Aussie censor bans Dead or Alive
So not PG … backflips after pressure
The Australian classification board has bowed to pressure over the rating of Nintendo 3DS title Dead or Alive: Dimensions, revoking its initial PG certificate and banning it from sale in Australia.
The incident has again tested Australia's limited classification board system which currently holds MA 15+ as its highest classification for video games. The government is considering the introduction of an R18+ rating.
In this case the board said it wrongly awarded Dead or Alive: Dimensions the tame PG rating because it had not been given full information at the time of classification.
“Information provided to the board last week suggested that the game contained content not drawn to the board’s attention in the original classification application,” a spokesperson for the board told the press.
Economic with the truth
The game's distributor, THQ, had submitted the game without publishing the ages of the characters, who are portrayed as younger than 18.
The core issue with the game is its ‘Figure’ mode, which allows players to take 3D views and photographs of the characters from any angle, including up their very short skirts.
Dead Or Alive: Dimensions is now deemed unclassified and cannot be sold in Australia unless resubmitted for classification.
The game has already been pulled from sale in Sweden due to fears that it may violate child pornography laws. It has also been restricted from sale in Denmark and Norway.
Gaming retailers were told to remove the game from Australian shelves on Friday and Nintendo is understood to have already resubmitted the game for classification, hoping to receive an MA15+ rating. Sources suggest this is highly unlikely. ®
COMMENTS
Wrong direction
They should spend their time trying to protect real children rather than animated characters.
Title
>who are portrayed as younger than 18<
They should have shown the porn disclaimer, 'all virtual characters over 18, virtual birth certificates on file'.
FFS!
WTF?
OK, I know our censorship system is screwed up, but beause OFLC cocked up, retailers have to pay staff to remove it from shelves, the publisher can't sell it, AND the publisher gets to re-submit it?
Surely OFLC should be re-issuing the classification automatically and as a matter of priority given this is more or less their own fault... Do warranty laws cover government processes?
Double sad
"including up their very short skirts" is a bit sad really; maybe it's funny for a 10 second laugh, but then, really?
"may violate child pornography laws" WTF?? Honestly?? Are drugs now free for use in Sweden too? (I once worked with a Swede, you don't have to answer that!) Yeah, the picture on the screen is of a character that didn't exist 10 seconds before you turned the console on, therefore they are under *** and hence it's child porn, even though it's probably not even porn.
*** Put here an arbitrary number that varies from state to state and depending on what year it is...
Ohhhhh, it's a /videogame/, I thought it was the 1980s dance band.
Thought the action seemed a bit harsh, considering DoA weren't even the worst offenders of that era.
"You spin me right round, baby, right round like a record, baby, right round round round .... "
