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Forums - Gaming Discussion - We Happy Few Banned in Australia

Yeah because We Happy Few is the only game with blood spatter and violence and drugs right?



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John2290 said:
I thought if anywhere,it would have been banned in the UK. Austrailia...eh. not the first place that would have come to mind. You can probably bet TlOu2 and definitely Cyberpunk will be banned there so. Why is it they are so reluctant to add to their economy. Smh. Surprised the Australian public is so fragile they must be protected from the influence of video games and media.

Australia is a very nice place to live, however we are baby sitted so heavily to keep the peace and aim for the highest safety. The people living here lets the government control everything, give them an inch and the government will take a mile. First we ban Guns to reduce shootings, now we went on to ban any device that can be used in self defence like Pepper spray and Knifes etc. You can get fined for having a Steering lock in your hands if you are standing outside your car. Video games is just another casualty that the unknowledgeable think it will help in reducing crimes. 

Yet some how the movie industry is rarely affected and some games like GTA are still available to purchase that actually relate to real crimes.



How is it that GTA is legal in Australia, then? If one game gets banned for drug use, I would think that would be a rule for all games.



mjk45 said:
Nautilus said:
Heh, the Australians are way too insensitive when it comes to gaming.Its going to hurt sales there but whoever lives there that really wants to play such game will find a way to buy it, be it through a trip or simply buying a digital version on another region store.

It's got nothing to do with us Australian's being way to sensitive we where the first country to show full frontal nudity on prime time TV that left 4 dead article is 9 years old and was at a time where the attorney general of one state South Australia was stopping a nationwide 18R certificate for games when he was thrown out of office we got one.

Fine, then the ones that regulates games, the part of the government that is responsible for it, is way too sensitive.Or they are simply hypocrites.Or dumb.Either way, this decision is simply stupid, especially after what you said.



My (locked) thread about how difficulty should be a decision for the developers, not the gamers.

https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread.php?id=241866&page=1

government + video games = worst idea ever

nothing like having the nanny state tell you that you cant handle it.



 

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Nautilus said:
mjk45 said:

It's got nothing to do with us Australian's being way to sensitive we where the first country to show full frontal nudity on prime time TV that left 4 dead article is 9 years old and was at a time where the attorney general of one state South Australia was stopping a nationwide 18R certificate for games when he was thrown out of office we got one.

Fine, then the ones that regulates games, the part of the government that is responsible for it, is way too sensitive.Or they are simply hypocrites.Or dumb.Either way, this decision is simply stupid, especially after what you said.

The problem lies with the guidelines , that prohibit  incentivising of drug use and sexual assault as part of the game play , now on the surface that doesn't  seem like a bad thing but the problem arises with the strict implementation , the counter argument from the govt is we have these prohibitions because it's interactive unlike film hence the emphasis on the game play benefit to the drug rather than the drug itself.

Because so few games fall into this category it won't get much backlash. my take is there are lots more threats to our children than taking a pill in a game for benefit and isn't the18+ category supposed to minimise content getting in the hands of children, who lets face see taking say morphine , med x call it what you will in a game to bolster yourself is just another gameplay mechanic that's frankly so widespread they don't even notice it anymore.



Research shows Video games  help make you smarter, so why am I an idiot

One of the problems with government rating boards is that they seem to go out of their way to get people who either dislike or are indifferent to gaming as an art form as play testers.

I've read an interview with the (sole) guy responsible for testing and giving out rating recommendations to the german ratingsboard about games they had considered 'liable to corrupt the youth' (yes, that is a real legal term in german...).
He is a biomedical engineer who isn't very interested in gaming and that is sort of the point. He describes himself as 'a little stuffy and conservative' and gaming as 'something he liked to do as a kid once in a while', but thinks 'more violent games should be banned to keep them away from unstable minds'. Yes, the playtester responsible for compiling the footage that will be pivotal in the decision over a games legal status in germany subscribes to the theory that violent games make you more violent in real life.

The playtesters play through the whole game, but work off a checklist of items such as 'beheading', 'blood spatter', etc. without much regard to context.
They then compile a presentation out of screenshots and captured gameplay to 'proffessionally and neutrally' present to a gremium of up to twelve (presumably old farts) in the ratings board, who see all of the most violent parts a game has to offer up in a sort of compressed slide show.

I'm actually amazed we don't get more self-censorship from developers in response to this, than we do.



A government banning a game about oppression and censorship? HMMMMMMMMMM



"Trick shot? The trick is NOT to get shot." - Lucian

Areym said:
A government banning a game about oppression and censorship? HMMMMMMMMMM

2018/10



AlfredoTurkey said:
Ka-pi96 said:

Yeah, restrictions for kids buying games only. What the parents let their kids play is up to them, but the kids shouldn't be able to play adult rated games without the parents getting them those games.

I think you missed the point. They are trying to prevent bad parents from being bad parents. They're taking the steps to ensure that bad parents can't let their kids play these games. 

Good intentions offcourse but where do we go next?

There's a whole list of nice things they can ban that would take away freedom from the good citizens and even then bad parents will still exist.