R18+ classification for games
So the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General is considering an R18+ classification for games again in July. There’s some new draft Guidelines available on the Commonwealth’s classification website. It’s worth a read.
Essentially it proposes rather stricter restrictions than for movies, because of the higher level of interactivity of computer games. For example, anything more than “moderate violence” would get an MA15+ rating. And even in MA 15+ games “strong and realistic violence should not be very frequent.” That would put a lot of first person shooters in at least the MA15+ if not R18+ classifications.
The jumps between categories are a bit odd too. Once we get to R18+ there’s a whopping jump from “not very frequent” violence (MA15+) to pretty much any violence being allowed so long as it doesn’t “offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that it should not be classified.”
Sexual activity is only allowed to be implied even in MA15+, but in R18+ it can be “realistically simulated.” I assume that’s so long as it doesn’t show close ups of actual penetration, it’s all good. I wonder if “implied” would cover the romantic interludes in the Mass Effect games.
I assume the references to nudity, drug use and sex not being related to incentives or rewards is to make a distinction between something happening in a cut scene, and something happening in game play. But I’m not sure where that would point pointless side quests and things you can do in a sandbox game, like having sex with a prostitute in GTA, or the infamous “hot coffee” side quest. Those references are completely missing from the R18+, but drug use and sexual violence related to incentives or rewards is still RC (refused classification). I’m not entirely sure where that would leave Fallout 3, since the original version showed use of morphine during game play. I’m not sure it was really related to “incentives or rewards.”
The other weird thing is “Themes.” Any game with themes of more than a moderate sense of threat and menace (justified by context) would get an MA15+ rating. I’m not sure how you have anything other than a light puzzle game or “Barbie and friends” without at least some level of threat and menace. Then if we go to the definition of “Themes” it says it means “Social issues such as crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependency, death, serious illness, family breakdown and racism.” I’m not really sure that makes much sense in context.
Anyway, it’s not too bad a start for all that. And gives me hope that we might actually be getting closer to having something.
There’s a survey on the classification website too. Probably a good idea to complete that if you care about this issue. It closes on Wednesday 22 June.
Posted via LiveJournal app for iPhone.