IMPORTANT UPDATE TO MORTAL KOMBAT BANNING

I decided to make a separate thread to what I have already posted in the The Computer/Console Gaming Thread to update everyone on what I believe deserves it's own topic.

Below is an article posted on GameSpot AU

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Aussie customs to seize Mortal Kombat imports

The Australian gaming population fired up overnight, with news coming in yesterday afternoon that the Australian Classification Board (ACB) had decided to uphold the decision to slap a refused classification (RC) rating to fighting game Mortal Kombat. A game which has been RCed is illegal to promote or sell in Australia, meaning the title is effectively banned Down Under. And for those considering importing the game to circumvent the ban, it seems the Australian authorities are already on the lookout and ready to stop copies from reaching the nation.
GameSpot AU spoke with an Australian Customs and Border Protection Service spokesperson, who confirmed that the service had added Mortal Kombat to its list of prohibited items. The spokesperson said attempting to import Mortal Kombat is indeed illegal as it breaches the Customs (Prohibited Imports) Regulations 1956.
"As Mortal Kombat has been refused classification in Australia it is considered objectionable material. It is therefore a prohibited good, and illegal to import into Australia," the spokesperson said. "Customs and Border Protection works closely with Attorney General’s Department to identify imported games that are banned in Australia. This includes games purchased over the internet from foreign websites. Attorney General’s Department regularly updates Customs and Border Protection about classification decisions on publications, films and computer games, including the reclassification of material, and about different versions of computer games (some of which may be refused classification), and how to identify those versions at the border. This information is then used to assist in identifying and seizing banned versions of games.
"Any copies of the games detected at the border, including via international mail, will be seized."
The Customs spokesperson said someone caught trying to import RCed games into Australia could expect a fine of up to three times the value of the product, or A$110,000, which ever is greater.

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Warning - Below link contains language not suitable for minors

Obviously there are a lot of fans defiant over this and will 'test their luck' in getting the game through. I would hate to hear of anyone here being fined $110,000 for importing a video game.

And sometimes being in New Zealand has its advantages.
Gets an R18 here, but gets released.

Hmmm, that is most interesting. I don't think that a game has ever been targetted like this before you know...

Hopefully the attempt to re-apply for classification comes through. Might hold back a bit until the hoo-hah dies down and see if anybody gets abbed on the game.

In an interestoing side note, the US PSN will have a dl demo available from tomorrow/thursday I think.
Just saying is all


*update* Dang it! just read the reapplication for MK failed. What a crap system we have! And yet I can import X rated porn quite easily (not that I have, but ads seem to show up all the time)

Theoretically, would it be possible to get someone to slap a sticker of another game disc over the top of the mortal combat image, and send it over in said replacement game case?

I do not endorse nor suggest that anyone tries this.

Be careful of what you discuss or suggest on a public environment, especially when it comes to the law.

Right...

http://i1032.photobucket.com/albums/...ndertaker9.jpg

This just F@#$s Me Right Off!!! :mad::mad::mad:
How the hell can these F@#$ing Ass Clowns be able to tell me, a F@#$ing Adult, What I can and can't Bloody-well play? :confused::mad:
If there is going to be a protest march, count me the F@#$ In!!! :cool:

This shit needs to end and end soon, I'm glad to hear Zippo your Government deems it's Adult Citizens capable of making up their own minds though. ;)

Sorry for the swearing guys but... This just really shits me. :o

I have been a huge fan of the MK series since it started and am always keen to give a new addition a try, its such a shame that ill probably never get that chance. I'm very interested to see what is so bad they cant rate it, I mean there is some pretty messed up stuff in movies, take the Saw series for example its just a constant over the top blood and guts fest. Something like that is fine to be stocked in every video shop in Australia, yet the latest MK game is too much? We live in such a strange world.

The world is indeed strange, but the ratings in Australia are just ridiculous. If you want to know what the hoo-hah is all about, just have a look at the gameplay footage.

This MK has a super move of sorts that has an xray effect and you can see bones breaking etc. That, along with the fatalities had this baby in the red zone from the start.

Hurry up R rating I say!

Utterly freaking ridiculous. :mad:

Great way to encourage people to download the game instead, you Govt and Customs ninnies!

so i guess by all this they are promoting piracy.

on another note is it coming to the PC?

