Yet another video game banned in Australia
News.com.au reports that the Commonwealth Office of Film and Literature CensorshipClassification has recently classified the computer game Soldier of Fortune: Payback as 'refused classification', with the result that the game cannot be legally sold or distributed in Australia.
(Yes, it's somewhat oxymoronic that something can be 'classified' as 'refused classificiation')
This result is courtesy of our beloved federal government's policy that if a computer game isn't suitable for a 15-year old, it must be banned. MA15+ is the highest classification for computer games -- if it is too violent for the MA15+ category, it must be refused classification -- i.e. banned.
Earlier this year, the football game Blitz the League was also refused classification, because characters in the computer game can use steroids to get a performance boost. Under the classification rules, drug use associated with incentives is an automatic ban.
This stupidity was brought to you by the Commonwealth Department of Condescending Paternalism.
(Yes, it's somewhat oxymoronic that something can be 'classified' as 'refused classificiation')
This result is courtesy of our beloved federal government's policy that if a computer game isn't suitable for a 15-year old, it must be banned. MA15+ is the highest classification for computer games -- if it is too violent for the MA15+ category, it must be refused classification -- i.e. banned.
Earlier this year, the football game Blitz the League was also refused classification, because characters in the computer game can use steroids to get a performance boost. Under the classification rules, drug use associated with incentives is an automatic ban.
This stupidity was brought to you by the Commonwealth Department of Condescending Paternalism.
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