House
of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut has been re-classified MA15+ on appeal.
A three member panel of the Classification Review Board has
by unanimous decision determined that the computer game should
be classified MA 15+ with the consumer advice strong horror
violence, strong coarse language.
The decision overturns the ban imposed by the Film
Classification Board. The Review Board convened in response to
an application from Sega Australia Pty Ltd, to review the
decision made by the Classification Board on 23 August 2011 for
the computer game House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut. The
Board classified the computer game RC (Refused Classification).
For perspective, the game was passed 18 uncut by the UK
censors of the BBFC.
Update: Review Board Reasoning
5th November 2011. See article
from refused-classification.com
The review board outlined their decision as follows:
It is the view of the Review Board that the
violence in this computer game, occurring in a familiar fighting
game format, is stylised, unrealistic and graphically relatively
unsophisticated compared to other computer games available in
the Australian market. Given the fantasy theme of zombie horror
and the characteristics of that genre, the violence, although
frequent, is justified by context. The zombies and mutants
themselves and most of the combat action involving them is
lacking in realistic detail and occurs at a distance rather than
in close up. The zombies and mutants are visually homogeneous
and with a couple of exceptions that are individually grotesque,
are not humanised. Victims and blood and gore disappear within
seconds from the game. The settings in Bayou City are stylised
and not realistic. It is therefore the opinion of the Review
Board that the cumulative impact of the violence in the game is
no higher than strong and as noted above, is justified by the
fantasy zombie horror, rail shooter context.
In addition, the game contains frequent
strong, coarse language which is not aggressive and is used
conversationally. The cumulative impact of this language is no
higher than strong.
As the impact of both the violence and
the language in House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut is
strong, the game is not suitable for persons under the age of
15.
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