Screen courtesy of, but not at all exclusive to, MTV Multiplayer
If for some reason all you Valve fans out there haven’t heard the news, the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification has refused to give the upcoming title Left 4 Dead 2 an actual rating, effectively banning its sale in the country. That’s not the news here, though—it’s that the game’s publisher, Electronics Arts, has stood up on its behalf and challenged the OFLC in an attempt to call the country on apparent hypocrisy.
The two sentences that have been repeated by several bloggers and news outlets around the internet were said by Tiffany Steckler, an EA spokesperson, during an interview on Gamespot Australia on September 23. According to the article, Steckler said that “It’s funny that a place like Australia, which has come up with some pretty violent material in the past like Mad Max, can effectively ban video games for the same reason. EA believes that adults should have the right to make their own choices when it comes to the content they consume.”
Steckler’s words were in sharp contrast to Valve’s rather muted response to the news. Doug Lombardi, Valve’s vice president of marketing, spoke to Shacknews way back on September 18. “We were surprised to hear of this news yesterday,” he said. “Obviously, everybody at Valve is pretty bummed. It would be a shame if folks in Australia, or anywhere else, are unable to purchase Left 4 Dead 2 because of a ratings issue.”
“Pretty bummed,” Mr. Lombardi? If someone told me that they were censoring my work after accepting what I’d handed them before while letting a game like MadWorld through, the phrase I would be using would sound more like “immensely disappointed,” or “insulted,” or “pissed off.” It has been noted that Valve has filed for an appeal, so at least it’s not taking this lying down.
(Warning: Profane language, references to deviant sexual behaviour, over-the-top violence)
To be fair, part of the problem may be the fact that Australia still considers video games a kiddie pastime and has no “adult” rating—the highest their rating goes is MA15+, which means everything over it (like MadWorld) has to have its representatives convince people like the OFLC that it’s suitable for a fifteen-year-old or be banned. This is according to EveryonePlays, a site that is currently pushing for the very simple solution of creating an R18+ rating. I can’t tell you if that would technically make games falling under that rating “pornography,” but I’m sure Australia’s video game market wouldn’t mind if they got to enjoy the mature fare everyone else gets to play without having it yanked out of their hands.
For those interested (who should be everyone who actually bothered reading this post) Kotaku.com published a fine article detailing the reasons why Left 4 Dead 2 got passed over, as well as mentioning that lenience was shown by some of the board members voting on the issue. As EveryonePlays points out, though, just because some politicians were willing to bend the rules for the sake of sanity doesn’t mean the system isn’t still broken… or is it? Please provide feedback on exactly what you think of this issue.
Play No Evil 