed with extreme content does not mean all games of equal or even lesser content will be allowed as well. That is why people are so frustrated with our classification system. Many games that have extreme content are allowed in, while others which are not anywhere near as bad are RC'd.
 
Good job Australia, ruining it for NZ too (probably).

We have an 18 rating, but sometimes publishers can't be arsed sending copies just to NZ if they aren't to Aus. >_<

Import ahoy!
 
fernoca said:
Though, do they rate the games like ESRB does (or did?) like watching a footage of the "worst things" in the game?

That could explain why God of War III got a pass. In GoWIII, the violent closeups, nipples and gore are usually separated by hours of running around and bathing Kratos in blood from afar. While in this case, everything gets closeups and it's constant.

Not to mention in GoWIII you're usually fighting corpses with armor, corpses with nipples or giant monsters. In MK you're mostly fighting human-looking characters.
The standard method is showing a video of the worst parts or document. A demo/full game is optional
 

fernoca

Member
EatChildren said:
Publishers are required to submit a document detailing the content of their game, and the rating is based off this. Because its a document there's a lot of semantics involved, as per my Left 4 Dead 2 example above.
Yeah, really lame. the should submit with descriptions like "10,000 years old amazonian from another world" and probably get a pass. :p
 

justin.au

Member
fernoca said:
Though, do they rate the games like ESRB does (or did?) like watching a footage of the "worst things" in the game?

That could explain why God of War III got a pass. In GoWIII, the violent closeups, nipples and gore are usually separated by hours of running around and bathing Kratos in blood from afar. While in this case, everything gets closeups and it's constant.

Not to mention in GoWIII you're usually fighting corpses with armor, corpses with nipples or giant monsters. In MK you're mostly fighting human-looking characters.

Most games are played through to completion by staffers, however some are rated purely from the publisher's description and video footage.

Some of the RC decisions sound pretty strange to both Aussies and non-Aussies alike, but just keep in mind that a video game can't get a rating in Australia unless it is fit for a 15 year old to buy (because only kids buy games, duh).
 

Shaneus

Member
Conrad Link said:
Good job Australia, ruining it for NZ too (probably).

We have an 18 rating, but sometimes publishers can't be arsed sending copies just to NZ if they aren't to Aus. >_<

Import ahoy!
A lot of people from Australia actually imported GTA4 from NZ because it was uncensored. I wouldn't worry about Australia's banhammer.

This does piss me off, though... this was a day one purchase, but now it'll be a day 4-5 (until my imported UK copy gets here).

Weren't we supposed to be really fucking close to an R18+ anyway?
 

Replicant

Member
Shaneus said:
A lot of people from Australia actually imported GTA4 from NZ because it was uncensored. I wouldn't worry about Australia's banhammer.

May I know which online site from NZ ships to Aus? I may need to do this now. Fuck this shit and Fuck Australian Classification Board!!!
 
zmoney said:
Sorry for the noob question...but why?

A question about Saibot?

Probably "high impact realistic violence" or some such something. They pretty much give free reign with "cartoon" gore (see GOW3, NG2) No biggie, since it can be imported from elsewhere.
 

BocoDragon

or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Realize This Assgrab is Delicious
Australia consistently seems to be the worst major market to be a gamer..
 

Stackboy

Member
Replicant said:
ARRRGH!!! There are no enough words to describe my outrage. This is such a bullshit.

The only bullshit is that you are believing the talk of someone who has a friend in retail. Yet the classification board has said nothing.
 

Linconan

Member
I'll be Importing anyway.
I'm not running the risk of having anything from this title toned down or even availability.
 

boiled goose

good with gravy
TheVampire said:
FUCK OFF AUSTRALIAN CLASSIFICATION BOARD!
.

The problem is not the board.
The problem is that there is no rating they can give it.

The game should be 18,17+. there just isnt a rating right now. The problem is the government. The government represents the people.

The aussies themselves need to change this
 

Replicant

Member
Stackboy said:
The only bullshit is that you are believing the talk of someone who has a friend in retail. Yet the classification board has said nothing.

Man, 2 people have said the same thing. First is the OP and the other is the guy in the other message board posted a few posts above us. I mean, I'm hoping against hope but we all know how ACB works. There are a bunch of sensitive, fragile twats working there.
 
