A panel of experts explored this issue at SXSW Sydney 2024.
Australian taxonomy is notoriously strict when it comes to video games, with capricious rules determining how dangerous content can be described. It doesn’t matter if a movie or TV show you see in Australia depicts drug use. If a video game contains drug use, its depiction is strictly controlled. This cannot be linked to any benefits or rewards of playing the game, and if there is even a suggestion that drugs are useful, the game will likely be refused classification and cannot be legally sold within Australia.
These laws are the reason. fallout Players now use “Med-X” instead of “Morphine”. That’s because the Australian Classification Board was set to ban the game for real-world drug use before Bethesda Game Studios agreed to implement the change. These laws are the reason. Rimworld has been temporarily removed from the digital store in 2022. Again, this came down to the depiction of drug use in the game and its association with in-game rewards.
during SXSW Sydney 2024A panel of experts discussed exactly why this issue continues to occur in games released in Australia. This is largely the result of outdated and outdated classification systems built on shaky foundations.
As Margaret Anderson, former director of the Australian Classification Board, explains, Australia’s current classification system is essentially determined by a gentleman’s agreement between all states rather than being incorporated into the Constitution. Because changing or amending these laws requires multiple signatories with equal authority, progress in classification modernization is either prohibitively slow or does not occur at all.
This system has led to a stagnation in new media classifications as well as the continued proliferation of conservative beliefs about video games and the people who play them. According to Jeff Brand, Professor of Communication and Media at Bond University and one of Australia’s leading gaming researchers, one of the key problems with Australia’s classification system is the widespread assumption that “only kids play games” and “we need to protect them”.
However, statistics show that the average age of a video game player is 32 years old. Nonetheless, under Australia’s taxonomy, adults cannot be exposed to hypothetical drug use that is in any way linked to incentives. This remains true even after Australia introduced the R18+ rating, which restricts the sale of hard-hitting video games to minors.
According to Brand, the reason for this difference is that classifiers still treat video games as if they are a “special” form of media. Games are different, especially in terms of interactivity, but several studies have found no active link between interactivity and violent or delinquent behavior.
A 2021 study commissioned by Australia’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and conducted by the Behavioral Insights Team clearly found that violent video games have “little or no meaningful impact on actual aggressive behavior” . Continued intensive global research has led us to this same conclusion.
However, with each revision to Australian taxonomy, the restrictions appear to become more stringent. Very recently I noticed that the game classification guidelines were updated. This is specifically to prevent children from being exposed to loot boxes and simulated gambling in games.
This is undoubtedly a good way to reduce predatory mechanics in games for children. But this exposes the core of the Australian classification system. This means that concerns are about children rather than adults having free access to complex or challenging content.
As Anderson said, you can see the cocaine blowing up. The Wolf of Wall Street – But any game that contains a note-taking scene will be immediately banned, assuming the game is just a note-taking scene. differentThe psychological impact is greater.
“Adults should be able to read, listen, watch and play what they want,” Anderson said. “I will die to defend that statement. Because I absolutely believe it is right. So then we have to say, ‘Are the gaming guidelines limiting capacity in an unreasonable way?’ The answer is ‘yes, it does’.”
The conclusion of the SXSW Sydney 2024 panel was that video game taxonomy needs a major overhaul, not just a revision. Creating a more holistic system that treats the medium fairly requires a fresh start: understanding the core audience of video games without fear-mongering or making assumptions.
There have been major changes to the classification of games over the past few years, but it’s clear that they will need to change again in the future to better serve the medium’s actual audience.
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by Leah J. Williams October 23, 2024
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