DRAGON BALL: ORIGINS and GOTHIC 2 have Ratings Revoked
September 12th 2009
DRAGON BALL: ORIGINS and GOTHIC 2 have become the first games to have their ratings revoked since August 2005. In that instance it was the discovery of the 'Hot Coffee' mod in GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS that saw it loose its MA15+-rating.
The two current games are listed in the category as 'RECSec21'. This is presumably Section 21 of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 that states:
21 Declassification of classified films or computer games that are modified
(1) Subject to subsection (2), if a classified film or a classified computer game is modified, it becomes unclassified when the modification is made.
(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to a modification that consists of:
(a) including or removing an advertisement, other than an advertisement to which section 22 applies; or
(b) for an imported film or computer game that was in a form that cannot be modified and has subsequently been converted to a form that can be modified—removing, from the film or game, material that was advertising referred to in paragraph (f) of the definition of advertisement in section 5.
21A Revocation of classification of films or computer games that are found to contain contentious material
If the Board is of the opinion that:
Classification Part 2 Classification of publications, films and computer games Division 2 Section 22 Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 21
(a) a classified interactive film or a classified computer game contains contentious material (whether activated through use of a code or otherwise) that was not brought to the Board’s attention in accordance with subsection 14(4) or 17(2) before the classification was made; and
(b) if the Board had been aware of the material before the classification was made, it would have given the film or game a different classification; the Board must revoke the classification,
and must also revoke approval of any approved advertisement for the film or game.
GOTHIC 2: M-rating Revoked
Atari Australia originally had this PC role-playing game passed with an M (Medium Level Animated Violence) in July 2003. This was revoked by the Classification Board on September 1st 2009. It is unclear what has changed in the game since it was first passed.
An expansion pack titled GOTHIC 2: NIGHT OF THE RAVEN was released in 2005, but is not listed as being rated.
The original GOTHIC was rated M (Medium Level Animated Violence, Low Level Coarse language, Horror Theme) in July 2002, and GOTHIC 3 rated M (Moderate Violence) in November 2006.
DRAGON BALL - ORIGINS: PG to M to Revoked
The other game to lose its rating was DRAGON BALL: ORIGINS which was originally passed with a PG (Mild violence) rating in September 2008. However, in January 2009 Atari Australia was forced to recall all copies of the game due to it being incorrectly rated.
In the U.S. the game was passed as Teen (Cartoon Violence, Partial Nudity, Suggestive Themes) by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. Their report describes the gameplay that caused the problem in Australia.
One scene involves a girl flashing an older man, then some arguing about her panties. Some brief, non-explicit nudity is shown during a cutscene involving a bath.
The original PG-rating was presumably awarded due to the Authorised Assessor Computer Games (AACG) scheme. This is where a person is authorised to make a classification recommendation for games that will most probably be rated G, PG, or M. The assessor's report is then taken into account when the Classification Board make their decision.
Following the recall the game was re-rated on March 2nd as M (Sexual references).
It is unclear why the Classification Board having awarded the game an M-rating in March then chose to revoke it in September. It possibly does not help that at the time of writing, Atari's website still advertises it as being PG-rated.
September 12th 2009
Refused-Classification.com