It's official now

Here's the official statement from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment:

The highly anticipated video game Mortal Kombat, published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE) in Australia, has been refused classification by the Australian Classification Board and will not release in Australia
. We are extremely disappointed that Mortal Kombat, one of the world's oldest and most successful video games franchises, will not be available to mature Australian gamers.

WBIE would not market mature content where it is not appropriate for the audience. We understand that not all content is for every audience, but there is an audience for mature gaming content and it would make more sense to have the R18+ classification in Australia. As a member of the iGEA, WBIE is reviewing all options available at this time.

http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/115/1152075p1.html
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Thank you, SolidSnakex.
 

Luigiv

Member
amtentori said:
The problem is not the board.
The problem is that there is no rating they can give it.

The game should be 18,17+. there just isnt a rating right now. The problem is the government. The government represents the people.

The aussies themselves need to change this
:lol :lol :lol

Like hell they do. We vote in governments based on big issues, but when it comes to little things like this the officials (in this case attorney generals) act under their own violation.

A vast majority of Australians are already either in favour or indifferent to the introduction of an R18+ for games. Most Australians already recognise that the real issue with the lack of an R rating is not that the very occasional "mature" game gets RC but that a majority of games that should be R-rated get away with an MA15+ instead.
 

fernoca

Member
MetatronM said:
18 years makes you "one of the world's oldest video game franchises" now?
Well, will be 20 next year. Even Mario, recently turned 25.
Which is quite awesome for a franchise that before this game, the overall opinion on GAF every time it was mentioned was: "why do they continue making hem? "do the games sell?" "lol my last MK game MKII".
 

Sidzed2

Member
What's that noise?

Why, it sounds like the clatter of a thousand credit card numbers being entered into online stores...

The legacy of Michael Atkinson lives on. As a mature adult, I loathe being told what I can and cannot view in the privacy of my own home. What a disgrace.
 

Kanyon

Member
Looks like I'll be importing from the UK and pissing off Harvey Norman/retailers even more for "not paying GST and threatening job security in Australia"

Why can't this country of mine get with the fucking times?!
 

Bizzyb

Banned
amtentori said:
The problem is not the board.
The problem is that there is no rating they can give it.

The game should be 18,17+. there just isnt a rating right now. The problem is the government. The government represents the people.

The aussies themselves need to change this

WTF?? SO then are you telling me there are NO mature rated games in Australia? Or do they have to censor all Mature 17+ games?
 

pilonv1

Member
Bizzyb said:
WTF?? SO then are you telling me there are NO mature rated games in Australia? Or do they have to censor all Mature 17+ games?

They're all released as MA15+, which is another problem.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Bizzyb said:
WTF?? SO then are you telling me there are NO mature rated games in Australia? Or do they have to censor all Mature 17+ games?

G, PG, M15+, MA15+, and R18+ is the standard rating for film, music, and books (where needed). Gaming has that, minus the R18+.

Our classification system says that no game can be released unless it is suitable for the MA15+ rating. In other words, it must be suitable for 15 year olds.

The inconsistency comes from the huge amount of ultra voilent and adult games in the country which are given an MA15+ rating when they should have probably got R18+, and the games that for some reason are classes as R18+ and instead banned.

Out rating system needs to take on the full scale, right up to R18+.
 

Bizzyb

Banned
pilonv1 said:
They're all released as MA15+, which is another problem.


lol, wow what a joke. So games like No More Heroes, GTAIV or Killzone where there are extreme acts of violence and or vulgar language are considered "O.K." for young teenagers, by the government?

what a joke.

Edit: So basically the government is completely ignoring an entire audience of gamers that want to play mature based videogames? What is the reasoning/logic behind this?? There are a LOT of males in America that are 18yrs old+ that play videogames. Is this not the same in Australia?
 

Shaneus

Member
Bizzyb said:
lol, wow what a joke. So games like No More Heroes, GTAIV or Killzone where there are extreme acts of violence and or vulgar language are considered "O.K." for young teenagers, by the government?
GTA4 was censored here... then it became uncensored with an update. Go figure.
 

Trike

Member
They should just tell them that it is a game based off of the movies. Those were able to be released there right?
 
Top Bottom