Well that's a complete load of crap. The people on the classification panel are a bunch of old fashioned idiots who think that the world is flat.

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Originally Posted by The_Damned

on another note is it coming to the PC?

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Just PS3 and XBOX 360 ATM.

So... I've been looking into this a fair bit to determine what our rights are in regards to importing and possessing Refused Classification material.

I have provided some information and links to sources below.

Is "Refused Classification" material illegal to access/possess?

Source

Generally, no, but with some exceptions. Refused Classification ("RC") material is:

* legal to possess for private/personal purposes in all States/Territories except in Western Australia and in 'prescribed areas' of the Northern Territory (see Classification Enforcement Acts); and
* legal to access/obtain using the Internet in all States/Territories except Western Australia and the Northern Territory, (see Classification Enforcement Acts - sections titled "Computer Services" in W.A. and N.T. Acts);
* unless the material falls within the sub-set of RC that is defined as child pornography/abuse/exploitation material in the C'th Criminal Code, or in the relevant State's/Territory's Criminal Code/Crimes Act and/or in their Classification Enforcement Acts, etc.

Each state differently defines who is allowed to posess Refused Classification material.

Source

In Queensland, you can posess RC games if you aren’t going to sell them or exhibit it in a public place.

In New South Wales, you can posess RC games if you aren’t going to sell them. Part 4 of the act defines many additional clauses, including not exhibiting RC material to minors or keeping RC material in a place where other material is sold. The safest bet is to keep it at home and play it yourself.

In Victoria, you can posess RC games if you aren’t going to sell them. Like the New South Wales legislation, Part 4 defines many additional clauses.

In South Australia, you can posess RC games if you aren’t going to sell them. Part 6 contains additional clauses.

In Tasmania, you cannot sell or deliver RC computer games. However, as noted earlier, the postal service is exempt from this law in the Commonwealth act. The Tasmanian act does not contradict this in any way.

In Western Australia, it is explicitly forbidden to posess or copy RC computer games. Sorry, guys, you’ve got the short straw.

In the Northern Territory, you cannot posess or hold a RC computer game at premeses where games are exhibited or sold. A further clause that interests me is that you can’t posess a game likely to be refused classification if you intend on publishing it.

As you can see, for the average person in states and territories excepting Western Australia, it is not illegal to posess games that have been refused classification. However, there is a customs regulation that defines games as unsuitable for people under 18 as an objectionable good that is subject to prohibition from importing. Whether digital delivery of computer games is covered by this law is currently unclear.

So to summarise, you can own it but you can't import it :rolleyes:

Well done 5FDP, that no doubt would've taken quite a bit of sifting but I for one thank you for the effort you've gone to. ;):)
So it seems that our only stumbling block is the ambiguity of a bloody Customs Regulation? - Why am I not surprised by this in the slightest? :rolleyes:

It's ridiculous this situation, just like Cigarettes and Alcohol:
(NSW) You can legally own Cigarettes and Alcohol at 16, you just can't purchase it yourself of have it bought for you!?! :confused:
It's the same here, you can legally own Mortal Kombat, you just can't purchase it or have it bought for you!?! :confused:
This is pure stupidity on a bureaucratical legal front! :mad:

The question is though, is it worth it to import this game and risk a stupidly over-the-top fine?

if you bought this overseas how would customs know that it is a Mortal Kombat game inside?? Surely heaps of games get through and on the ouside it just says game.

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So to summarise, you can own it but you can't import it

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how will you get it if you can't import it? Isn't shipping or thru a friend (handcarry) is the same as importing? Download?

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Originally Posted by jazzcomp

how will you get it if you can't import it? Isn't shipping or thru a friend (handcarry) is the same as importing? Download?

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It's a stupid loophole that they have. There is no other way to get it without somewhere along the line it gets imported. And if you buy it off someone, wouldn't that mean buying illegal goods?

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Originally Posted by jazzcomp

how will you get it if you can't import it? Isn't shipping or thru a friend (handcarry) is the same as importing? Download?

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That's exactly the point dude,
How the hell is one supposed to legally own something if they can't legally obtain it? - The premise is completely stupid and nonsensical. :confused::mad:

It doesn't make sense does it? :p

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Originally Posted by 1AZRAEL1

It's a stupid loophole that they have. There is no other way to get it without somewhere along the line it gets imported. And if you buy it off someone, wouldn't that mean buying illegal goods?

