Good news for people who like their post-apocalyptic Russian FPS games full of grit and violence: Metro: Last Light has successfully applied for and received an R18+ classification in Australia. The classification database listing also makes curious mention of strong impact sexual references, which doesn’t really seem appropriate for a gritty survival horror game, but sure! Why not.

Metro: Last Light will hit us on May 14 — here’s everything we know so far.

Source: Thanks, Nathan!

Queensland has today passed the delayed R18+ legislation, making it the last and final Australian state to come into line with the new games classification. All that remains is for Queensland’s Governor to sign the bill into law, which is expected to take two or three weeks.

“The introduction of this classification should be welcome news for parents, who will now have more control over the games their children are playing,” said Queensland’s Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie. “I encourage parents to be guided by these classifications, as I’m sure many are unaware of the levels of violence and adult material contained in some computer games.”

“This system has worked with films for a long time and it makes sense for computer games to be treated in the same way (…) By coming into line with the rest of the country, we can prevent the games from being bought interstate and sold illegally in Queensland.”

Source: Kotaku AU

Kotaku AU is reporting that at least one un-named major retailer has instructed its staff to remove all material relating to God of War: Ascension from its shelves in Queensland, following the news that the game has been rated R18+.

“As Queensland has not passed legislation for the R18 rating for games we must remove all reference to God of War Ascension immediately,” reads the quoted email. “This includes all game slicks, posters, pamphlets, hand written signage, 2-way units and pre order signage.”

Queensland remains the only state in Australia yet to pass the R18+ legislation, which was originally intended to be in place across Australia by January 1. Discussion of the legislation will resume when Parliament reconvenes in the middle of this month.

Source: Kotaku AU

Left 4 Dead 2 was, in many ways, the flagship for the R18+ campaign here in Australia — and now it looks like Valve may be moving ahead with re-submitting the game under the new classification.

Writing on the Steam forums, Valve’s Chet Faliszek says: “No need to flood us with emails. We have been exploring the options here and what we can legally do.”

“We will have more information on this when we understand the issues fully and how we are moving forward but don’t worry any cost associated with it doesn’t worry us, this is something we want to do.”

Good stuff, Valve! I’m sure I speak for us all when I say we’re very excited to see how this turns out.

Source: Delimiter

The R18+ classification is here, and we’ve even got our first game: Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge. Now Warner Bros. are hoping that they too can take part in this new age, announcing that they’ll be resubmitting the twice-banned Mortal Kombat to the Classification Board in the hopes of getting an R18+ rating and finally releasing it into Australia.

Rebadged as Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition, the repackaged game will contain the original content as well as all of the DLC released since launch. The statement from the publisher is terse, and reads “Warner Bros Entertainment Australia will be submitting the Mortal Kombat: Komplete Edition for classification under the new R18+ classification category.”

The game was originally Refused Classification in February of 2011, which means the mandatory two-year period between re-classifications is now almost up. Fingers crossed for the company as they head to the Board next month.

Source: Aussie Gamer

The future is now — Australia is finally set to receive its first R18+ rating, and the upcoming Wii U title Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge is set to be the first one to receive the sticker.

The game has already been released and classified as MA15+ in Australia, but this re-release includes additional content and fixes specifically for the Wii U as well as incorporating DLC released for other platforms.

A media release (PDF) from the Classification Board claims that “Under the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games, R 18+ computer games will have a high impact and it is for this reason that these games are not suitable for under 18s.”

“Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge contains violence that is high in impact because of its frequency, high definition graphics, and emphasis on blood effects.”

January 1st marked the first day of the new, much-campaigned-for, long-awaited R18+ legislation for computer and video games in Australia. Under the new legislation, the Classification Board is now free to classify games up to an R18+ level, although it’s likely that we won’t see our first R18+ rated game for some months to come.

Queensland remains the only Australian state or territory yet to pass the R18+ legislation, although this is expected to be resolved shortly. This does mean that Queenslanders will be unable to purchase any R18+ rated games until this matter is concluded — although it is widely believed that no games will be rated R18+ and released before the legislation is passed.

Gamers hoping that already-classified games will be re-rated to R18+ are unfortunately in for disappointment: there’s a mandatory two-year period before a game can be re-classified. Games like Left 4 Dead 2 which were released in 2009 could potentially be re-rated, assuming that Valve were willing to stump up the costs.

