Tag Archives: Australian classifications

The Australian Classification Board database has revealed a mysterious new Uncharted title.

More »

Up to 50 games currently rated MA15+ may be reassessed for inclusion in the new R18+ ratings category when it is introduced in January 2013.

More »

New South Wales has become the second Australian state or territory to introduce laws in support of the nation’s new R18+ classification for games, PlayerAttack reports. The new ratings category was green lit at the federal level in June, and is expected to go into effect by January 1, 2013 – the deadline for states to have their end sorted out. The ACT was the first off the bat.

Guidelines for the new category were released last week and have met with a mixed reception.

South Australian state attorney-general John Rau has decided against implementing a plan to re-sticker all MA15+ games as R18+.

More »

The long-awaited Guidelines for Australia’s new R18+ ratings category for video games have met with with a mixed reaction from interested parties.

More »

Level-5′s collection of 3DS games, Guild01, looks likely to head west – but as individual packages.

More »

The Australian Capital Territory has become the first Australian state to pass a new R18+ games rating category into law.

More »

We’ve received a release schedule confirming that Sleeping Dogs will launch in Australia on August 16, for PC PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. While we hadn’t heard anything to suggest this wouldn’t be the case, the game’s violent trailers raised some concerns that it might not make it past the Classification Board’s content guidelines – but there it is, with an MA15+ sticker for “strong violence, crime themes, coarse language and sexual references”. The open-world Hong Kong action epic hits the US on August 14 and arrives in Europe on August 17.

Legislation has been passed by Australia’s Federal Parliament to facilitate the introduction of a mature R18+ rating classification for video games, three years after the Attorney-General’s Department first published a discussion paper on the topic in 2009.

More »

The reliably leaky Australian Classification Board believes IO Interactive has finished a new Mini Ninjas game.

More »

Telltale has confirmed that it won’t be bringing console version of The Walking Dead to Australians following an 18+ international classification.

More »

An unannounced Microsoft Studios title has appeared on the Australian Classification Board’s database. Called Joy Ride Turbo, the game was rated on April 5 and was given a G with a warning that online play experience may vary. It’s not clear if the new game has any relation to fellow Microsoft Studios release Kinect Joy Ride, although it certainly seems likely. We’ll poke Microsoft a bit and let you know if we get an answer.

Thanks, Joystiq.

South Australia will move ahead with attorney general John Rau’s plan to rebadge all games rated MA15+ as R18+, enforcing their sale only to legal adults, despite progress in a national campaign for classification reform.

More »

The Australian Capital Territory will be the first to Australian region to introduce legislation in support of an R18+ ratings category for video games.

More »

The House of Representatives has approved plans to introduce an R18+ ratings category for video games in Australia.

More »

The Australian House of Representatives’ Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs has returned a positive verdict on an inquiry into proposed changes to Australia’s classification laws.

More »

Flummoxed by the sudden appearance of a wild legislation, the Coalition called for an inquiry into a bill proposing changes to Australia’s Classification act – namely, the addition of an R18+ ratings category for video games. The proposed changes have been the subject of public consultation, debate and multiple inquiries over the past few years, and were finally introduced to parliament for the first time yesterday. The inquiry is likely to delay the bill slightly but may not affect plans to bring the new ratings category into effect as early as January 1, 2013. Current legislation in Australia refuses classification – and thereby, legal sale – of content rated higher than MA15+.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Home Affairs minister Jason Clare has made good on his promise to move quickly on Australia’s proposed R18+ ratings category for games.

More »

Newly incumbent minister for home affairs Jason Clare has been quick to pick up Brendan O’Conner’s reins, aiming to secure a vote on Australia’s proposed R18+ games rating in February.

More »

Cynaide’s RPG based on George RR Martin’s explosively popular fantasy series may be further along than expected.

More »