Silent Hill banning, now we play the 'waiting game'

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 01 October 2008 09:46

Opinion and Analysis

Still, it is getting very annoying, and laughable.  As the sophistication of both the product and audience increases, why is an antiquated art- suppressing law holding back the industry?

Then there is the whole import trade.  Increasingly game fans are looking north to get either banned/unclassified games or non-edited versions of the original.  What also about download delivery?  Steam and Direct 2 drive services make the whole retail banning superfluous in most cases.

Modern game consoles come with parental controls built in, giving families the ability to self-police issues of game maturity.  The only effect the lack of an R18+ classification has is on the local retail industry, it is now wonder there is continued outcry .

A comment from the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia over at news.com.au sums up the industries frustration:

"Silent Hill, from the beginning of the franchise, has been about exploring the horror genre through interactive entertainment, similar to other mediums such as movies and books," said Mr Curry.
 
"To have such a high quality narrative receiving a Refused Classification only further highlights the need for an immediate review of the classification system."

We await any further developments around the "public consultation" - lobbying your local AG (especially in South Australia) could help or putting some pressure on the OFLC about the ruling.