Forums > News > Kart News: Atari Get Up Against Oz OFLC...
Kartanym (12418) on 2/22/2006 3:54 PM · Permalink · Report
Australia has come under fire from Marc Echo and Atari over the recent banning from sale of Marc Ecko's Getting Up. The OFLC originally confirmed an MA15+ rating (currently the highest rating available for video games down under) but instead have decided to revoke the classification and, in turn, disallow the game from sale.
Atari has called it the equivalent to book burning, while Marc has been quoted as saying "to blame gaming for everything that is inherently wrong in our homes, in our schools and on our streets is much easier to do than to actually figure out ways to fix the systemic problems that exist within our culture."
An appeal has been launched by Atari Australia. Meanwhile, Kart continues to ponder whether his own country will ever grow up. Ironically, Japan has recently introduced a new Adults Only category to its rating system...
In other news ... A study by ABI Research predicts that by 2011, the video gaming industry will double in profit to USD 65.9 billion, on the back of online and mobile titles ... Nintendo has confirmed the original Nintendo DS will be phased out by the NDS Lite over the coming year ... Dave Perry has resigned as head of Shiny Entertainment, on the back of news Atari may sell some of its internal development studios ...
Sciere (930912) on 2/22/2006 5:23 PM · Permalink · Report
Perry resigns only temporarily, cf. history item
nullnullnull (1463) on 2/22/2006 5:55 PM · Permalink · Report
You sure you do not mean revenue instead of profit? Also that currency is the 65B in?
Игги Друге (46653) on 2/22/2006 6:43 PM · Permalink · Report
[Q --start Kartanym wrote--]Atari has called it the equivalent to book burning, while Marc has been quoted as saying "to blame gaming for everything that is inherently wrong in our homes, in our schools and on our streets is much easier to do than to actually figure out ways to fix the systemic problems that exist within our culture." [/Q --end Kartanym wrote--] The question Marc should ask himself is, whether he's part of the solution or part of the problems.
Ben K (23952) on 2/22/2006 11:05 PM · Permalink · Report
Please. Previous games that the OFLC have refused classification for include Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, Narc and Manhunt. Mark Ecko's Brand Name Under Pressure seems to follow this tradition. All they seem to be (unintentionally) doing is protecting Australia from crap games, which I don't mind in the slightest.
Keep in mind that the OFLC also let Fahrenheit through, stating that the sex scene in the game was contextually relevent. So maybe they're not as thick as they're made out to be.
Kartanym (12418) on 2/24/2006 7:52 AM · Permalink · Report
My gripe against the OFLC is simple. We are one of the very few countries, if not the only country, in the world without an R18+ category for video games. Now, I'm not suggesting that any of the titles so far mentioned are, in fact, good. What I am suggesting is that, while Hollywood movies provide far more violent and upfronting content yet are allowed here through an R rating, and at the same time the likes of SBS show brutal real life content from around the world in its news coverage, some video games are disallowed from release.
Violence, in any medium, exists because we are a violent society. There's no hiding from that. Protecting children from such content, though. shouldn't be done so by banning, because in the end the best way to gain access is through piracy ... which, right now, seems to be a far bigger crime then any gun or driving violations worldwide. If children want it, they'll have it. It's the parents responsibility and that of the retailer to ensure that, at the very least, the right game is handed to the right person.
I've just opened another can of worms with all that above, but I've been following the OFLC for many years now and I stand by an R18+ rating for our market.
Answering the other questions ... that should be revenue, sorry for that ... it's in US$ (hence USD, D for dollar) ... and yes, Perry resigned to help find the ideal buyer for Shiney, so may in fact return as head of the company in the near future.
Unicorn Lynx (181771) on 2/24/2006 8:20 AM · Permalink · Report
I absolutely agree with you. This is ridiculous how games get banned for what movies have been doing for quite a long time - let alone books. It's only because games are still widely considered children's toys, not a form of independent art grown ups can enjoy. I hope some day people will treat games with equal respect. But not before gaming community grows up a bit more and stops proclaiming all kinds of silly adolescent games "mature entertainment"...
Katakis | カタキス (43087) on 2/24/2006 10:51 AM · Permalink · Report
This is further proof that when it comes to computer games, the Australian Government just doesn't give a damn about adults.
Banning Getting Up is ridiculous. The Warriors and Jet Set Radio Future both allow you to graffiti your territory. Why were these titles approved, and Getting Up rejected. Seems like the OFLC are not following their guidelines.
Let's compare ourselves to New Zealand, who already have a R18+ category. They can get Narc, but we can't. They can get Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude, but we can't. To make matters worse for the latter, the censored version that America got still wasn't good enough.
Matt Neuteboom (976) on 2/24/2006 3:22 PM · Permalink · Report
Frankly, I really don't mind the fact that Getting Up is getting banned there because personally I think that that game is God's punishment for an evil world. :-D I doubt that it will be sorely missed.
But then again, one has to look at this from a political perspective. If they have the power to do this to a bad video game, whats to stop them from banning a better video game instead. What about Halo, or Half-life 2? We got lucky this time, they banned a game that's not really that great, but what happens when they start banning the good stuff. Certainly gets you interested in this stuff, doesn't it?
Kartanym (12418) on 2/25/2006 6:36 AM · Permalink · Report
Just adding to that, Half Life 2 was on the verge of missing out on an MA15+ rating by the OFLC because of its violent content, if I remember correctly. It was a 50/50 decision that thankfully came out on the right side as the game was released as planned. So there's every chance that a future title, which is known to be an entertaining and well put together slice of adventure, may turn out to be banned for any number of reasons.