Mortal Kombat classification appeal rejected in Australia, import companies rejoice

by Ben Gilbert on Mar 14th 2011 10:00PM

Despite a contested rating by Warner Bros. Interactive, the forthcoming Mortal Kombat reboot has been permanently refused classification in Australia, effectively banning the title from official retail distribution. WB Games issued a statement regarding the ruling, stating that it's "extremely disappointed" that the game has been refused classification on the continent.

The publisher continued, praising "thousands of Mortal Kombat fans in Australia and around the world who have voiced their support during the appeal process." Mortal Kombat's latest iteration will still arrive next month in other territories, also known as "the month when a handful of hardcore Australia-based MK fans are forced to import copies."

Source: IGN

Tags: australia, microsoft, mortal-kombat-2011, netherrealm-studios, playstation, ps3, ratings, warner-bros-interactive, warner-bros-interactive-entertainment, wb-games, wb-games-chicago, wbie, xbox

Reader Comments (60)

"The month when a handful of hardcore Australia-based MK fans spend way too much money on imported copies."

You do realise it's actually cheaper to import new games rather than purchase a new game new here in Australia, right? Our dollar (AUD) has been quite strong for some time now, making the case for importing even better for importing.

@VEX
What a mess of a comment.

*purchase a game new
*making the case for importing even better.

@VEX
Plus arent your games higher priced then the American versions?

@VEX HAHA that is what i was gonna say games are crazy expensive in australia and i just get them sent from canada where its only 59.99 and the AUD CAD and USD are all basically the same

@VEX
Yeah completely the same from NZ, (which is getting this game :P).
New Game here: $120
New Game in US (NZD): $80
Shipping from US to NZ: $25
Total: $105
Bottom line, it's cheaper importing anyway...

@FrodoTBaggins

Ozgameshop do most new releases for about $60 AU inc post. (Note to Americans: this price includes tax. The deals we get here aren't that bad.)

http://www.ozgameshop.com/

@VEX

I recommend that Aussie gamers order their games from zavvi.com, where they sell PAL format titles for a fraction of the price. New games work out to be around the $60 mark, which is what the US pays. That's what I do, and there's never any need to walk into another JB Hi-Fi/EB Games/Game store again!

@willooi

Forgot to include the the PAL only applies to 360 games. For PS3, get them from wherever you can, it's bound to be cheaper than the $100-120 mark.

That goes for you too, FrodoTBaggins, don't spend $105 when you can do significantly better from the above UK site!

@Esposch

I agree strongly with what Esposch said.

I use ozgameshop for all my pre-orders, while the wait time coming from the UK is a bit sucky, I pre-ordered Bulletstorm and only got it yesterday, it was worth the $60 saving.

A nice fact also is that even if you buy a game from 07 from them, it will still be sealed.

@Theneverendingsoda
That makes no sense what so ever. What the hell are you talking about? Our dollar buys nearly one US dollar. Back then it bought 50 US cents. Last time I checked that's HALF the buying power.

By your logic the Australian dollar is going great guns compared to the Euro but trash compared to the US dollar, which no one would agree with.

@Demaar
What? The MOST US dollars your money can buy, the stronger it is. If 10 years ago, an Aussie buck could buy 50 US cents that means that you needed TWO ASD to buy ONE USD. So if (back then) a game cost 50 USD, you'd pay 100 ASD for it.

Here's for hoping your gaming skills are better than your math ones (not to mention extremely basic economics).

@Demaar
Damn, sorry, Theneverendingsoda is the one I should be bashing. I didn't get what you mean right away.

Here's for hoping my gaming skills are better than my reading ones.

@VEX
are they all region free? can you play anything? because why ever buy australian then?

@TheShaper
Um yeah duh, exactly. Back then our dollar was WEAKER. Thus taking MORE of our currency to pay for LESS of theirs.

I've been importing games for the better part of two decades mate, well familiar with currency conversion as I've been following currency strengths in the financial news just as long. Look at the terminology they use "The Aussie dollar is up compared to the greenback" (ie. the US dollar).

@TheShaper
Oops. Should have read your second comment before flying off the handle. Sorry lol

@opiumized
PS3 games are ALL region free, a good portion of Xbox 360 games are too. That aside though, I have an NTSC PS1, PS2, GameCube, Wii and I had "a cartridge for my Megadrive. It's made sense for me to import for ages now, and the reasons keep adding up!

@Demaar
Hehe, no worries, I was a much bigger jackass anyway, you manged to be polite even (should that aply to every Aussie,, you guys kinda rock ^^)

I really hate hearing this news,again Australia gets screwed.I sincerely hope that one day the good people of Australia can actually buy a dam game thats rated for adults.

Seriously,this sucks and i hate it for them.

@SgtDookie

Agreed. It's saddening, indeed.