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The only way it could possibly work is if you found it laying in the street and you picked it up - But then it could be argued that you're committing theft! :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Hursticon

The question is though, is it worth it to import this game and risk a stupidly over-the-top fine?

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That's a decision that people will have to make on their own. I've made up my mind but I would prefer not to share it at this stage as I don't want to influence anyone.

In regards to the fine, I've only ever heard of a $1000 fine being issued to a WA resident for importing the uncensored version of L4D2. More often than not, the item is destroyed and a letter is issued advising of such. I think in this case, the fine was influenced by the laws of that state (see post #13).

I believe the statement by customs regarding a $110,000 fine was generic and would only apply to an individual importing the game in sufficient quantities with the intention to redistribute locally. I'm not testing out this belief though.

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Originally Posted by primatives

if you bought this overseas how would customs know that it is a Mortal Kombat game inside?? Surely heaps of games get through and on the ouside it just says game.

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The thing is they wouldn't know. They're basically on the look-out for any DVD sized parcels which originated from an online gaming store. Their scanners will only detect an object which resembles a DVD / CD. Depending on how they feel on the day, they might open it up.

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Originally Posted by jazzcomp

how will you get it if you can't import it? Isn't shipping or thru a friend (handcarry) is the same as importing? Download?

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No matter what method is used to get the game into the country, it's considered importing. Downloading or digital distribution is the only 'grey area' but obviously it would have to be authorised and / or supplied by the publisher (in this case, Warner Bros) otherwise it would also be illegal.

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Originally Posted by Omega Supreme

I'm very interested to see what is so bad they cant rate it, I mean there is some pretty messed up stuff in movies, take the Saw series for example its just a constant over the top blood and guts fest. Something like that is fine to be stocked in every video shop in Australia, yet the latest MK game is too much? We live in such a strange world.

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There may be pleasure in watching destruction and harm in a movie, but you always remain a powerless observer, a bystander. You don't actively chose the course of action that leads to the violence or destruction as part of the process of enjoying the game. That's the difference between movies and games of similar graphic violence - a game lets you choose to act out the level of violence you enjoy. As the higher functions of the brain are used to decide these processive actions on a more consistent basis, especially before a brain is fully developed at the age of 25, it makes it more habit forming... something that wasn't a problem when graphics used to be so unrealistic that a more developed brain is able to dismiss it easily as fantasy.

We seem to be getting to the point where virtual reality is looking more like reality... which begs the question - how is watching realistic violence on a game and enjoying it, any different to watching real violence and enjoying it? If you have a game that gets you excited about sniper killing an image that now looks like a real human, how is that different to a serial killer getting excited about actually killing a real human?

And at the accelerated rate of realism in games, how far off are we from a gaming format similar to the movie The Matrix, which would have players enter a realistic world to do their killing and destruction (for pleasure), without anything obvious about it being fake? With 3D gaming being the next big thing, is life-like virtual-reality gaming really that far off or far fetched? Does a line need to be drawn somewhere before we get that far, to restrict 'life-like' graphics to non-violent games?

I think perhaps that the latter is what is happening here, with a point of realism approaching (and in some instances, reached), government agencies are stepping in to suggest setting up the boundaries society needs on things it wants (like with drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, etc). As a gaming culture, we may just be too addicted to a finding and playing a 'bigger high' - the next, more intense game that outdoes the last one at stimulating our senses.

For example, playing out the latest Call of Duty, I was put off on a couple of things, most particularly the torture chapter of the game. Why have this as something the player has to do for fun, instead of just being played out as a scene between chapters (or not having it at all)? It wasn't necessary for the plot of the game. Who gets pleasure (the point of a game) from sticking glass into a person's mouth and then punching them in the jaw to make their mouth bleed? What sort of person would choose without hesitation to do that, or why force a player to do that to proceed to the next chapter?
Games are meant to stimulate the pleasure centre of the brain, so why is torturing someone in such a cruel fashion considered 'fun'? I don't mind shooting-type games for improving reflexes, and maybe even roleplaying certain eras of history (like in CoD), but do people really enjoy torturing or mutilating others for them to want it in increasingly life-like games that are supposed to be 'fun'?

