The “Save Fallout 3” petitions have begun

Which dotted line you should sign

In the wake of Fallout 3’s banning, leagues of mystified and angry gamers have been venting their frustrations at the Office of Film and Literature Classification for its hypocritical decision to refuse to classify the game, as it contains drug use related to incentives and rewards.

This decision comes despite the myriad of games that depict drug use related to incentives and rewards that have previously been classified MA 15+ and made available for sale in Australia.

What can you do?

For starters, you can read up on the issue, including the OFLC’s board report and how the game actually plays.

And once you’ve done that, you can sign Gameplayer.com.au’s petition to denounce the OFLC’s decision and, perhaps, call for a review of the verdict.

This mistake has sparked solidarity across competing gaming websites. In the words of Ben Mansill, “The petition will be sent to the Attorney General, and, we hope, show that Australian gamers will no longer tolerate such inconsistency, and disrespect for mature gamers.

Amen, brother. Amen.



From the Gameplayer.com.au petition:

We the undersigned wish to express our disappointment with the recent decision to ban the game Fallout 3.

The decision is inconsistent with previous rulings where games with similar content were granted an OFLC rating and their sale permitted.

There are many precedents for games with similar content passing classification, and no precedent that justifies Fallout 3’s banning.

We request that you review this assessment. We welcome fair and just assessment of computer games, but we feel strongly that this decision causes confusion and can only result in a lack of faith in the ratings system for computer games.

We are concerned that this decision will result in Fallout 3 being purchased from overseas sources, which in turn will hurt the computer games industry as a whole.

We are especially concerned that this is yet another example of computer games being viewed needlessly harshly when compared to other forms of media with more mature content.

Thank you for your consideration in this matter.

Sign here.