@SgtDookie

It's not too bad at all. It's still legal to import them, you just can't sell them. And importing's cheaper, so we're not missing out on a lot.

@SgtDookie

What's *real* stupid is the damn geniuses in charge trying to figure out a way to tax the internet due to all the importing rather than actually *fixing* the pricing/ratings problem.

I've been all over the place, the people there are nice, the food is good (save the BBQ sauce...tastes like got damn maple syrup), the women on greater average are pretty and got the personality to boot, and nearly everyone over there are genuinely nice to perfect strangers.

But I swear, they have absolutely no damn idea what they are doing when it comes to gaming and some technology issues. As a runner up to China, its gamer hell.

http://www.thataussiegamesite.com.au/blogs/819-proposed-tax-changes-could-cut-into-import-savings-for-aussies

@ShadowXIII

There is no genious trying to figure that out.

The guy who owns one of the biggest retailers in Australia said purchases from foreign websites should also have to be charged tax because his sales are.

Any comments from the actual government basically said he was an idiot and that it was nigh on impossible to actually impose a tax on things like 20/30 dollar sales and that it would cost more for them to collect the tax then they would get from the tax.

@This Little Man Says His Name Is

genius

@Esposch

Apparently customs are on the lookout for copies coming through. People who import the title can be fined up to 3 times the cost of the game.. so i read here.

http://www.kotaku.com.au/2011/03/aussie-customs-on-the-lookout-for-mortal-kombat-imports/

@This Little Man Says His Name Is

I realize that its nigh impossible for them to pull it off...but what bothers me is how far the idea got n the first place. It even made the news.

Okay, okay...now THIS, my friends, took me by surprise.

/unnecessary /s

The stereotype of Aussies being tough and independent is obviously just that...a false stereotype. How they put up with such a shit government is beyond me.

@Jack Kevorkian

It's hard, but when you're just a bunch of angry nerds to them, no amount of logic helps.

It's really unfair, but such is life. I guess I'll just give a UK seller another sale.

@Jack Kevorkian

It's probably best to just give up on using stereotypes at all if you'd like to avoid disappointment.

Plus, bit of a generalisation to say that our government is 'shit' when, in honesty, it's just a single law regarding game ratings. Yeah, it's silly and inconsistent, but one law can hardly sum up the beliefs/values of an entire country.

@Jack Kevorkian

On the other hand, as an Australian I don't fear getting shot when I walk down to EB Games to not by my copy of MK.

Of course, this has nothing to do with our ridiculous lack of an R18+ games rating, and everything to do with our control over firearms. I guess the government(s) here can't be _too_ shit ;).

@(Unverified)

But is it worth it? Really? A Mortal Kombat-less world. WHO WOULD WANT TO LIVE!?!?!

But seriously, I'm just importing it. No big deal. I just feel bad because of the potential 62 copies they could sell here.

It's a bummer.

im not too keen on AU laws... but whats to stop, say, a video game store that imports for you? like... you walk in to randomgamestore, preorder+import, and come back and pick it up when it arrives? do the laws specifically say that it cant be sold in the country (and in essence must come from an outside source?) although im sure that most avid AU gamers dont even bother ordering from stores in their country anymore? if it was me... id find a reliable online store, and stick with them for my games.

@KiraXD
I believe it says can't be sold in the country.

@KiraXD

Retailers can't sell it to you.

So them importing it for you is the same as selling it to you essentially.

Given that I live in America and thus am accustomed to basically having a pick of nearly every game that's fit to buy in our much less strict market, I can't really offer any kind of perspective that'd mesh with Australia's views on this.

What I can say is this: look on the bright side, Aussies, at least you guys had this game CONSIDERED for release. For years, Germany's been all "LOL NO" about games with gory human-on-human violence.

I wonder if Australia comprehend that all publishers do is shrug their shoulders at this and say to themselves, "Minor market, no biggie." The OFLC probably needs to be informed that Australia just isn't big enough for this to change any behavior and all it manages is getting the locals angry. Locals that survive dangerous animals and inform us that this is a knife.

i live in australia and import all my games for xbox as its way cheaper i will import this aswell so not to sad for me, just sad for australia economy as i would rather put my money back into the country but oh well ill give it to the united kingdom if its not region free or help the chinese economy if it is yay well done aussie ratings board.

@wilkat87
I wonder if they realise they're losing a massive economy booster.

@wilkat87

yeah i have family in AU, and i figured that any avid gamer would just import anyways...

its like how i am with comic books... i have one specific website i order from every week or so... i dont bother with the LCS... I imagine it would be like that for games over there..

It's crazy that MK is banned in AU. I don't think DNF is banned anywhere yet and supposedly Gearbox didn't edit the game at all.

Some peoples taste, I guess.

