Australia hates games industry

[joxer]

Yea... Australian government first promised to help games industry growth with some small cash (20 millions!) and now they pulled the plug:
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/...-on-screen-australia-fund-20140515-zrco5.html

Maybe politicians got angry with "my ex-boyfriend is a space tyrant" game? Or maybe they believe too much of time and money is spent on censorship as you can't sell any game in Australia? Or maybe they just want to put the cash in their pocket instead of investing into an industry.

Whatever the reason politicians had, it's a sad day.

 

[Drithius]

Are you an Aussie, Joxer? If you are, I envy your new government, capable of making tough business decisions instead of catering to political whims. The arts sector is hardly the only thing feeling the pinch in the midst of cuts to put the country back in black after accruing a deficit in recent years.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27387455

 

[joxer]

No I'm not. If I was, I'd make Corwin my best friend in RL.
I will never say a nice thing about a decision to drop investments and save the money by buying less amount of toilet paper.

They could save billions by dropping the censorship. They didn't. They dropped industrial boost instead.

 

[MinorityReport]

What are the censorships they impose?

 

[joxer]

Censorship in Australia is something someone else will explain to you who knows more. I know only what google brings. For example, a list of movies banned there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_banned_in_Australia

Pink Flamingos banned then allowed only a cut version? For god's sakes it's a cult movie! The whole of it, not massacred version.
Or another gem, old The Last House on the Left? Took them almost 20 years to allow it.

Or check the list of banned games:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games_in_Australia

Yes you see it right, classification of The Witcher 2 was instantly refused but for whatever reason they soften their hearts later.
The Witcher 2 man. They banned that game. Not dumb cow clickers, not pay2win scam games, but the piece of art!

.

Perhaps the russian method is the best one. There is no official censorship in games industry of any kind there and ratings are issued by a publisher.
A paradise for selling porn? Not exactly.

There is a law that regulates all age ratings in media and that includes games. And then fines are applied for failing to rate your game properly or selling adult games to minors. Yea, Sims4 is already marked as 18+ content (although it isn't really, but hey, maybe it does contain nudity without mods now ).
https://twitter.com/thesimsrussia/status/463203214804803584

So, in Russia, your tax money is not used for ratings and censorship. It's what the publisher does. Unless the publisher wants to risk messing with the court later.
But in the end, no wonder Putin got so rich.
In Australia however, it's different. Instead of getting rich, they use tax money to pay government offices for censorship. And as it usually happens, those employees don't know the difference between real trash and art (trash).

 

[zahratustra]

You should update your info about Russia and censorship joxer

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27286742

 

[joxer]

Oh I don't have to.
As I said, there is a law. But there is no government office that'll censor something. If you publish a game, your job is to censor it. If you don't, and someone sues you, per your link you'll pay "as much as 50,000 roubles (£829; $1,400) for organisations, or up to 2,500 roubles (£41; $70) for individuals.".

I was saying the system how not to waste tax money is probably the best. Even if it's not, it's far superior to Australian model where probably some halfdead geriatria is saying ban this and ban that because they saw a boob and they get payed by the government for that.
The law(s) on what to censor in Russia are another story.

 

[zahratustra]

Maybe from purely financial point of view my friend but, generally speaking, self-censorship is as bad as (and quite possibly worst than) state censorship.

 

[xep624]

About Russia and censorship - Sims 4 are classified for adults only because "this game is a part of gay propaganda" - Mr. Putin doesn't agree with US/HBO/modern world way of looking at same sex relationships. Minors are to be freed from that propaganda so if your game has an option or possibility for your in-game character to engage in same sex relationship this game will be adults only.
In Australia they ban way too many games - I agree with that - I mean Mortal Kombat series was brutal and gory, but that's the fun part. The officials often forget that kids who draw killing of people or fighting in the kindergarten doesn't mean that they will become serial killers. But politicians are strange lot - they are going to do lots of cuts in next years in Australia, including education - and that's moe scary than not putting money in the game development business. Plus on the positive side - I think that the goverment money will be misspent anyways - they would create some silly MMO or FPS or other boring stuff...

 

[joxer]

About Russia and censorship - Sims 4 are classified for adults only because "this game is a part of gay propaganda"

For god's sakes, did they play that game at all?

What exactly is gay propaganda in it? You designing and constructing your own house instead of paying Putin to do it for you, man, that's so gay it's unbearable.

Oh no, it's about graphics where all faces resemble greek theatre masks, and in old greek theatre only males were allowed to perform and who cares it's 2014. when it was so unbelievably gay two thousand years ago.

But wait there's more, you can get a job, get payed for it, invest some of the cash elsewhere, and slowly pile up some wealth instead of staying utterly poor, man, in Russia being able get payed instead of being a slave is a filthy gay propaganda, you have to stay poor till the end of your life no matter what!

And possible expansions like in previous game?
In the first one you may be a ghostbuster. And Ghostbusters movies, games and etc are gay and gay propaganda. Policeman, Fireman, and other jobs in that expansion are even more gay.
In the second one you can go travelling worldwide. In China, okay, they're friends. But to travel to France and Egypt? Omg, it's the biggest gay propaganda ever! Imagine, you may make your own wine, drink it and even make a business with it. Instead of homemade vodka. Oh and you can break rocks with a hammer. Instead of using a nuke. That's nothing but a bloody gay propaganda!

 

[ManWhoJaped]

I think anything possibly gay is seen as propaganda and you can have same sex kisses. Seems like this is their response to femen nutsos going crazy in the streets.

 

[xep624]

@ joxer

Yes mate I can see that Russian censorship with Sims 4 is totally dumb. But what's really sad is that LGBT people have quite a difficult life there, see the entry in wikipedia. Anyway most of censorship examples are silly because saying what people can see/play/read is taking away the freedom of choice from the citizen and that doesn't do good in democratic, liberal society. Rating is good becauseit gives a warning to those sensitive people (parents).

 

[joxer]

I'm aware of LGBT phobia in russian laws. You just wait till they realize that making same sex marriages an option boosts sales of immobiles (houses, apartments, land). People can be phobic, but the money isn't.

The society that relies on censorship is neither liberal nor democratic, imo. I've said before, censorship should exist only as a common sense and not as a governmental parasitic office. I got lucky and my parents let me to watch, hear and read whatever I want, they just warned me if the content could be disturbing in some way (at the age I was). So I developed a taste of my own, became a person I've chosen to be. Government can go brainwashing someone else.

And what a surprise to all those who are pro censorship - no matter how much they try to prove their idiocy right, I still didn't kill anyone.

 

[zahratustra]

I'm aware of LGBT phobia in russian laws. You just wait till they realize that making same sex marriages an option boosts sales of immobiles (houses, apartments, land). People can be phobic, but the money isn't.

Don't hold your breath. Certain Russian laws (anti-LGTB, "bad language" etc.) are ideologically based and mere economical argument will not be sufficient to counteract them. You will need a change of the government and in national psyche.

The society that relies on censorship is neither liberal nor democratic, imo.

errr... and that's what Russia is supposed to be?

 

[joxer]

Don't ask me. All I know is that they're just shuffling president and prime minister positions. It's not a classic autocracy.

 

[zahratustra]

They aren't really swapping positions. Medvedev fulfills a simple role of a placeholder. A horse, or a bucket would work just as well