The IGEA’s Ron Curry, speaking to Gamespot, expressed cautious optimism. “We are weary though of how the revised guidelines will be interpreted and if we are really getting an R18+ category, or just a movement of MA15+ into higher level of classification,” he said.

“Initially, we expect the Classification Board to be a little cautious in how they apply the new guidelines, so we may need to wait some time to see how the dust settles on this.”

In a century a long time ago, far, far away—1922, to be precise, the Queensland senate voted itself out of existence. After several failed attempts to abolish the State’s upper house, our benevolent leader persuaded the Queensland Governor to hand his party a ruling majority, allowing him to abolish the senate.

And this is perfectly fine with most Queenslanders, who, without fail—vote overwhelming majorities into Parliament every election. We like our dictatorships.

So that’s why, today, we know the R18+ games legislation introduced to the Queensland Parliament a week ago, isn’t going to change. And it’s just as well, because out of all the R18+ laws… it actually makes sense.

Queensland has become the latest state to join the R18+ revolution, with legislation for the change to the game classification system now being tabled in Queensland Parliament last night.

“The introduction of the R18+ classification will give parents clear and unambiguous guidance about what material is unsuitable for their children, claimed Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie, “hence protecting them from being exposed to material that may harm them.”

“It will also give adult gamers the right to make informed choices about what they want to see and hear in a computer game.”

The Northern Territory was the only Australian government left without R18+ legislation on the table, but reports today indicate they have literally only just tabled their proposed legislation today. NSW and the ACT have already passed theirs, while WA, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are currently in the process. Roll on, January 1!

Thankyou James for pointing out that I used the old Queensland government logo!

Source: Kotaku AU

With the new R18+ rating coming in next year, a lot of people are asking if games previously refused classification will be reconsidered for this new rating. It seems the official word on that is, ‘No, not ever, not on your life, you violent teenagers, you.’

But that isn’t stopping NSW MP Greg Donnelly from suggesting that he will be reviewing other titles — at least 50, apparently — that have been on shelves for months, for reclassification to R18+ from MA15+. “Steps will be taken to look at what are colloquially referred to as the 50 video and computer games — at least 50 — that it is believed in one way or another have been shoe-horned into the MA 15+ category and should now be rated at the higher classification,” Donnelly has stated.

While the shoehorning of R-rated material into an MA rating was one of the main reasons behind the R18+ lobby, it does seem a little unfair that games that have been classified and on shelves for months can obtain a new classification, while adults across Australia who missed out on one game or another as it was refused classification, still miss out.

What do you think? Do you think this is a reasonable step to protect children? Or do you think games that are already classified should be stuck with the rating they were given? Or do you think it’s fine, but should go both ways, so games refused classification get a second chance? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: Kotaku Australia (Thanks, Palzer0)

In Western Australia, your copy of Dragon Age 2 has some of the same restrictions as an X 18 film. Unfortunately, this isn’t because it included a hot scene with Leliana and Merril post-credits. Rather, the laws of Western Australia just don’t trust MA15+ games to be suitable for teenagers.

As it stands, Western Australia’s proposed R18+ gaming laws won’t change this. As we’ll discuss, the new laws simply apply this existing MA15+ restrictions to R18+ games, and leave the MA 15+ ones alone.

However, there is still a chance of this being changed for the better. These new laws have been called back for review, with a parliamentary committee set to look over the new laws.

Here’s what needs to be changed.

As a long-time, born-and-bred Western Australian, I think I’ve earned the right to be frustrated with this state’s backwards decisions on most things.

For example, while the rest of Australia is right now luxuriating in an extra hour of sunshine, Western Australia is freaking out about “tampering with the natural order of things” and muttering nasty things about young people these days. Case in point: Western Australia has now decided the proposed R18+ legislation is looking a bit dodgy, and that a committee should examine it for, I don’t know, moral indecency or whatever.

A call for public submissions to the committee is now open, with the committee chaired by a panel of two Liberal MP’s, a Greens MP and a Labor MP. The report is due by November 6, so if you — like me — think this is all a bit dumb, please send a polite but strongly worded letter to the committee via the contact methods on this page.

Source: Kotaku AU