South Australian AG will support R18+ rating if 15+ is scrapped

It's a bit confusing that the Australian M will be analogous to the North American T. Then again, it's not like there could ever really be a universal ratings standard anyway (not sarcasm-- different regions are right to prioritize different things, IMO, and it's really only a detriment when, as in Australia's case, the lack of an applicable rating scuttles/censors the work from being shown at all), so any step forward is preferable to the current situation.

as an australian let me be the first to say bloody oath this is taking too long i just wanna play mortal kombat but i guess a copy of ebay will be easy enough to get

FINISH IT!

Now I just would hope that Germany adds a "21+" rating so all the senseless censorship is gone from there as well...

Not even 18+ is enough for the USK to justify releasing uncensored games.

That is a pretty big gap! Could be wrong but a game like Smackdown Vs. Raw would then be 18+?

However it happens, an 18 rating is long overdue! That video of Left 4 Dead 2 in Australia's just hilarious!

Perfect example as to why the U.S. shouldn't ever let video game (or any media) ratings be controlled by the government.

Politicians suck at just about everything, but they suck extra hard at making ANY DECISION EVER.

Can someone explain this to me? In the US, AGs prosecute lawbreakers. So why are they deciding the law in Australia? Seems to me that the people who prosecute crimes shouldn't be deciding what the laws are. Its a clear cut conflict of interest. So why do they allow this over there?

The proposed change is the same as in New Zealand except we also have R16+. They should add that too. I always wanted the MA15+ rating though, because films and games either go down to PG13+ or up to R16+ (sometimes up to R18+). Unfortunately, they usually screw it up and give lower ratings to the ones that need higher ratings and vice versa.

Still, I guess this is good for Australia. I reckon having R16+ gives a bit of a middle ground though. I'd hate to be involved in re-classifying everything though. It'd be a nightmare.

How does that even make sense? We'll give you this R18 that you've been wanting, but you can't have your M15 anymore! Why wouldn't you just keep both? Would you have games in the M15 rating become R18 games?

Clearly this is driven by John Rau's conservatism and personal opinions on 'acceptability', but at least it would be a bloody improvement from what we have now and give adults the right to choose what content they come into contact with rather than having a single person, with the arrogance to believe he knows what's best for everyone else, decide for them.

I honestly don't see what's so hard about all this though, they should simply copy the film ratings system for games. If there is a belief that a violent game is more "dangerous" than a violent film then the game should be rated accordingly. There is no rational need for a new ratings system per medium.

That really wouldn't be any different a system from the ESRB then.

Maybe not a perfect solution, but it's better than no solution at this point.

I find it to be pretty interesting that a place like Austraila, whos first settlers of the land, was basically a mix of small time to big time criminals and now their rating system is more strict than ESRB or PEGI.

not saying that to say their hypocrites (far from it. that generation died off along time ago) but just an interesting thought.

Jesus Christ just goddamn do it alreeady! Stop messing around and get it done.

The trouble with this proposed system is that it will cause the very problem that the R rating is meant to solve.

- The "R" rating is a restriction of sales to persons over 18.
- The "MA15+" rating is a restriction of sales to persons over 15.
- The "M" rating is a *recommendation* of content as being potentially unsuitable for persons under 15, with no restrictions implemented.

By removing the in-between MA15+ rating, one widens the gap between what is deemed appropriate and what is not. The potential impact of this is that games which somewhat appropriately fit the MA15+ bill, for example Dead Space (which throughout my gameplay I found an appropriate for for the MA15+ label) would instead be upgraded to an R rating, distorting its actual impact as a form of media. Another example would be Pandorum. Again, quite scary but hardly deserving of an R rating in my opinion.

This move would only cause shoehorning in the other direction; games which are really MA15+ content will end up in the R category. Parents of teenagers will not be able to properly make use of the classification system, as it will not cater to _their_ children. As a society which already seems to shun the turbulent period of everyone's life that we know as adolescence, can we really afford to further marginalise our own children?