![]() At the recent GameTech conference in Sydney, Jane Fitzgerald, Assistant Secretary at the Classification Operations Branch, revealed that of the 891 games classified in 2010-11, only two were refused classification: Mortal Kombat (which remains RC’d) and The Witcher 2 (which was edited and resubmitted.) And in 2011-12, out of 807 games, three were RC’d: Syndicate (still RC), Mortal Kombat: Game of the Year Edition (ditto), and House of the Dead Overkill: Extended Cut (appealed and passed under MA15+, no edit required). It’s an obfuscated - and seemingly arbitrary - series of decisions that count towards a game’s release in Australia, yet perhaps it’s also an overstated one. Then there are the games, such The Walking Dead, which are barred from sale on XBLA, yet freely available on Steam. Sometimes games are RC’d retroactively, receiving a retail release before being removed upon appeal (Marc Ecko’s Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, Manhunt), and sometimes they’re RC’d and then put on sale after a classification revision (Aliens vs Predator, House of the Dead: Overkill - Extended Cut, FEAR 2: Project Origin). ![]() Offending games are either edited to come in at the MA15+ level (The Witcher 2, Fallout 3, Dark Sector), or are barred from sale entirely (Mortal Kombat, Reservoir Dogs, Syndicate). What happens next depends on the game, the submitter, and seemingly, which direction the wind is blowing. But what is it really like? Forget the hyperbole, forget the outrage - let’s examine first-hand the experience of the average Australian gamer. The reasons won’t surprise - a truncated classification system and inflated software prices are a double whammy of political and societal fists to the face of gamers, no matter where you’re from - and from the outside looking in, it’s hard not to imagine an oppressive regime that stamps out violent games and charges you twice as much for the privilege. GamesRadar posted a piece titled The Worst Countries to be a Gamer, and of the 25 countries and nations mentioned, Australia was deemed the overall winner. Clearly, we like our GTA as much as our XXXX (it’s a brand of beer), but when it comes to how we game compared to the rest of the world, things are a little less straightforward. The average gamer is 32 years old, females account for 47% of the total gaming population, and 75% of gamers are aged over 18. Break those numbers down further and you’ll find a game console in 68% of Australian households, mobile phones in 43%, and handhelds in 13%. ![]() ![]() According to stats from Bond University in Queensland, in a survey conducted by the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA), 92% of Australian households were found to own a device for playing videogames in 2012, up from 88% in 2008. We’re also a nation of gamers, and our numbers are growing every year. ![]()
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