Why R18+ is Not the Answer, a Case Study Involving Saints Row IV

OXCGN:

When the Australian Classification Board (ACB) refused to classify Saints Row IV, debate surrounding censorship, appropriateness and the false hope of the R18+ classification in Australia sparked up again.

Here are my 2 cents.

If you thought the R18+ classification would automatically let you play any game created no matter how obscene or graphic, you were wrong and you should feel bad.

Deep Silver screwed up by choosing cheap laughs over a considered approach to mature content, underestimating the importance of incorporating adult material in a relevant and context specific way.

[RocknRolla]

I went into this thinking it would have been a one sided article, but after having a read I saw that it was extremely fair to both sides.

It not only criticizes Deep Silver/Volition regarding the content of the game but also the R18+ classification AND then goes back to how the game for Australians is nerfed.

In the sense that they cannot play with anyone around the world in multiplayer because it's been modified.

That's a huge kick in the nuts, I had no idea about that.

[GrathiusXR]

The amount of people I know who have imported this game solely based on the fact that we got screwed into ONLY being able to play with those with the same copy as us is phenomenal.

I WAS going to pick this up but since it's been delayed till Sept 12th only days before GTAV, looks like they've lost a customer.

Have to wait until after the Summer of games to pick it up.

[aksobey]

Great article. Thanks for the interesting read.

[BadCircuit]

I can only say: thank goodness for region free games :)

[RocknRolla]

I know right thank god, but for those who have no clue about importing they're missing out unfortunately!

[gaminoz]

@BadCircuit

I think you are missing the point. He isn't arguing for ALL CONTENT to be acceptable in Australia.

He is having a go also at the publisher for allowing some of that content, which is just pushing it for an over the top laugh, to be considered acceptable.

[gigoran]

I know right thank god, but for those who have no clue about importing laws, customs package searching, confiscating banned items, and fines or jail time, they're in trouble unfortunately!

[MRMagoo123]

I think the R rating should be pretty much anything goes, its kind of stupid the way it is now, i dont care if the board of directors who ever they are (i know they dont play games) think the stuff that was removed wasnt relevant to the game.

The R rating has basically just taken the place of the MA15+ rating with nearly the same stupid restrictions and not much else.

[RocknRolla]

Still though when a game includes something purely for the sake of cheap laughs without any context it's kind of stupid.

At least within GTA it's there with reason NOT for the sake of some laughs and just to be different.

[MRMagoo123]

the whole point in a game is to escape realism, adding stupid rules saying "no fun things allowed if its not contextual" is stupid no matter how you put it.

The main problem is that ppl dont realise this is games and not real life, the ppl that cant tell the difference are the problem not the games themselves.

[aliengmr]

Yeah picking up hookers was done with the intent of being serious. Sure. Real high brow stuff, GTA.

You really don't understand comedy at all. Funny thing, not everybody thinks the way you do. I know, sounds crazy, but stay with me here. People actually have differing opinions on what is funny.

[RocknRolla]

Regardless of if people can distinguish between games and real life isn't the point.

Putting in a weapon where you can probe any innocent passer by up the ass is not fun. Nor is it funny.

Especially if it's just in there for the sake of being different than GTA

[Hicken]

Maybe not to you- or me, for that matter- but for some, it is. If you don't like it, feel free not to use that weapon, or to play at all.

Cheap laughs abound in movies and elsewhere. Why is it video games cannot have them? It's tacky and unrefined and crude and base, and exactly the sort of thing you'd expect from Saints Row.

It's not for you to decide if others will find it funny. Nor is it for whatever certification board that exists to do that task. It's their task to explain the content and rate it accordingly. Personal sense of humor is irrelevant and, to a certain degree, so are personal morals.

The things I do in video games- whether it's simply walking into someone's house in a JRPG, or mowing down waves of people in one shooter or another- don't reflect on me as an individual. They don't reflect my beliefs. They just reflect (some) things I enjoy doing in a game.

This is one of those times where #dealwithit is appropriate.

[MRMagoo123]

Odd you say "Putting in a weapon where you can probe any innocent passer by up the ass is not fun. Nor is it funny" as if its a fact i find it funny so that point is invalid, i seem to remember in the game destroy all humans on the ps1 and 2 you could anal probe ppl and their heads would pop so you could collect their brains. http://www.youtube.com/watc... not the best video but proves my point.

I also see you may be one of the ppl that cant see the difference between a game and real life via this statement "any innocent passer by " they arent real ppl let alone innocent, i think you really need to think about what you write before trying to debate anything.

[RocknRolla]

The fact that you think I can't distinguish between games and real life is simply put amazing.

The fact you find striking an innocent person walking along the street up the ass with an anal probe weapon then thrusting them into the air all on the basis of fun is even more amazing.

I'm glad the ACB banned this game and it got edited for Australia. Some people seem to still have brains which is good to see.

[aliengmr]

You know its doubly ironic that you say "innocent passerby" as it relates to SR4.

Anyway, I am glad you feel safer knowing this game isn't roaming free in Australia, could be a disaster. I mean people could have been watching that and....not found it funny! *GASP*

People could have had an awkward moment! Sure glad the Aussies avoided that!

[gaminoz]

Now now boys, nothing wrong with expressing an opinion...don't need to name call :)

I agree that anal probe seems stupid and immature and don't understand those that think it is funny, at least more than a second or two. I remember though I found the cerebral bore hilarious in Turok back in the N64 days, so maybe because its because I'm older now.

In any case it is up to the dev. to put in what they want, and it is up to the ratings board to rate it according to their standards.

It will always be a certain amount of interpretation.

[annus]

Holy shit you are delusional. It's fun in GTA shooting people and running them over, it doesn't mean that I think the real thing is fun or funny.

Saints Row IV wasn't even banned for that weapon, it was because of drug use.

[Belgavion]

Ripper read, Rocco!

[SeraphimBlade]

I WANT to understand the author's viewpoint, but what throws so many similar arguments about "context" in Saints Row IV out the window is that the majority of the game takes place in a simulation IN the game world. You're not even actually hurting people in the game. And the "drug mission" doesn't even involve a real drug.

Sure, motivating artists to go "above" cheap laughs sounds good, but that should NOT be the government's job.