Gamer Rant: Australia's Continuing Censorship (R18+)

In 2013, Australian gamers were overjoyed to see the R18+ rating put in place, not only to protect the youth of our country but in hopes that video games would come to our shores now uncensored by our government. One year later and unfortunately, while the R18+ rating still continues to go on strong, the censorship of our games has also. This angry rant was inspired by the recent censorship of South Park: The Stick of Truth and whereas I will base most of my issues with.

(You can read my previous posts about the rating here (Copy and paste): http://thegamecavereviews.blogspot.com.au/search?q=R18%2B)

For the people outside Australia, up until 2013, Australia's video game industry was heavily censored, with many games being the subject of ridicule by our government due to the "inappropriate" content they held. Even with the birth of home entertainment consoles, the Australian rating system's highest rating was MA15+, censored content with adult supervision for anyone younger than 15. Of course, there is no law where parents must accompany their child while playing this game and many bought titles simply to keep their child quiet. With games such as GTA, Call of Duty, Doom ect being lashed out by many in the Attorney- Generals (The Classification Board for all media in Australia) for being vulgar or immature, the gaming community appealed, rebelled and petitioned their way for an R18+ and eventually, succeeded. However, while gamers are experiencing a wider range of video games, previously banned and now available, the Board continue to censor games, such as Metro Last Light, State of Decay, Saints Row IV (Heavily) and more. It's utter ridiculousness.

The average age of a gamer is 32 years old in AUSTRALIA ALONE whereas the average age of a gamer worldwide has been bumped up to 35 YEARS OLD, the R18+ rating ensures that children under 18 can't buy underneath this classification and has dropped children playing said games dramatically. Yet there are parents who continue to buy these games for their child, so gaming companies are forced to censor these games as well. Enter in South Park: The Stick of Truth.
I've always been a fan of South Park, not as far as many but still enough to own DVDs and merchandise. No one can deny that they have a crude side to themselves as well, finding things funny that others do not, as disgusting as anal probing to as simple as a fart. The show has always, since day one, had a crude sense of humor and if a fan is going to play the game, they're going to expect to get the same crudeness of the show as well. However the game is so utterly censored, it takes a lot of the fun out of the game. Take for example Mr. Slave. Mr Slave is well known for being a sexual deviant, having shoved Paris Hilton up his anus. However this ability in the game is edited to show only his movements from waist up.
The reason this frustrates me is why it was censored. The show is mostly rated MA15+, so any child could skip over a channel and watch the rude humour fly. However the game is rated R18+, for adult eyes only and it's censored. 

Do you begin to see the idiocy of the Board?

If you notice from the classification's content on the R18+ rating, it states quote "Some material classified R18+ may be offensive to sections of the adult community."

So in summary: "Your game got censored because one person may take offence."

The following is parts of an email I have recently sent to the Classification Board.

"While I understand a lot of the Board are simply taking orders, I find it completely unfair to a lot of the gaming community that these types of censorship is continuing, even after the placement of the R18+ rating. 

Yes I understand that a lot of children are still able to play these games due to ignorant parenting or online shopping, but does that mean the rest of us must suffer because of this? That is utterly unfair. 

As I turn 22 in a few weeks, I understand that there are some who may be offended by some content in games, or perhaps a community/religious group that may be offended, but as adults don't we deserve the choice to have these in a video game or not?

I'm simply asking the Board to rethink classifications. Australia is my home as well as yours and yet we're still the laughing stock of the world on this subject. Until things change and we continue censoring games, children will still find a way to get the banned content via their parents or online shopping. All I ask is to rethink the classification or perhaps, the sale of games. If we could simply have even simple warnings in places of retail that sell games, warning parents not to buy games that have the R18+ rating for their child, we may be able to stop these issues and perhaps in the future, stop the censorship completely.

It's these issues and more that the gaming industry in Australia is flat-lining and due to that, I will more than likely be forced to travel overseas looking for work when my university studies have ended, creating less jobs in Australia and thus, hurting the future generations. You have a chance to make our country better and many people happy.

Please think of Australia's dignity."

Lovers of video games, don't stand by and wait for the best. Stand up and prepare yourselves for tomorrow. Prepare for the fight. Stand up for our rights!