Upcoming RPG Risen Smacked by Australian Banhammer
Upcoming RPG Risen Smacked by Australian Banhammer
August 10, 2009
The upcoming role-playing game Risen has become the latest victim of Australia's flawed game content rating system.
Refused Classification reports that Australia's classification board has declined to assign a rating to the game, which is being developed by Piranha Bytes. The board's action makes Risen the third game of 2009 to be RC'd Down Under; the others are 1C's first-person shooter Necrovision and something called Sexy Poker.
In the U.S. market, Risen has been rated M (17+) by the ESRB. Australia, however, has no rating higher than MA15+, which means that any title judged not suitable for a 15-year-old is effectively banned. Australian gamers have been lobbying their government unsuccessfully for an R18+ rating for several years.
The classification refusal might not be the final word, however. Risen could be edited by its creators enough to slip by Australian censors. This approach has worked for other games, most recently Necrovision.
Risen is scheduled for October release on Xbox 360 and PC. The website R18+ is a useful source for information about the ongoing Australian content rating debate.
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Posted 09/05/10 at 04:01pm
BearDogg-X: Adding to PHX Corp's link to the Salt Lake Tribune's opinion piece, it was written by Christopher Ferguson and it also urges Utah AG Mark Shurtleff to sign an amicus brief opposing California.
BearDogg-X: Adding to PHX Corp's link to the Salt Lake Tribune's opinion piece, it was written by Christopher Ferguson and it also urges Utah AG Mark Shurtleff to sign an amicus brief opposing California.
Posted 09/04/10 at 11:55pm
C. Aaron Browbowski Jr.: no way they euthanized a sick whale with c4, thats like the obama healthcare plan for the world, no i'm just kidding, let him bankrupt america :D
C. Aaron Browbowski Jr.: no way they euthanized a sick whale with c4, thats like the obama healthcare plan for the world, no i'm just kidding, let him bankrupt america :D
Posted 09/04/10 at 10:30pm
PHX Corp: PSA: The ECA forums(and GP website) are Not a Ad Toilet, plz do not Drop your Pants and poop out an ad on it(I'm going to end up Getting in trouble for a Toilet Joke)
PHX Corp: PSA: The ECA forums(and GP website) are Not a Ad Toilet, plz do not Drop your Pants and poop out an ad on it(I'm going to end up Getting in trouble for a Toilet Joke)
Posted 09/04/10 at 03:26pm
JDKJ: Does anyone recall exactly when Zippy came down out of the trees and mastered bi-pedalism?
JDKJ: Does anyone recall exactly when Zippy came down out of the trees and mastered bi-pedalism?
Posted 09/04/10 at 11:41am
PHX Corp: Attempt to revive video game law a waste of money opinion on salt lake tribune
PHX Corp: Attempt to revive video game law a waste of money opinion on salt lake tribune
Posted 09/03/10 at 04:31pm
Andrew Eisen: While a desire to conserve a particular marine ecosystem is a laudable goal, securing a 31-foot whale in the middle of it with a 10-ton anchor is probably not the best way to go about it.
Andrew Eisen: While a desire to conserve a particular marine ecosystem is a laudable goal, securing a 31-foot whale in the middle of it with a 10-ton anchor is probably not the best way to go about it.
Posted 09/03/10 at 04:01pm
ZippyDSMlee: Was thinking more of feedig dieing reefs ,ps life is suffering
ZippyDSMlee: Was thinking more of feedig dieing reefs ,ps life is suffering
Posted 09/03/10 at 03:35pm
Andrew Eisen: Number three, explosives are a hell of a lot cheaper, logistically feasible and humane then drowning a sick whale with a 10-ton anchor.
Andrew Eisen: Number three, explosives are a hell of a lot cheaper, logistically feasible and humane then drowning a sick whale with a 10-ton anchor.
Posted 09/03/10 at 03:25pm
Andrew Eisen: Unbelievable. Number one, reefs are in shallow water. Number two, they blew the damn thing up because they couldn't drag it into the water.
Andrew Eisen: Unbelievable. Number one, reefs are in shallow water. Number two, they blew the damn thing up because they couldn't drag it into the water.
Posted 09/03/10 at 03:13pm
ZippyDSMlee: Thats a waste of explosives drag it out to deep off to a reef and put a 10 ton anchor on it, here fishies feeding time!.
ZippyDSMlee: Thats a waste of explosives drag it out to deep off to a reef and put a 10 ton anchor on it, here fishies feeding time!.
Posted 09/03/10 at 11:07am
Andrew Eisen: ...and dozens of stray cats come running from all directions.
Andrew Eisen: ...and dozens of stray cats come running from all directions.
Posted 09/03/10 at 11:04am
Andrew Eisen: Hey, if it's too big to shoot, what recourse do we have but to blow it up?
Andrew Eisen: Hey, if it's too big to shoot, what recourse do we have but to blow it up?
Posted 09/03/10 at 11:01am
E. Zachary Knight: Did they get the idea from the SImpsons?
E. Zachary Knight: Did they get the idea from the SImpsons?
Posted 09/03/10 at 10:55am
Andrew Eisen: Australia: Sick whale euthanized with explosives. No kidding. Video included.
Andrew Eisen: Australia: Sick whale euthanized with explosives. No kidding. Video included.
Posted 09/02/10 at 04:19pm
Andrew Eisen: Seems so. Hence my lack of surprise.
Andrew Eisen: Seems so. Hence my lack of surprise.
