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Warner Bros. to appeal Mortal Kombat's AU classification |
Listed in: News Tags: Australia, mortal kombat, netherrealm studios, warner bros.
Mortal Kombat fans in Australia were dealt a lethal blow last week when word came out that the series' latest iteration, Mortal Kombat, was refused classification by the Australian Classification Board. The good news for Australian gamers is that the game's publisher, Warner Bros., isn't taking it lying down. They're rallying for another go at the classification board.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment's Australian arm recently sent out the following statement:
After careful consideration Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Australia have decided to appeal to the Australian Classification Review Board against the RC (Refused Classification) decision given to Mortal Kombat. After reviewing both the game play and the Board's original decision WBIE Australia believe the violence in the game is on par with numerous other titles readily available for sale in the Australian market. As such the company wants to exhaust all options to make the game available to Mortal Kombat fans in this country. An identical version of the game will be submitted for appeal.
Being refused classification is pretty much the Australian equivalent of being outright banned. The Australian Classification Board claimed that upon reviewing Mortal Kombat they found the series' classic fatalities as too disturbing.
"The game contains violence that exceeds strong in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 years to play," read the ruling. The board recognized that fatalities won't be performed frequently enough during gameplay but believed that "despite the exaggerated conceptual nature of the fatalities and their context within a fighting game set in a fantasy realm, impact is heightened by the use of graphics which are realistically rendered and very detailed."
It remains to be seen if WBIE manages to convince the board to re-classify Mortal Kombat without cuts being made. Mortal Kombat is currently slated for an April 19 release in North America and an April 22 release in Europe.
Via [IGN]
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The problem is generated due to the lax ENFORCEMENT of the ratings system. If they feel a need to increase fines for sales of games to minors, I'm all for it.
Besides better enforcement of this ratings system however, the primary cause for inappropriate games getting into the hands of minors is uneducated parents buying games at the insistence of their children.
Again, this outcome is the result of BAD PARENTING, not the proposed future state of the ratings scheme. I'm sure many would suggest increasing awareness of game ratings via ad campaigns etc. is a required course of action. By the same token, I'm sure politicians will neatly side-step the issue in another manner, when in reality they don't want to set aside the revenue to pay for the ads. I agree with this to some extent (ads should be run at the introduction of the new system at least, but not beyond that).What it boils down to is, how is this any different from the current Video Ratings system (in the sense that ratings are supposed to be enforced at the sales counter, and assisted by educated parenting decisions).
I understand that the content RELATIVE to the ratings scheme should be different than it is for film/video (while their have been no 'conclusive' studies as to the relative impact of video game content relative to film/video, I generally agree that the impact is of a higher nature), the above is NOT RELEVANT to the issue at hand.
If the relevant government bodies don't believe the ratings system can be effectively enforced, then by extension, MA15+ games should be RC'd (Refused Classification) on the grounds they they are currently (no doubt) finding their way into the hands of minors).
Likewise for R18+, MA15+ ratings on Film/Video etc.
As per usual, it boils down to the government effectively saying that 'the general public is TOO STUPID to make their own decisions as far as deciding what's appropriate for their children, so we'll just ban everything en masse'.
The worst part by far is that WB's argument will be that games of a similar nature have found their way through the system (let's not go into the why or how), and that as such their game should be accepted on these grounds as well.
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ie: Games of a more adult nature are being 'rated down' (and not always having content removed) to fit the system, instead of improving the system itself.
Now if that's not contradictory to the goal of keeping 'inappropriate' games out of minors hands, I don't know what is.
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