February 14, 2008 -
IGN Australia reports that third-person action game Dark Sector has been refused a rating by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. The move is, effectively, a ban on selling the game in Australia.In rendering the decision, the OFLC offered its impression of Dark Sector:
...a violent and sometimes gruesome game with a sinister storyline and ominous outcome. The violence and aggression inflicted upon the protagonist is of a high level, naturalistic and not stylised at all...
[the level of violence] exceeds strong and as such cannot be accomplished in a MA15+ classification... When Hayden cuts off his opponent's limb with the glaive, large amounts of blood spray forth from the stump and the injured person screams in agony which increases the impact.
IGN writes that Dark Sector, developed by Digital Extremes and publisher D3Publisher, is likely to be edited and re-submitted for a more marketable classification. A rep told the site:
This is (hopefully) not the end of the line for the game however, just a pretty substantial, but temporary, set-back.
Dark Sector is scheduled for release in the North American market on March 25th for Xbox 360 and PS3 and has been rated M (17 and older) by the ESRB.
Comments
Re: Report: Dark Sector Banned in Australia
storm
i'm wonder why so many games were banned in Australia..up to now, 28 games were banned because of the censorship..is the censorship little bit strict?? compare with that in Canada..there is no game being banned..as reference..there is a list of the game banned in Australia..
Our two counties are quite different. I could make comment on the poverty levels in the US as an glaring indictment on your government's policies ... but I won't. All countries have fault. Utopia does not exist.
I seriously hope we don't get other nations doing the same thing and quoting how awesome Australia is for doing it first.
Fangamer
But you see, movies can be made for adults, whereas video games are just for kids and adolescents.
You know what is funny? That is exactly the reason why the government should have no say on what media is allowed and what rating if any it gets.
I can't believe that people in the US want that kind of system here.
E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
OK Game Devs
Random Tower
Yes ... my examples are ludicrous, sure .... but ok why doesn't your government provide a subsidised health care system? Why is your country have one of the highest rates of poverty in the OECD? If all I'm missing out is a lousy couple of games compared to that, I think we're doing pretty well ... :p
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I can't say i was awaiting Dark Sector with baited breath, but outright bannination is a joke. Seems kind of ridiculous to me , as from what I've seen of the game, it doesn't appear to be any more violent than say, Gears of War.
I really hope the OFLC pulls their collective heads out of their collective arse and realise an R (restricted to 18+ for our international friends) rating for games is needed. Not only do we have crap like this happening, but there's also the occasional game that slips through with an MA (15+) rating when it probably should have been rated R.( The original Manhunt springs to mind.)
Without wishing to get on the soapbox, I urge everyone in Australia who's bothered by this to write a letter (not email) to the OFLC.
Office of Film and Literature Classification
Locked Bag 3
HAYMARKET NSW 1240
Keep it civil, concise and respectful.
Consider that the game development community in Australia is thriving at the moment and IIRC has been pushing for the introduction of a R rating for a while now. If enough pressure is applied by both the developers and consumers, it will be enough to facilitate change.
You might not care about not being able to play Dark Sector, but what about Ninja Gaiden 2 ? Silent Hill V ? GTA 4 ? If we keep acquiescing to censorship, shit like this is going to continue unabated.
I'm waiting for the day when the whole world wears blazers, white shorts and penny loafers and carries around lollipops. We're headed there.
Whatever will we do?
An AO rating is the equivalent of refusing to rate a game in the Us though, as none of the console makers will allow it on their systems, and none of the major retailers will carry it. That's basically the same thing as banning it since no one beleives Americans are capable of making mature decisions about what to expose themselves to.
All in all, the game sounds promising. I just hope it's fun to play.
I know that an AO is a death sentence for a game, as consoles won't license it, and stores won't stock it, but at least we have a rating for "banned", as opposed to just not rating the thing. it's a minor point of etiquette, but it seems better to at least rate it something.
yeah, you crazy brits see someone get an arm lopped off in a video game, all of a sudden it's the cool thing to do, and it's all flesh wounds and "I'll bite your kneecaps off!" and everyone runs around armless.
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Papa Midnight
Which is what I expect to happen. Bloody hell..
It is a Labour Government, after all..
BBFC rating: 18
(linked)
I thought they didn't like it when violence was stylized.
How many more people are going to say that?
yeah they like it to be not sylized... but only if its stylized. *head explodes with paradox*. It is pretty nonsensical how they change their minds.
@BMk
yeah its well unfair. I cant understand how movies have it n games dont. bloody stupid. didnt realise australia had such a daft ratings system, i thought the uk was bad!
i really dont get it overall though, you chop of somebodies arm and they scream... errr doesnt that happen in a lot of games and films?
HELL it happens on TV!!! anyone seen 24 or prison break has seen an arm get chopped off! (are those shows banned over there?), and which is more realistic. Human actors, or polygonal models with "large amounts" of uber squirty blood that "sprays forth"...
So? Use the R18+ rating you silly widget!
Andrew Eisen
God of War PSP
Condemned 2
GTA IV
Soldier of Fortune: Payback
Turok
Stranglehold
Conan
Manhunt
And, yes Todd, all the Mortal Kombat games (some are actually M instead of MA15+)
Andrew Eisen
Someone should compile a list of games banned in Australia.
Imagine if the ESRB didn't have an M rating (the equal of an R) and instead just gave anything with content beyond that of a T rating an AO rating, causing the game to be unable to get a license. That's essentially the way things are in Australia now, except they seem to have more tiers for their ratings so it's not as bad, as a lot of things can slide under the M15+ rating they have. Still, not everything can.
Now I'm just mad, I was looking foward to this game, it was on my list of game that I was goig to get when I get a 360...
We REALLY need an 18M rating here.. this is just ridiculous.. for once, I actually think I might get the whole idea of "slippery slope" people keep talking about >.
In other words, the version of SoF in Australia is censored.
Also, despite what I said earlier, Manhunt is also currently banned. It was originally MA15+ but that rating was pulled 13 months later after it had been on the shelves.
Andrew Eisen
Afterwards, I'm sure I could get someone to publish it. And any country that DOESN'T ban this book, would have no moral ground to stand on for banning videogames. I'm sick that books can have the foulest things possible under the sun and moon, and everyone knows in their bones you can't ban them, but as soon as a videogame flashes a little blood or nipples, they are swinging the ban hammer like John Henry.
That would be a second-person narrative. Not used very much. Off the top of my head I can't think of anything except some of the Choose Your Own Adventure books.
Andrew Eisen
I'd give you 20:1 odds there's an "option" to tone down the blood-spattering, though I'm sure almost all of you will ignore that ... :P I'll probably get a copy in March. (Have kinda run low on "expendable" funds this month!)
rating would have the same, pseudo-ban, effect).
If not then I'll have to settle with importing it. Will probably end up
cheaper that way anyway. As no doubt the PS3 ver will be $110AU
(which is about ~$100US with the current good exchange rate) if bought
at EB or GAME.
That is, I believe *exactly* what these kinds of laws worldwide wants. Something like the Comics Code Authority, but more restrictive.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_computer_and_video_games#Aus...
Although this game has not been added to the list yet.
Now that I see that we have more banned games than China I am
worried.