Posted 09/02/10 at 04:14pm
E. Zachary Knight: AE: But isn't that what it normally takes for people in power to make stupid decisions?
E. Zachary Knight: AE: But isn't that what it normally takes for people in power to make stupid decisions?
Posted 09/02/10 at 04:12pm
Andrew Eisen: Sadly, but not surprisingly, it sounds like the decision was based on nothing more than “I heard on the internet you can play as the Taliban.”
Andrew Eisen: Sadly, but not surprisingly, it sounds like the decision was based on nothing more than “I heard on the internet you can play as the Taliban.”
Posted 09/02/10 at 04:09pm
Andrew Eisen: I take it the service folk are unable to decide for themselves whether MOH is something they want to purchase and play. Good thing there's someone to make such tough decisions for them.
Andrew Eisen: I take it the service folk are unable to decide for themselves whether MOH is something they want to purchase and play. Good thing there's someone to make such tough decisions for them.
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Comments
Wow, that just sucks.
I have a free room for rent if any aussies wanna move to Canada.
I might just take you up on that...
This is the sequel to the Gothic series iirc, isn't it? So, because you can smoke wood reefer and contract women of ill repute for certain services, the game is out...
Fucking Atkinson (the attorney general standing in the way of an R18+ rating) is such a fundie douche pagoda...
Its more like a combo of cryisis/far cry and FO3.
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
More like a Myst-ish mod for Oblivion. I hope the narrative excels because by the looks of the video, the combat and the graphics are nowhere near the Crysis-like expectations I had. The little bit of voice acting was well done though.
I'm on dail up till the weekend so I can;t really research it but from the few pictures I saw it had guns on a island thus the cryisis/far cry comparasion.
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
No, the original poster was right, this is the spiritual successor to the Gothic games.
where do they get off telling people what they can and cant buy Im not australian but I think they should have the right to buy what they like.
Of course it's going to be edited to pass Aussie censors.
The million dollar question is "will those edits make it into the international releases?"
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Hopefully, unlike with Fallout 3, this company has enough sense to not do that.
This will keep happening as more and more companies keep changing the content for different countries. Unfortunately, the dollar signs always win. What will eventually happen is countries will ask for more and more changes that have nothing to do with anything other than the fact they know they have the power to ask for (and get) changes made to game content. "We in the country of Australia do not like the Barbarian class in Diablo 3, change it or we will refuse classification. Oh, and make the art more gothic."
The video game industry is doing a great job of enabling these twits, so don't blame the politicians. It would be refreshing to see companies just not release the games in these countries. I'm sure a few popular enough games would have a nice negative impact on retail sales in Australia. Eventually, they'll expand the ratings. Keep caving in and there is no reason for them to do so. The industry is giving these governments credibilty because the politicians can claim victory in their fight against improper content by forcing the content to change. Not a brilliant long term strategy for the game industry for a few extra bucks today.
The industry "taking their ball home" would be very poor business sense - it's much easier to change the content as required (Taking a few programmers X hours) and get some sales than to give up on a country's classification system (Heck, Mariah Carey has albums in the Middle East, it just required changing the cover art to be more modest). I believe the politicians as in this instance would ultimately agree that the lack of an 18+ rating (You know, the one that most countries around the world have) is poor in the long term and requires effort on their part to correct.
Australia, however, has no rating higher than MA15+, which means that any title judged not suitable for a 15-year-old is effectively banned. Australian gamers have been lobbying their government unsuccessfully for an R18+ rating for several years.
I don't understand why they don't have one. What if there wasn't one for 18 C movies? Did movies not have to fight for one in the past 50 years in some countries?
I hope more games won't be censored world wide to appease one country's censorship board.
I'm surprised we haven't seen MORE levels of censoreship yet. I'm kind of expecting either Germany of Australia to pass a law that says ALL offending video games entering the country may be seized and replaced with the local, censored version.
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
The game is being made in Germany, by the studio that made the Gothic games, which are insanely popular in Germany. And there, this is rated for 12 year olds and up.
There isn't that much gore in the game, obviously. Just swearing, drug use, and likely some kind of nudity. Brutality is at the normal RPG level. You die by the sword.
Necrovision has gore on the level of UT04 and unreal or undying. I still don't quite get why it got whacked but bioshock passed with flying colors and fallout 3 had morphine removed...
Until lobbying is a hanging offense I choose anarchy! Stop supporting big media and furthering the criminalization of consumers!! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
Odd. I was only saying earlier today how wierd it is that a country should be so shy of violence whilst, at the same time inventing fun and interesting ways of making cane-toads explode...
We've inherited the British trait of being secretly ashamed of ourselves.
And keeping the Queen on your money. We chose slave-owners for the most part.
LOL I think it's more 'embarassed for our Government', since they seem incapable of it, so, we sort of empathically do it for them...
I'll have you know I slaughter Cane Toads on sight for reasons other than the fact that they kinda explode when whacked hard enough. I take no joy in....
You know what, fuck it. It's kinda fun having to knock them off so that they don't kill any animals that originate here.
Mask don't give them any ideas. 0_0
Apparently, in Australia, adults don't play videogames. Or at least their government thinks they don't.
If they do edit they need yto add soemthign ot the opening screen and loading screens.
"This game has been edited because one attorney general in your country believes that even adults do not deserve the right to entertainment suited for them because he believes he knows how to raise other kids better than their own parents". OF course if thewy did that odds are it'd be refused classification still.