Fallout 3 does not play like a banned game

Australia's classification system is immature, not the game.

As you may have heard, it’s happened again.

The Classification Operations Branch of the Attorney-General’s Department (the government mob formerly known as the OFLC) has banned Fallout 3, because it provides an incentive for the player to use drugs.

Before we go any further, remember this: the OFLC has to work with a game classification system that does not have an R 18+ rating. This system is put in place by the office of the Attorneys General, all of whom bar one want an R 18+ rating for games put in place. If it wasn’t for Michael Atkinson -- the South Australian Attorney General -- we would have an R 18+ rating and not the current schemozzle. We have a whole feature on the history of the issue for you to read.

Update: Australian Gamer has published a letter from Michael Atkinson in which he responds to an anonymous party's request for an R 18+ rating for video games and provides his own reasons as to why he does not want to see one and his child and vulnerable-adult-protectionist logic for doing so.

I was recently lucky enough to be one of two Australian game journalists to get some hands on time with Fallout 3, so I know more about the look, feel and texture of the game than most other commentators.

And I simply cannot believe that what I played was deemed worthy of being banned. I played a game that fell in the middle of the MA 15+ classification, not what an R 18+ game (and I’ve played a good selection of banned games) should be.

Fallout 3 is far more a piece of art than most other games out there. The storyline, gameplay and its branching consequences provide a thought provoking glimpse into a possible outcome of our world – one that’s been in the back of human conscious for years, and comes into focus every time we are forced to consider the cost of war.

At times it’s brutal and bloody, but its depiction of a nuclear wasteland -- and how humans deal with, adapt and interact with their new grim surroundings and each other -- calls for it. It’s what made me feel that I was playing an MA 15+ game. It contains not so much strong themes as powerful themes.

So what’s the classification stumbling block?

In short:

You can use drugs for temporary character enhancements.

In long:

Board Report T08/2727

SYNOPSIS:

Fallout 3 is a first person shooter/role playing game where the player has to direct their character through post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. The game involves emerging from a vault, where survivors have hidden for hundreds of years, and exploring the wasteland above.

REASONS FOR THE DECISION:

In making this decision, the Classification Board has applied the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) Act 1995 (the Classification Act), including the matters set out in sections 9A and 11 of the Classification Act, the National Classification Code (the Code) and the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games 2005 (the Guidelines).

In the Board’s majority view this game warrants an ‘RC’ classification in accordance with item 1(a) of the computer games table of the National Classification Code:

“1. Computer games that:

(a) Depict, express or otherwise deal with matters of sex, drug misuse or addiction, crime, cruelty, violence or revolting or abhorrent phenomena in such a way that they offend against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that they should not be classified;” will be Refused Classification.

The Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Computer Games also state that, as a general rule:

“Material that contains drug use and sexual violence related to incentives and rewards is Refused Classification.”

The game contains the option to take a variety of drugs known as "chems" using a device which is connected to the character's arm. Upon selection of the device a menu selection screen is displayed. Upon this screen is a list of "chems" that the player’s character can take, by means of selection. These "chems" have positive effects and some negative effects (lowering of intelligence, or the character may become addicted to the "chem"). The positive effects include increase in strength, stamina, resistance to damage, agility and hit points. Corresponding with the list of various "chems" are small visual representation of the drugs, these include syringes, tablets, pill bottles, a crack-type pipe and blister packs. In the Board's view these realistic visual representations of drugs and their delivery method bring the "science-fiction" drugs in line with "real-world" drugs.

The guidelines also state that “Material promoting or encouraging proscribed drug use” is Refused Classification.

The player can also select and use “Morphine” (a proscribed drug) which has the positive effect of enabling the character to ignore limb pain when the character’s extremities are targeted by the enemy.

The Authorised Assessor’s report also states that “chems are an essential part of Fallout 3, and the player will likely use a variety of them throughout the game.”

In the board’s view the drug use in particular the use of a proscribed drug, via a means of selection from a menu, is related to incentives and rewards as the incentive to take the drug is to progress through the game more easily and the reward is an increase in the character’s abilities and as such is Refused Classification.

MINORITY VIEW

In the minority view of the Board the violence throughout the game is strong in playing impact and warrants an MA 15+ level of classification with the consumer advice of strong violence.

OTHER MATTERS CONSIDERED

The Board notes that the violence throughout the game could be accommodated at an MA 15+ level of classification.

DECISION
In the Board’s view this game is Refused Classification.



So it’s been banned because it has an inventory screen with icons of drugs that you can use to modify your character.

The OFLC’s guidelines state that “Material that contains drug use and sexual violence related to incentives and rewards is Refused Classification.” So how do you explain away the drug use that provides gameplay incentives in MA 15+ games like Max Payne, Bioshock, Haze, Splinter Cell and GTA 4?

And what about the drug use related to incentives that’s made its way into M titles like Starcraft and Battlefield: Bad Company?

It’s notable that as a player in Fallout 3, the use of drugs comes with a slew of consequences that impact the game. There’s never a long term benefit to using drugs in the game, and that’s a choice you have to weigh up as you play. You can become addicted to drugs and go into withdrawal. It’s a shining example of how games can present a richer experience than film.

The distributors of Fallout 3 have understandably declined to comment about the situation, but they must be heartbroken. The use of drugs is a minor but important and illustrative part of the game's very fabric. Where other titles have included drug use related to incentives without care or foresight, the depth and healthy presentation of consequences in Fallout 3 has been smacked down by a tragic case of double standards of an ultimately incomplete system.

The IEAA has published a paper that neatly summarises the history of why an R 18+ rating for video games was excluded from the classification system when it was originally drafted. The ministers responsible for it assumed that games were for children, parents lacked the technical knowledge to judge what guidance was necessary when it came to supervising games, and that the interactive nature of games may pose greater risks to children’s developing minds.

It’s evident not only from the number of years between the release of the original Fallout and this classification bungle, but also from the number of games that are falling outside of an MA 15+ rating that games are not for children. Current hardware provides parental locks. And not only has there been no conclusive evidence regarding the increased impact of violent games, the research that suggested that games increase physical player aggression have been discredited.

We need an R 18+ rating for games for consistency as much as societal progress demands a reassessment of the regulations we live under. Personally, I’ve always felt that there are too many games that contain violent content being shoehorned into an MA 15+ category, and that the lack of an R 18+ rating reinforces the myth that games are for children in the minds of parents.

The Attorney General’s office is planning to poll the public on the issue since Michael Atkinson stood in the way of the otherwise unanimous decision to bring the video game classification system out of the Stone Age (that was after he was jeered out of parliament), but as of yet hasn’t announced any details.

Get writing.

OFLC Contact form

Michael Atkinson contact page

Attorney-General's Department contact us page