@MLC
its weird what the OFLC will ban and not ban i wonder what measuaring stick thay use as apparently the violence has to be in context, as an example i wonder why thay banned L4D2 but not COD:WAW or COD:black ops, L4D2 zombies=BAD, COD zombies=GOOD i dont get it thay both have dismemberment if anything L4D2 seems more light hearted

Sucks for my Aussie bros.
Hope it's region free making importing even easier for fans.

The big problem here is that publishers aren't making a big stink out of it. Since M-rated titles are actually a really small segment of sales (Most are actually E-T), it's not a huge loss.

If companies like EA, Activision, and Ubisoft refused to ship any games to Australia unless they could all be released, and legislator parents had to deal with imports for freaked out children not getting the latest Mario game, they'd understand what they're making their adult citizens do every day. (It would probably rely on Nintendo being willing to make a show of solidarity with other publishers, which I'm pretty sure would never happen).

Also, they'd be reminded that gaming is currently a 2 billion dollar a year industry in their country, and it would be a shame to have it dry up completely.

Again my country continues to not consider a review on its gaming classification system (being the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995)) and quality titles continue to be rejected or changed for further classification.

This act was set down in 1995 which I think was also the year of the release of PlayStation. Its a shame our government are not as quick to update their decisions on game classification as developers are in producing games.

This will resolve in a push to import titles as well as, though not an advocate of it, illegally downloading them.

Wow Joystiq, i posted a comment first from my iPhone for the first time and it didn't work at all. Fail much?

ANYWAY. What i was saying was (and i was hoping to be first in this time since this little bit of news has escaped your front page) is that the Attourney Generals of Australia and the Australian Government have all decided the R18+ rating is in the best interests of the industry and protecting minors from graphic content. All they are waiting for is the classification system to be finalized and re-catagorized so that in the July meeting, a final decision will be made. Likely then, Mortal Kombat will get released.

Australia is a country. The continent is called Oceania and also has New Zealand in it. ¬¬

@TheShaper
You know, the one with boomerangs, kangoroos, koala bears and Crocodile Dundee.

@TheShaper

continents are weird
russia is parly in europe and partly in asia continental plate. Some people call australia a continent. some people call it australasia, some people call it oceania. but the reality is new zealand is on it's own continental plate called Zealandia but we never mentioin that in the "seven continents" that we learn in elementary school.

this would all be very easy if we started teaching people that there are more than 7 continents. after all the 7 continents have nothing to do with anything, government, tectonic plates, nothing.

@TheShaper

Are you serious? Did you even go to school? Australia is the only place in the world classed as an Island, a Country and a Continent. Oceania is a region.

@Foetoid
Yeah, actually I skipped school altogether. And that's why English is not my native language and yet I can keep up with you guys.

BTW, "The term [Oceania] is sometimes used more specifically to denote a continent comprising Australia Continent and proximate islands [such as NZ]". From wikipedia along with, like, six references.

Maybe you live there, I don't know, but do you even research before unleashing the dogs?

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 50 Comments

Mortal Kombat (2011)

Mortal Kombat classification appeal rejected in Australia, import companies rejoice

Reader Comments (60)

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:07PM VEX said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:08PM VEX said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:13PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:30PM aussieCanuck said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:42PM FrodoTBaggins said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 12:11AM Esposch said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 12:46AM willooi said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 1:00AM willooi said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 3:52AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 5:55AM Demaar said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 7:23AM TheShaper said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 7:26AM TheShaper said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 6:23PM opiumized said

Posted: Mar 16th 2011 12:26AM Demaar said

Posted: Mar 16th 2011 12:27AM Demaar said

Posted: Mar 16th 2011 12:29AM Demaar said

Posted: Mar 16th 2011 7:39AM TheShaper said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:10PM SgtDookie said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:12PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 12:13AM Esposch said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 1:53AM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 3:54AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 3:55AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 8:18AM AfterGlow84 said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 2:25PM ShadowXIII said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:11PM Shadowbender said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:13PM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 12:12AM Apsac D said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 12:55AM willooi said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 2:51AM (Unverified) said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 5:48AM Apsac D said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:17PM KiraXD said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:37PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 4:35AM This Little Man Says His Name Is said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:17PM Red Runner said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:26PM LaughingTarget said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:28PM wilkat87 said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:36PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 11:01PM KiraXD said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:38PM MLC said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 10:58PM wilkat87 said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 11:07PM Jawmuncher said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 11:10PM onan said

Posted: Mar 14th 2011 11:28PM TrangieMagic said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 3:48AM Foetoid said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 7:15AM TheShaper said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 7:16AM TheShaper said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 9:39AM eat it said

Posted: Mar 15th 2011 10:27PM Foetoid said

Posted: Mar 16th 2011 7:47AM TheShaper said

Mortal Kombat (2011) Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW