Mad World cleared for Australian release with no cuts
Just a day after the game was given an 18 rating by the British Board of Film Classification, Sega has revealed that Mad World has also received a rating in Australia. Surprisingly, it appears as if the ultra-violent Wii title was given a 15+ rating by the Office of Film and Literature Classification without any cuts made to the content.
Because the highest rating the OFLC has is 15+, a number of high profile mature titles have been refused classification is the past, and only reinstated once the objectionable content had been removed. Just last year, the likes of Silent Hill: Homecoming, Fallout 3, and Grand Theft Auto IV were all forced to go through this process. However, in spite of what the BBFC describes as "very strong, stylized, bloody violence," Mad World was given a pass.
While it's great that Australian gamers will get a chance to play an unedited version of Mad World, this move clearly shows the flaws in the OFLC ratings system. From what we've played, the game does not seem to be appropriate for a 15-year-old audience, despite its heavily stylized visuals. Hopefully the OFLC will instate an 18+ rating soon, so that mature titles will be able to receive an appropriate rating without having to be censored.
Looks like BBFC needs to learn from OFLC. Neat.