I know I have high standards when it comes to things kids (with developing brains) can be exposed to, but why are people enjoying games that allows them to choose to do these increasingly realistic violent things for 'fun'?

Maybe if we didn't have such a violent nature to our species, we wouldn't have a high demand for increasingly violent games, and therefore wouldn't have games so violent that they are refused classification.
(I blame Dinobot and Cheetor for educating our ancestors on how to be violent... :p )

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Originally Posted by griffin

For example, playing out the latest Call of Duty, I was put off on a couple of things, most particularly the torture chapter of the game. Why have this as something the player has to do for fun, instead of just being played out as a scene between chapters (or not having it at all)? It wasn't necessary for the plot of the game. Who gets pleasure (the point of a game) from sticking glass into a person's mouth and then punching them in the jaw to make their mouth bleed? What sort of person would choose without hesitation to do that, or why force a player to do that to proceed to the next chapter?
Games are meant to stimulate the pleasure centre of the brain, so why is torturing someone in such a cruel fashion considered 'fun'? I don't mind shooting-type games for improving reflexes, and maybe even roleplaying certain eras of history (like in CoD), but do people really enjoy torturing or mutilating others for them to want it in increasingly life-like games that are supposed to be 'fun'?

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I'll agree with you there, that does, IMO, go too far. Having to do it to progress is bad. A cut scene, while still bad in itself, would be less bad than having to do it yourself. Having a choice to do it or not would have been better as well.

One thing that differentiates real life serial killers, and people who play games as serial killers, is that most normal gamers would know the difference, no matter how life-like the game is. If there was a virtual reality game that was so life-like that you wouldn't be able to tell the difference, I wouldn't play it, and then go out and do it in real life, that's just silly. There may be some moron that does it, but the majority of people would know that it is just a game.

To quote a legend "When you look at how many people who listen to you music and kill themselves, and compare it to all those who don't kill themselves, that's pretty good odds"

Things that someone may enjoy (not on a sadistic level) should not be removed from the majority because of some idiot in a small minority who takes it the wrong way and does something stupid, like killing people or themselves.

JMO.

Personally, I see the argument that games have you actively participating, where as movies/video you don't actively participate as a bit of a weak one.

The reason being is sure, on a video game you can actively choose to do something violent which essentially puts one in the first degree, But I put it to you that watching a movie/video is equally as bad because whilst you may not be able to interact with the event, you're still choosing to watch it and that makes you an accessory to the fact or at the very least a witness that has done anything to stop it.

I don't think people can say 'It's ok because it's a movie/video so therefore I'm less likely to be affected' because if you object to violence and don't hit the stop button or just walk away from it - Then you've actively chosen to become a participant and hence are interacting with it, therefore you're going to be affected.

The whole purpose of a game is to allow people to do things that they can't do in reality and the few people who do try to enact it in reality obviously have underlying mental issues because, as 1AZRAEL1 points out, 95%+ of people who play games know the difference between right and wrong, reality and virtual.
This is exactly the same with movies/video or have parents just suddenly given up on teaching their children 'it's only a movie, it's just make-believe/pretend' ?

If a person can't discern right from wrong, reality from virtual - Then they shouldn't be participating in either games or movies/video and should seek clinical help.

Two things I would like to point out with the MK game is -

One of the main reasons why the game was RC was due to the graphic nature of the 'Fatality' moves however WB put on the table that to execute these move, it required a number of button presses which would activate a 'cut scene' lessening the level of interactivity by the player. The scene would then play itself out.

Secondly, unlike games such as Call of Duty, MK is played out in a fantasy world and not based on real-life events or possible scenarios.

Sure, it's a violent game... you'll get no argument from me on that. And I completely agree that games such as these should not be played or viewed by minors. The whole point of this is that there are adult gamers out there however the government refuses to recognise that fact.

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Originally Posted by 5FDP

Two things I would like to point out with the MK game is -

One of the main reasons why the game was RC was due to the graphic nature of the 'Fatality' moves however WB put on the table that to execute these move, it required a number of button presses which would activate a 'cut scene' lessening the level of interactivity by the player. The scene would then play itself out.

