The recent refusal of a classification for Mortal Kombat in Australia is a touchy subject at the moment. The game was refused classification meaning it’s barred from sale. Warner Bros. Interactive appealed the decision, but were denied classification again. Then the Australian Border Control announced that they would search for and seize any imported copies of Mortal Kombat, making the game the first title to be deemed illegal to import.
Gamers in the land of hoppity-hop are pissed off about all of this. The country’s Home Affairs Minister, Brendan O’Connor, feels the same way. Perhaps he’s a fan of Mortal Kombat? Perhaps he’s just sick and tired of delusional politicians dragging their heels.
In an interview with ABC, O’Connor said that Australia was the “laughing stock of the developed world†thanks to its complete lack of an adequate rating system for games.
“we’re the only country that doesn’t have R18 classification level for video games. We’re the only country that allows tens and tens of games to be used by minors that are only used by adults. I think it’s now time for the Attorneys General of each jurisdiction to come together, reach an agreement in July, so we can move forward with a reformed and improved classification system.â€
Politicians have been trying for years to get the rating system overhauled in Australia. Whether O’Connor will manage to get it right is anyone’s guess. In the meantime, Aussie gamers will have to wait until July when the matter will be opened up for discussion again – like it has for the last ten years to no avail. For the rest of us we can just laugh at them from afar and speculate as to why so many South Africans want to move there.
In related news: the Mortal Kombat demo is available to everybody on the PSN – not just PSN+ members. It’s a 570MB download and it’s awesome sauce.
Source: Kotaku Australia
Last Updated: March 18, 2011
