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Categories: Commentary
Tags: banned, gta
I went to England when I was 14 and was strolling around some castle wearing my pithy Celebrate Freedom: Read a Banned Book shirt. The shirt listed classic works which had been banned at sometime or another like To Kill a Mockingbird and The Grapes of Wrath. One of the serfs in the gift shoppe asked me why those books were banned and I said that different school systems or other groups disagreed with their contents. At which point she said, “So much for your Freedoms.”
In retrospect, I should have mentioned that there were always forces willing to fight to have books reinstated and that these books weren’t banned banned. People (kids mostly) could read them elsewhere. And I really doubt Huckleberry Finn is still banned anywhere. All that shit happened a long time ago, right?
The same goes with video games. I mean, there’s a lot of fuss over who can sell M-rated games to whom, but if a game is released, I know I’ll be able to buy it and play it. It’s one of the benefits to being over 17 and having disposable income. And so this, like many other freedoms, is one I take for granted.
And so things like Fallout 3 falls foul of the OLFC as well as TV Opinion Panel from xboxoz360gamer.com is a wake-up call.
Australia doesn’t have an adult rating for games. They have one for movies, but not games. This means that if an M-rating game comes out in Australia it’s either edited or given a 15+ rating (Grand Theft Auto IV) – or doesn’t come out.
The writer, Grant Smythe, makes an excellent case for why a 18+ rating is needed – highlighting that the current system actually does nothing to inform parents or protect the children. But to me, it’s more of a wake-up call that I should be thankful that I can play Fallout 3 here when it is released, as it was originally intended.
On August 21st, 2008 at 11:56 am, Silvercube wrote:
Ah. Well, you know me and my stance on the more “mature” rated games. I generally avoid them, lol.
Most of my favorite games are actually E rated. I like worlds that are cute, you know? Anything realistic is boring and not fun for me.. I like to be swept away into a world that’s a bit more happy than the one we live in.
Nice shirt, by the way. The most “controversial” one I have is one that says: “Please do not stare” or something like that.. have not worn it in awhile.:)