Australia bans Hundreds of Computer Games: Mobile Games to Undergo Same Revamp

Following this week’s Confederate flag ban on iTunes, mobile games are under attack again. Australia will adopt a new classification tool today and bans several computer games marked “refused classification.” In Australia, this means that you will not be able to sell, advertise or exhibit the product in any way. This new classification tool will be adapted to all games, including mobile and console.

The country, today, officially began participation in a global pilot program that will attempt to regulate the entire online gaming industry. This new tool, the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), will classify new and existing material by letting the game developers fill out a form that will mince and flush out any and all possibly offensive content. Qualifying questions that categorize elements of crime, sexual content, discrimination, crude humor that involves bodily functions, and goes further into detail if it falls into a broad topic. Participating countries include the UK, the USA, Brazil, Canada and several countries in Europe.

ABC’s interview with a spokesperson from the Attorney-General’s Department, reveal that the government acknowledges that it is unrealistic for the Classification Board to “have direct oversight of the vast amount of digital content available.” It’s understandable for them to adopt a system where the bulk of the work will be accomplished by the developer and supplemented with subsequent feedback from consumers if they feel that the rating requires review. Of course, the obvious impact it will bring to independent game developers cannot be stressed enough. An independent game that will be banned from one specific country creates a huge ripple effect as the rating system will notify other participating countries of the their rating and why it was banned.

The new tool promises to calibrate each classification based on a countries sensitivities but it fails to explain several bans to seemingly harmless puzzle game titles that have been rated for 10 years old and above in other countries. Whether this will be good or bad for the gaming community remains to be seen. Hopefully it will reduce the clutter of unwanted and poorly-conceived apps out there.