Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

WB To Appeal Australia's Effective Ban on Mortal Kombat

Posted by timothy on from the wonder-how-they-like-the-name-gamepron dept.

dotarray writes "Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have confirmed that they are appealing the Australian Classification Board's decision to effectively ban the reboot of Mortal Kombat in that country. The publisher has also confirmed that there is no intention to censor or modify the game – because then it 'wouldn't be Mortal Kombat.'"

3 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. More publishers need to follow this example by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's good to see a publisher appealing this totally stupid decision instead of folding and releasing another watered down "Australian" version. If enough publishers do this it will continue to let lawmakers know that Australians are not little kids who cannot handle mature video game content that the rest of the world can.

    1. Re:More publishers need to follow this example by Aeternitas827 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's not a poor decision that adults shouldn't be able to hop on down to their local game outlet and pick up a title they want, because the kiddies' heads might be addled by it?

      It's not red tape, it's idiocy. Yes, the guidelines are set and codified, and they're ridiculous. Saying something isn't appropriate for a 15 year old (a generalization so ungodly vague, I can't even begin to analogize it) isn't suitable for sale to ANYONE in the country is preposterous; only someone saying that it's completely off-base (for one reason or another) is going to have a chance to bring attention to, and possibly change, the status quo.

      End of the day, here's a brilliant idea: how about, worldwide, parents be parents. Take an interest in your child(ren)'s idle time, monitor what they do, what they buy, how they act, and how they communicate with the world outside of your home. And, holy hell, if you see or find something you find unsettling, talk to them about it, and if you're not successful in doing that, get outside help. Will there be some children that still fly off the handle? Unfortunately, yes, there will be--there's no sure-fire way to prevent someone who is truly ill from slipping through, and in some cases, those who are ill will take inspiration from creative works. But, remember, correlation does not equal causation, and if a parent pays goddam attention, some of the bull being blamed on games probably becomes avoidable.

      --
      I don't post AC. I like my -1, Flamebaits. Trump/Sheen 2012 on the Batshit Insane ticket!
  2. Re:Not released in australia.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    No, they cannot. As a German I can tell you that stores like Direct2Drive, Gamersgate, Impulse, Steam, etc. ALL enforce region restrictions. Games that are censored/banned here generally aren't being sold to Germans, even if the seller is a US (or some other country) company. It's fairly common to see restrictions like "this game is not available in your country" or even "this game is available worldwide except Korea, Germany and Australia".