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That's not a censor. THIS is a censor.

Jul 10, 2008
By .
Gaming

Whatever sort of foolish nanny-state won't-somebody-think-of-the-children Jack-Thompsonesque video game censorship bullshit we have to put up with here on occasion — at least for a few months until a court strikes it down — we're far better off than our Aussie friends. Down there something with the charming name "Office of Film & Literature Classification"* can effectively ban a game by refusing to classify it. That's what they are doing in the case of the much anticipated Fallout 3, apparently because in the game — as in previous Fallout games — your character can take various drugs and medications. Most sensible thing, really, what with StimPacks and RadAway cutting a tragic swath through Down Under youths.

*Now, properly run, this could be the best government job ever:

Bureaucrat 1: OK. The end. Turn it off. Now, how would we classify that one?
Bureaucrat 2: Chick flick.
Bureaucrat 3: Totally. Pffft.
Bureaucrat 1: No it wasn't! It had action! That guy got shot!
Bureaucrat 2: Yeah, but there were, like, consequences.
Bureaucrat 3: And feelings.
Bureaucrat 2: Total chick flick.
Bureaucrat 1: You guys have classified the last ten movies we saw as chick flicks, and one of them had zombies.
Bureaucrat 2: Zombies with feelings.
Bureaucrat 3: Can we move on to classifying literature now? I've got some new terms for these "Left Behind" books.

edited to add some key words because I am a dumbass.

Last 5 posts by Ken

2 Comments
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2 Comments

  1. Bruce  •  Jul 10, 2008 @4:28 pm

    AAAAAARRRGGHHHH!!!!

    It's not even the moral majority holding us to ransom here. It's the moral minuscule percentage. We have had to live with a group of fuddy duddies that still believe that games are for kids and as such the highest rating a game can get is MA (ie. for 15 year olds). Attempts to make an R classification have failed so far due to the Attorney General of South Australia being a big, fricken idiot and his sole vote is enough to blackball the entire scheme.

    On the whole, Australia is a thoroughly secular nation. However the balance of power is held by fringe nutjobs who hold the entire nation to ransom unless they are pandered to.

    Check out Stephen Fielding of the Families First party. (Which only includes families just like his.) With a mere 1.9% of the senate vote in Victoria thanks to preference jiggery pokery gets to sit on the cross benches with the casting vote on any contentious legislation. It's a fricken debacle.

  2. Bruce  •  Jul 10, 2008 @10:29 pm

    And here's the arsehole in question responding to a constituent questioning the decision.

    The "Honorable" Michael Atkins position on gaming violence

    The money quote for me:

    It is true that this restricts adult liberty to a small degree. This is the price of keeping this material from children and vulnerable adults. In my view it is worth it.

    Thankyou very fucking much nanny.