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Hell, I'd argue dude that any game is just like a movie/video/cutscene as both a movie and a game are predetermined and have already been played out, you just have to hit the play button. ;)
It just takes repeated play button presses to get to the end of a game where as a movie/video/cutscene only needs one, so which is worse really? ;)

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Secondly, unlike games such as Call of Duty, MK is played out in a fantasy world and not based on real-life events or possible scenarios.

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Netherrealm isn't real? :p:D

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Sure, it's a violent game... you'll get no argument from me on that. And I completely agree that games such as these should not be played or viewed by minors. The whole point of this is that there are adult gamers out there however the government refuses to recognise that fact.

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I have quite against the grain views on violence with regards to kids, without going into detail - It's my personal opinion that blanketing kids until their 18 does way more harm than good but each to their own. :cool:
Parents have the right to raise their children however they'd like, so long as it's their kids they're trying to raise and not everyone elses. ;)
(Not suggesting you, 5FDP, or anyone else here does this at all ;):))

I would just like to 2nd Hursticon's remarks about movies and games.

To me, you CHOSE to play this game, knowing full well what was contained within and what you would be doing.

You CHOSE to rent/watch a film, again, knowing full well what will transpire in it.

It is not as if you were strolling the net, saw A Serbian Film, Ken Park, or August Underground Mordum's and thought 'hey this looks lovely, I'll watch it'

It's all about choice, something this countries leaders do believe we're incapable of....

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Originally Posted by Hursticon

Personally, I see the argument that games have you actively participating, where as movies/video you don't actively participate as a bit of a weak one.

The reason being is sure, on a video game you can actively choose to do something violent which essentially puts one in the first degree, But I put it to you that watching a movie/video is equally as bad because whilst you may not be able to interact with the event, you're still choosing to watch it and that makes you an accessory to the fact or at the very least a witness that has done anything to stop it.

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I disagree, after you've consciously turned on the game/movie, a movie uses lower, subconscious brain functions (sit and watch), while a game uses higher brain functions (plan, process and execute). Watching a movie has the outcome pre-determined no matter what you consciously choose on the outset. In a game you have to choose to kill/injure, and how to do it.
Which is why it probably wouldn't be a good idea to have a developing brain instinctively planning, processing and executing violent tendencies, as opposed to just watching it happen (like on the news).
We keep having people with developed brains saying that most people can tell the difference between a game and reality, which may be true for most people, but my point was why people who know the difference choose to enact violent tendencies for fun. As well as suggesting that a developing brain (usually the key gaming demographic) and violent games that are getting closer and closer to real-life visually, maybe aren't a good combination.

I think that school bully video there could well be associated with wrestling as well. Which is marketted very strongly to kids anyway.

Personally I support an r rating just so that parents will perhaps look at a game and make the judgement call on whether or not to buy it. I remember being in an EB shop when some kid was looking at Madworld for the wii. The kid wanted to give it a go and the parent thinking that as it was a wii game it was kid-friendly was about to buy it. Being a community minded person, I intiated conversation and managed to swing it around to the game and its contents. Mum just assumed that as it was on the wii, it was a kids game. Luckily she put it back although junior wasn't too happy with me. She thanked me afterwards.

Almost had the same situation with a kid convincing mum to get them GTA.

I've said this before and I will probably say it again. It comes down to the parents/buyer controlling it. At the current stage of technology, In my mind, the classification board should provide us with the correct information as to what a game contains, and let us decide whether or not to play it. they only have it half correct at the moment.

I assume that when the R-Rating gets passed, then we can go about playing MK. Or the MK that comes after this one, knowing how long they have been sitting on their hands so far...

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Originally Posted by 5FDP

In Western Australia, it is explicitly forbidden to posess or copy RC computer games. Sorry, guys, you’ve got the short straw.

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Aaaw Nuts
*sniffs and cuddles up to his legally owned Megatron(s) gun form*


:D

Yeah, school bullying and cyber-bullying of kids (which is very common these days) is a lot more complex psychologically, making it impossible to pin it to just one cause.
Just that when I saw that smaller kid emulating a fighting hop just before he was picked up and slammed, it suggested he was inspired by something like the sports fighting on TV or fighting games. It's just sad to see kids bullying others, and their parents and schools remain in denial until someone gets seriously injured or killed.

