Australia

Revision as of 22:19, 7 May 2010 by gtw>Mr Rofl
The Australian flag.

Australia is a country in the southern hemisphere, a neighbour to New Zealand.

The country's OFLC provides the age classification of all media in the country, including Grand Theft Auto releases. The majority of the GTA series is rated MA15+, however some editions of the games have drawn the RC rating ("Refused Classification"). Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was famously re-rated after the Hot Coffee debacle, the OFLC changing its original MA15+ rating to RC. The re-release of San Andreas saw it obtain the the MA15+ rating again, after the Hot Coffee material was edited out. Rockstar produced a different version of GTA IV for retail in the Australian/New Zealand market to meet Australian OFLC MA15+ guidelines -- no blood pools form beneath dead bodies, prostitute 'services' are shown from an obscuring angle (and no options are available), and injury decals are not shown on the protagonist or on NPCs when they are wounded. Copies of the game acquired from online retailers (Steam, Gamestop etc) are the international version of the game, even if downloaded within Australia. The international version of GTA IV was eventually submitted for rating in New Zealand by a retailer, and was passed with an 18+ rating, allowing the uncensored version to be sold there.

Media that receive a "Refused Classification" rating are banned from sale; it is particularly easy for games to receive this rating, as there is no 18+ classification for games. Games which do receive this rating must be edited to meet MA15+ standards to obtain an Australian release.

Note that the OFLC do not decide ratings policy, but merely enforce it -- changes to the classification system, such as providing an 18+ rating for games, must be authorised with a unanimous vote from all state attorneys-general. Attorney General Michael Atkinson of South Australia is the lone dissenting vote regarding an 18+ category for video games.

Australia within the Grand Theft Auto games: GTA III Era

Within the GTA III era games, references are made to a war between the United States and Australia. It started from GTA III, when a caller, on Chatterbox, complaining about under-disaplained children and claiming that military would set them streight, and then gets onto his expirence in the "Australian-American war", "A kangaroo came bouncing into into camp and blew up 10 guys", and Lazlow gets confused, claiming that there wasn't one. Then references appear in later GTA games, usually in Ammu-Nation commercials and radio shows. It can be presumed that Australia lost the war -- San Andreas Ammu-Nation promotions mention weapons "from when we whooped Australia's ass".

This is possibly another take on British views on American ignorance or stupidty (A reoccuring theme in the GTA games) in that Australia have the British flag in the corner of their flag and Americans haven't noticed that and think it's the same as the UK and actually referring to the War of Independence

GTA IV Era

A commercial for Babies Overnight adoption service mentions "...an Australian baby, which loves to play war but always loses."

On the website "www.ilovetoblow.org", there is also another reference to Australia losing the war.