No grown up gamers in Australia
The Reservoir Dogs computer game has been refused classification in Australia. This is the second game to be banned in the country, the first being Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, which - ironically - is set in a future city and features a world where freedom of expression is suppressed by a tyrannical city government.
According to the country’s Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC):
The Classification Board has classified the computer game Reservoir Dogs Refused Classification (RC).
Refused Classification (RC) means the computer game cannot be made available for sale or hire, or be demonstrated in Australia.
The Classification Board made this decision on the basis that Reservoir Dogs contains frequent depictions of violence that have a high impact. As such, the computer game cannot be accommodated at the MA 15+ classification and must be Refused Classification.
Computer games that exceed the MA 15+ impact test of strong impact must be refused classification.
I find it interesting that although an R 18+ rating exists for films, the OFLC appears to have disregarded the optkion of using this rating for the game. The implication is clearly that no-one over the age of 18 would be interested in computer games.
However, according to The Age, over 70 percent of Australian game players are adults.
Thursday 06 Jul 2006 | Paul | Australia