Back on topic though - I guess if people are determined to get their hands on this game, they will find a way. Formulating specific methods here could get you into trouble legally, so just be careful with how specific you get with your thoughts on the matter.

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Originally Posted by Hursticon

Parents have the right to raise their children however they'd like, so long as it's their kids they're trying to raise and not everyone elses. ;)

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Completely agree with you on that point. Even though I would never expose my children to adult material, the government fails to realise that they are taking away our basic rights to be parents.

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Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

I think that school bully video there could well be associated with wrestling as well. Which is marketted very strongly to kids anyway.

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I was waiting for this to mentioned at some point :rolleyes:

That's as plausible as saying the Karate Kid learnt all of his moves from playing Mortal Kombat :p

http://cdn.smosh.com/smosh-pit/11201...karate-kid.gif

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Originally Posted by Tetsuwan Convoy

Aaaw Nuts
*sniffs and cuddles up to his legally owned Megatron(s) gun form*

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This only highlights the flaws and inconsistencies in our current system.

In the absence of an R rating for videogames, I would like to see an alternative to outright banning of games, one which takes into consideration the freedoms which should be afforded to adults.

Anyway, I didn't really want to turn this into a debate about the rating system as we already have a topic for that. My intention was to make others aware of the current situation that surrounds Mortal Kombat.

Dammit, now online stores are starting to say that they won't sell the game to Australians. :mad:

We just have to wait really. Console (geddit?) ourselves with Duke Nukem.:D

Karate kid came before mortal Kombat though didn't it? Meh anyway, there is plety of violence for fighting kids to get there hands on anywhere. Just sad that adults wanting to bang on some MK suffer.

I played the demo today and I began to see why its a bit much for the MA rating. Some of those fatalities were.... Jeebus!:eek:

Although ridiculously funny to my mind

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Originally Posted by griffin

We seem to be getting to the point where virtual reality is looking more like reality... which begs the question - how is watching realistic violence on a game and enjoying it, any different to watching real violence and enjoying it? If you have a game that gets you excited about sniper killing an image that now looks like a real human, how is that different to a serial killer getting excited about actually killing a real human?

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This is kind of the central crux for me: the game is different in that nobody actually gets hurt. It's fantasy. If that serial killer goes out and kills a thousand video game characters (I'm sure I've killed more over my 'gaming life'), and/or terrorises them, there's still no-one getting hurt. If they kill a single person in real life, there is. And that's the crucial difference.
If someone can't tell reality from fanstay to the point that they start acting out videogame violence, they/we have a bigger problem than violence in games - we have severely mentally disturbed people wandering around who can't tell reality from fantasy.
Couple that with the hundreds of thousands if not millions of adults who do play games but don't commit RL violence in Oz, and banning games like Mortal Kombat just isn't justifiable IMO - let's put the resources it'd take to police these bans into our mental health system instead, it'll actually do some good and isn't easily circumvented by the internet.
For the record, I'm not really interested in the latest MK, but this outcry over violent games seems to be putting the cart before the horse to me. At least we don't have to call 'Beast Wars' 'Beasties' like Canada...

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Originally Posted by griffin

For example, playing out the latest Call of Duty, I was put off on a couple of things, most particularly the torture chapter of the game. Why have this as something the player has to do for fun, instead of just being played out as a scene between chapters (or not having it at all)? It wasn't necessary for the plot of the game. Who gets pleasure (the point of a game) from sticking glass into a person's mouth and then punching them in the jaw to make their mouth bleed? What sort of person would choose without hesitation to do that, or why force a player to do that to proceed to the next chapter?
Games are meant to stimulate the pleasure centre of the brain, so why is torturing someone in such a cruel fashion considered 'fun'? I don't mind shooting-type games for improving reflexes, and maybe even roleplaying certain eras of history (like in CoD), but do people really enjoy torturing or mutilating others for them to want it in increasingly life-like games that are supposed to be 'fun'?

I know I have high standards when it comes to things kids (with developing brains) can be exposed to, but why are people enjoying games that allows them to choose to do these increasingly realistic violent things for 'fun'?

