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WoW still on store shelves in Australia
Our good friend Tateru Nino (who is in fact an Aussie herself) has a followup over at Massively about the report that World of Warcraft was no longer legally available in Oz earlier this week. The issue isn't in the rules -- those are the same: unclassified games like World of Warcraft are held to the same rules as banned games -- but in the lack of enforcement. Since the issue has gone public, stores are continuing to sell the game (though some have removed larger sale displays of the games), and law enforcement has made no moves to try and get the games off of store shelves.The real problem here, of course, isn't that Australia wants to ban these games, but that they're falling through the cracks of what seems to be an extremely lax rating system. There's really no rating assigned to these games, so according to the rules, they can't be sold. But the rules make no sense in this case: no one, as far as we've heard, actually wants to ban these games in the country, and no one cares whether they're being sold on store shelves or not.Still, Massively does expect action, eventually, even if it's an apparently much-needed rejiggering of the ratings system to include these "unrated" games. Bottom line right now is that if you want to buy or sell World of Warcraft in Australia, no one's stopping you from doing so.
Australian MMOs: Without classification, but still on store shelves
We've talked about it in the past ad nauseum, but for those who are just now joining us: the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) doesn't have a rating for video games above MA15+. Thus, if your title is deemed too inappropriate for someone 15 years or older, it's Refused Classification (RC), essentially barring it from sale in the country. Except, it seems, if your game is an MMO.Our friends at Massively took a look at MMOs in Australia, which -- with few exceptions -- are sold at retail without any rating whatsoever. Developers and publishers claim they've never submitted their titles to the OFLC because they didn't believe it was necessary to do so. That misconception may have come from the board itself, who is said to have given such counsel before it was merged with the Federal Attorney-General's Office. However, the now-assimilated group is saying that MMOs require classification, and selling an unclassified game is a crime. Hit up Massively for more information. This is gonna be a very interesting story to follow.
Rumor: Broken Sword to get resurrected on Wii? [update]
Update: Looks like someone managed to find the listing on USK's site and take a screen grab (head past the break to see it).Gamefront noticed a listing on the Germany's rating classification website, USK, that showed a new Broken Sword game for the Wii and DS. Our own search of USK's website only turned up a rating from 2002 for Broken Sword on the GBA, however. Even when searching under the Wii and DS system, we found no classification for an Ubisoft-published game. Personally, we hope the game is in the works. We love the genre and playing a new Broken Sword doesn't sound like too bad a time. What about you all?
Aussie classification reveals new Hudson WiiWare title
A classification for Australia has popped up, showing that Hudson is working on a new game for WiiWare. The new game, called Snowboard Riot, will have the player fighting dragons, saving damsels in distress and will feature Bomberman in a medieval setting. We kid, it's a snowboard game!Sadly, all we have to go on right now is a name, other than it looks like the game will also be hitting Xbox Live and PSN. Stay tuned to Wii Fanboy for more info on the game as it's made available.[Via GamerBytes]
Forum post of the day: What makes a Death Knight heroic?
The Death Knight has been touted as the first heroic class in World of Warcraft. Hopefully there will be more to come in the future. We've heard some interesting tidbits about this class, and many people are chomping at the bit to play one. Aegulle of Cenarius wants to know what it is about Death Knights that makes them "heroic." To him they appear to be just another class. Some suggested that the starting level of this class makes them heroic- that nothing more thank skipping 55 levels of grinding is enough to qualify for an elevated status. Unlike existing classes, a player must put some effort into WoW before it can even be rolled. Death Knights can only be created by those who "unlock" the class by leveling at least one character on the server to 55.
Senator pushes for expansion of "V-chip" video censorship technology
The Democratic Senator for Arkansas -- Mark Pryor is his name -- wants to expand on the "V-chip" video content blocking program, and create a tracking system that could enable parents to censor content on platforms including TV, DVD, and the internet. A new bill proposed by Senator Pryor calls for the FCC to look into ways of blocking "indecent and objectionable programming, as determined by the parent" on basically all platforms capable of displaying images. As always, the devil is in the details: how exactly the FCC is going to figure out a method for precisely tracking obscenities on a "platform blind" basis remains to be seen, and the issue of classification of content is always sure to cause controversy. What politicos like Pryor always seem to miss is the fact that parental filters are already in place, albeit in messy meatspace form.
IGN provides BBFC primer for non-Brits
Let's face it, most gamers outside of Great Britain couldn't pick the British Board of Film Classification out of a lineup before their recent, controversial decision to deny classification to Manhunt 2. IGN decided to help us non-Brits out with a nice, in-depth interview with BBFC Press Office Manager Susan Clark.While the BBFC officially uses the same set of guidelines in evaluating both games and movies, Clark acknowledged that the board takes repetition and interactivity into account when making decisions about games. "We might say 'Okay, if that had been a film, it would be okay in a linear format but with the element of interactivity in games, with the ability to do it over and over again, we might bump the rating up to a higher category,'" Clark said. Clark also admitted that, by law, the board has to "bear in mind the fact that these games will be potentially accessed by younger viewers ... We know that games are very, very attractive to under-aged players, particularly the 18 rated games." What, and violent movies aren't?Despite the double standards, there's a lot to be praised about the BBFC system. Unlike the ESRB, the BBFC actually plays every game they review for about five hours, and they are the only regulator in the world not controlled politically or by the industry, according to Clark. All in all, if there's going to be occasional censorship, we can't think of a better group of people to be doing it.
ELSPA: Manhunt ban is good. Us: WTF?
ELSPA Director General Paul Jackson has issued a statement praising the BBFC's recent decision to deny classification for Rockstar's Manhunt 2, effectively banning the game from sale in Great Britain. Jackson said the decision "demonstrates that we have a games ratings system in the UK that is effective" and emphasized that the arrangement "works and works well."Frankly, we're a bit shocked that an organization whose stated mission is to "protect, promote and provide for the interests of all its members" would support state-sponsored censorship of one of its member's products. The point of ratings, at least as we see it, is to inform the public about the content of a game before they buy it, so they're not surprised by any objectionable materials contained within. The whole idea is that informed consumers can make the best choices for themselves and their families. The BBFC's decision goes against this ideal by effectively telling British adults they're not mature enough to decide whether or not they can handle this game. How is that an "effective" system?Jackson's statement does not address BBFC Director David Cooke's unsupported assertion that the game's availability would "involve a range of unjustifiable harm risks, to both adults and minors ... [that] would be unacceptable to the public." Does ELSPA really agree that the mere availability of a game to adults can damage a society so badly that its distribution must be stopped? If so, is that a message ELSPA's member organizations are willing to get behind as well?In his statement, Jackson stresses that games "appeal to all kinds of people across the country, young and old, male and female." What about the people Manhunt 2 appeals to? Apparently, they're just out of luck, as far as ELSPA's concerned.[Via GameStooge]
