GTA San Andreas Banned in Australia

[suckerpunch5]

Wow. I can't believe they actually banned the game.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164089,00.html
This is really suprising to me. Is this kind of thing common in Australia?

[jajaja]

They banned Manhunt over there too, or atleast in New Zealand. I think they banned the latest Larry game too.

[evil_genius]

Will they burn you in the street if you own it?

[atari_wizard]

they should just make sure that only 18+ year olds purchase it, i don't think they should ban it. so what happens when they ban a game? do you have to return your copy if you own one? or do they just immediately stop further sales? any how, to me its crazy to ban cd's, video games etc. just get really strict on whom buys them.

[thegreatescape]

Manhunt, NARC, Leisure Suit Larry, and various other games have all fallen victim to the OFLC in recent times. The problem is that there is no higher rating than MA15+, which was what the game had prior to the Hot Coffe scandal. Where the game got its rating upped to AO in America, there was no higher rating for the OFLC to impose on the game so they had to revoke its classification and thus ban it from sale.
Some states allow ownership but not resale of RC (refused classification) games, but others disallow both (its not enforced fortunately).

If Rockstar and its publishers want the game to be sold in Australia their only option will be to remove the mini-game completely (code and all). I'd say theres a good chance of this happening, as it will mean the game gets its M rating in America, and its MA15+ rating here.

Still, its the highest profile banning of a game here, so things will definately get interesting.. :/

[suckerpunch5]

What's weird to me about this is, I'm assuming they sell porn in Australia. At the worst, GTA is some kind of computer generated porn, and it seems like it would just have to be sold in a similar manner. I'm suprised they would entirely ban it, instead of doing something like this.

I agree with previous posters, it seems like they should be able to restrict the sale to adults only.

Is the problem stemming from the fact that appropriate clasifications don't exist for video games in Australia? Or do the people of Australia not allow this type of, erm. . .content, in any of their media? If this type of material is allowed in other forms, then this video game ban is the height of hipocrasy. Of course, I am assuiming you can buy porn in Australia. If not, then my analysis is based on a false premise.

[LDIS91]

This does indeed seem a bit strict to ban it from all the people, including people who are actually suitable to play the games. I agree they should be more strict about age rather than just banning the game completely. What would happen if you had the game, would they fine you even if you were old enough?

[iversonownsu3]

Wow. Sucks for people wanting to buy the game in Austrila. I bought my copy. Thank god.

[thegreatescape]

it seems like they should be able to restrict the sale to adults only.

Thats the problem; they cant restrict sale to adults only because there no rating that goes that far (no Adults Only rating in Australia). People have been screaming out for a such a rating for years, because films have it (R18+ and X18+) but games dont.
No R18+ means they cant give it any rating, and in Australia its illegal to sell/display/distribute games that dont have a rating. It's not an "that game has sex BAN IT, BAN IT NOW!" scenario, but rather a banning by default.

[d4rkmoon]

indeed it´s a bit overreacting to ban games, even if it´s a voilent peace of crap like GTA

[dreamcaster]

it seems like they should be able to restrict the sale to adults only.

Thats the problem; they cant restrict sale to adults only because there no rating that goes that far (no Adults Only rating in Australia). People have been screaming out for a such a rating for years, because films have it (R18+ and X18+) but games dont.
No R18+ means they cant give it any rating, and in Australia its illegal to sell/display/distribute games that dont have a rating. It's not an "that game has sex BAN IT, BAN IT NOW!" scenario, but rather a banning by default.

Yeah, it's simply an issue with our out-dated game ratings system.

As far as our society goes, we're far more tolerant of violent and/or sexual media than the Americans are. ;)

Anyway, whilst I don't agree with censorship, I couldn't care less about the GTA games. Repetitive, immoral rubbish if you ask me.

[Steempy]

Games are the only place where it is safe to be immoral - would you rather some 14 year old kid got his jollies playing GTA San Andreas, or by jacking a Commodore and taking the police on a high speed chase through Balga?

Edit: I forgot, it's also safe to be immoral in government.. heh

[Pantechnicon]

Perhaps you folks down under ought to think about getting one of these:

http://www.randomhouse.com/teens/firstamendment/images/FirstAmendment.gif

That's isn't a slam against Australian people. I've got nothing but good to say about the the ones I've met in my life. But whenever I hear about these examples of government approved censorship from "tolerant and sophisticated" countries abroad and it just makes me want to find the nearest U.S. flag and give it a big ol` salute.