Maybe if we didn't have such a violent nature to our species, we wouldn't have a high demand for increasingly violent games, and therefore wouldn't have games so violent that they are refused classification.
(I blame Dinobot and Cheetor for educating our ancestors on how to be violent... :p )

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I reckon the answer lies in the bold bits: people just suck, hey. We're big apes who think our big brains somehow remove us from animal instinct. Though I do agree that the CoD torture sequence shouldn't be compulsory.
Ignoring for the moment that games are also about telling a story and characterisation and all the other bits and pieces of any audiovisual narrative medium, I'd rather people were blowing off steam against sprites, no matter how realistic, than against real people. If I was half as sociopathic in life as I am in, say, Thief 2 or Vice City, I'd be executed (and rightly so), but as things stand I'm just an average guy who's actually quite helpful and pleasant, if overly cynical. And plays often violent videogames.
As far as key demographics go, that's really more of an argument to classify it properly, so the average-aged gamer of 30 (IIRC) can play it of they want and parents are properly informed, and kids can't just buy it as an MA title.

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Originally Posted by Hursticon

I don't think people can say 'It's ok because it's a movie/video so therefore I'm less likely to be affected' because if you object to violence and don't hit the stop button or just walk away from it - Then you've actively chosen to become a participant and hence are interacting with it, therefore you're going to be affected.

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I won't go too far into it 'cos it's very long and boring and philosophical, but from what I remember of my Psych 101 (well, Intro to Psychology) and philosophy of mind/communications studies, the idea of 'passive observation of media' has been pretty well debunked ever since Heidegger came up with Dasein (loosely equivalent to Being-in-the-world) - the level of interaction with games is greater, sure, but we still engage with 'passive' media. It's just the nature of existence in a sensory world.

In the meantime, I second Griff's observation that we shouldn't be discussing/promoting ways of circumventing the law here, even if it is a bad law. Besides this being Griff's figurative house it's just not sensible to discuss breaking the law in a public forum.

I love how our taxpayer funded customs system is now on the look out for a video game, while much more harmful stuff probably slips through the cracks.

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Originally Posted by Burn

I love how our taxpayer funded customs system is now on the look out for a video game, while much more harmful stuff probably slips through the cracks.

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Reminds me of a certain oversized gun that was nabbed all over the place a couple of years ago too.

There will be ways to get the game. Off the books of course.

What amuses me though is that for a fantasy/fighting/comedic video game to cause so much public vs government uproar it has probably cost so much money, time and effort that could be better spent doing useful things. I love Mortal Kombat, but in the end - it's just a videogame. Censors should just let it go - if people want it then give it to them.

How about instead of these people working at the censorship office trying to act like they're doing a deed and 'protect' the youth and innocence of Australians, they do something useful. Where were they when Casey Heynes was being punched multiple times in the face by Richard Gale?

Too much bureaucratic talk and not enough doing. People in positions of power are getting lazier and lazier...

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Originally Posted by Hursticon

If a person can't discern right from wrong, reality from virtual - Then they shouldn't be participating in either games or movies/video and should seek clinical help.

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Agreed. This is obviously incredibly frustrating news for MK fans, of which I know there are quite a few on this forum. :(

We're so lucky to have big brother looking after our best interests, especially when it comes to a past-time that's enjoyed by people with an average age of 25+...I'm not saying any modern games should be banned, but you'd think if any games were going to be RC in Australia they'd be all these war FPS shooters which are, you know, based on reality (or at least, alternate realities).

What's more likely to produce a psychopath, a game that's designed to be enjoyed shooting other humans in a realistic environment (from your own virtual perspectrive - first person), or a game which has you control super-human characters in the 3rd person in incredibly fantastical environments?

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Originally Posted by Quickstrike

Dammit, now online stores are starting to say that they won't sell the game to Australians. :mad:

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From what I have heard, this nothing to do with the RC status but rather a directive / request made by the publisher to online stores. There are a few retailers that have indicated they will be shipping the game despite this.

Makes me wonder if WB will compromise by releasing a much less violent version of MK9 like what happened with L4D2, instead of limbs getting shot off the zombies just disappeared after dying...

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Originally Posted by SkyWarp91

Makes me wonder if WB will compromise by releasing a much less violent version of MK9 like what happened with L4D2, instead of limbs getting shot off the zombies just disappeared after dying...

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From what I've read, WB has flatly refused offering a 'neutered' version as they believe it is not right by the consumer or the developers to offer a compromised version of a product - And good on them for doing so! :cool: