No one cares about game ratings in Australia, do they?
Australians do. As do international companies selling to the Australian market.
As clarification I meant: “do people in Australia care about the tiny black and white sticker on the box which says “M - rated for mature audiences” now?”
and not: “why should the global community give a damn about Australia…”.
I remember cinemas were always strict with entry into movies, but game shops never used to ask for ID. Has this changed?
Penalties will vary between states but for NSW the maximum fines for selling games with restricted classifications to underage customers are:
| . | MA15+ | R18+ |
|---|---|---|
| sold by individual | $5.5k | $11k |
| sold by corporation | $11k | $22k |
https://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/cfacgea1995596/s30.html
https://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/cpa1999278/s17.html
These seem steep enough to encourage compliance.
But G, PG, or M? The customers age is none of their business and I wouldn’t expect them to take an interest.
Edit: to put those penalties in perspective the sentencing for supplying alcohol to minors scales up a maximum of $11k and/or 12 months incarceration.
https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/la2007107/s117.html
While for tobacco the maximum penalties are:
| . | first offence | subsequent offences |
|---|---|---|
| sold by individual | $11k | $55k |
| sold by corporation | $55k | $110k |
https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/pha2008178/s22.html
So it looks like it is penalized significantly more lightly than alcohol or tobacco.
Europe does, at least for Nintendo e-shop. For some reason Nintendo keeps managing both at the same time. When PEGI (Europe’s own ratings) is totally okay with a game, but Australia has a brain fart and thinks a retro-style shoot’m up with pixellated little spaceships shooting at each other needs to be mature, the game is suspended form the e-shop for both regions, generally for months.
There’s some weird ripple effect going on I think, it goes through an international rating system of which Australia’s one of the biggest member. But the fact still is a game that passes the (mostly) reasonable PEGI can still be removed from the shop if a very stupid butterfly flaps its wings on the other side of the world.
Mario Party could also be effected if they feature a Casino or Casino-like minigame.
… I’m sorry, what?
Do … does any Mario Party game even have microtransactions? You know, specific game content unlocked by an additional purchase with real world currency? Much less ones where the outcome of a purchase is substantially randomized?
EDIT:
Games that feature “simulated gambling,” such as casino games, will be legally restricted to adults aged 18 and over with a minimum classification of ‘R 18+.’ Projects that were classified before September 22 won’t need to be reclassified unless they lose their current rating due to “revocation or modification.”
This sounds like it isn’t a retroactive change, its a going forward change. It’s explained further in the actual guidelines:
Situations where video games may require reclassification Video games that were classified prior to 22 September 2024, but add in-game purchases linked to elements of chance or simulated gambling content may require reclassification if adding this content is likely to affect the classification of the game. For example: – video games classified G or PG that add in-game purchases linked to elements of chance after 22 September 2024 are likely to require reclassification – video games classified G, PG, M or MA 15+ that add simulated gambling content after 22 September 2024 are likely to require reclassification
So… yeah, Mario Party games would have to be patched or re released or something to add more gambling content.
It does seem to indicate that, going forward, a Mario Party game that simulates casino like gambling would get an R 18+ rating, but the Mario Party franchise does not seem to me to have had any minigames that even sort of resemble a casino type game, even with neutered or non existent betting/staking mechanics, in about a decade.
The upcoming Super Mario Jamboree, though public info on the minigames is incomplete, also does not appear to depict any casino like games.
Did you read the article?
This doesn’t just cover microtransactions. In fact, the new law is harsher on fake gambling than it is on real gambling - loot boxes get classified as M, but a poker minigame is an automatic R18.
Apologies for editing after you replied, I have a tendency of making a quick point and then expanding on it with an edit.
Hard to copy and paste lots of shit on a shitty phone.
But basically, its not a retroactive re rating of any game unless the game is patched to add in simulated gambling or loot boxes.
While sure, Mario Party 3 has simulated gambling minigames, I doubt its getting patched any time soon, and the upcoming Super Mario Party Jamboree does not appear to have any mini games simulating a casino type game.
EDIT: sorry for another edit lol, but yes, I do think its stupid that a poker minigame with in game currency only, which cannot be purchased or redeemed for real currency, is rated worse than a game with lootboxes.
“The definition of simulated gambling applies to any interactive activity within a video game and does not consider how much of the game consists of simulated gambling,” reads the FAQ, which also notes the test for simulated gambling “does not consider the type of currency (in-game versus purchasable) used.”
You don’t need micro transactions to get the legal Restricted 18 label. The gacha games that you spend real money on get an M while any instance of casino games gets you an R18. I wanna know if they’re including poker in that.
Same apologies to you for my edit, but again as with the other similar reply, games are not retroactively rated R 18+ unless simulated gambling is added after September 22.
Yes, if older Mario Party games were patched or updated or remastered and released in a week, they’d be R 18+, but thats probably not gonna happen, and the upcoming Mario Party game doesn’t appear to have any casino like minigames.
I love when people comment and vote before they actually read the article.
Mario 64 DS had Luigi’s Casino, and Mario Kart had the Wario (?) themed Casino map. Its not outlandish to think Mario Party could include such elements in the future.
… Its totally fine to include a casino as a setting so long as interactive gambling is not a thing the player can do.
Did you read the article or the actual government literature it links to and quotes from?
Nothing is going to change about existing Mario game ratings.
I’d say it would be outlandish for family friendly Nintendo to suddenly reverse course on general world cultural/legal perspectives and re introduce gambling games when they have not done so in years, the same years many countries have been cracking down on lootboxes/gambling in games for their target demo, kids.
Finally, I didn’t downvote you. I only downvote people who are being exceptionally idiotic or abrasive or rude. I almost always prefer to engage with ideas or comments I take issue with but are not presented horrifically: the point of a discussion board should be discussion, not an internet points contest.
I’m impressed they actually thought to include loot boxes you buy with in game currency you can pay to get more of, I was expecting that to be a loophole
Let them cook, we only got steam refunds thanks to them.