Rounding up a week of pro R18 activism, and the big ‘up yours’ from Rebellion
*UPDATE: perhaps I am Nostradamus: AVP got unbanned, with no changes. Another full-flavored adult game (recognised internationally) that is given permission for sale in Australia for 15 year old kids. What is classification for?
Last week, I received an overwhelming response from site visitors regarding my open letter to Michael Atkinson. I wholeheartedly thank everyone who took time to read or post a comment.
To cap off a week of pro R18 games activism, Aliens vs Predator, a game based on the film saga of the same name (which was based on a game made in 1999 (which was based on a comic)) has just been refused classification by the Classification Board due to excessive violence.
UK-based developer Rebellion released the following statement:
"Rebellion is disappointed that its upcoming title Aliens vs. Predator has been banned in Australia. However, as we understand the law in that country, the authorities had no choice as we agree strongly that our game is not suitable for game players who are not adults."
"The content of AVP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent. We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."
What can I say? Gold. Absolute gold. I applaud Rebellion for giving Australian censors the big 'up yours' for wasting game development time to water-down games for high-school kids. When I think of games ruined by forced edits, No More Heroes and Left 4 Dead 2 come to mind. When will decision-makers like Michael Atkinson realise the true art-form that video-games have become? We don't gasp in horror at parents who have R18+ films in their cabinets, so why not games?
AVP would have been a fun game to play, but we gamers wouldn't give a toss about games getting banned, most adults are more than capable of acquiring these games by other means. The only victims here are retailers, and the humble Australian media industry. Though the AVP series didn't score well with the critics, it was still a box-office contender - the absence of this game is just less money for the economy. Even if Rebellion did decide to edit the game in order to release it (which will eventually happen), I doubt the shooting and stabbing would be toned down in a meaningful way for an MA15+ classification.
If every developer followed Rebellion's lead, perhaps more games would simply not be released in the country. EB Games will try to sell more copies of family-friendly games and mature gamers will simply import our games from New Zealand or download the game illegally. If this becomes habitual, perhaps people will stop buying games and films altogether, and retailers overstocked with The Sims eventually lose all business.
We need this R18+ classification in order to be relevant with the rest of the cultured world- please, support an R18+ classification by posting your support or emailing Mr Atkinson directly.
Maybe I'll keep talking about Flash from now...
/ragequit
Garry
