According to information listed at the official
Australian government classification website, Bethesda’s keenly awaited new title
Fallout 3 has been refused an age rating classification, essentially banning it from release in the country.
Although no further information is provided by the website, except a classification date of July 4th,
online rumors have for some time suggested that the game would fall foul of Australian’s inflexible ratings rules, particularly with regards to its portrayal of drug use.
Only four different age ratings are available for video games in Australia, the highest being MA15+, despite the fact that an 18+ rating does exist for movies and DVDs. As such, games which would have received the maximum age rating in other countries are often denied a release in Australia without significant additional censorship.
Rockstar's
Grand Theft Auto IV was censored in this way to achieve an MA15+ rating, but previous games which have been
denied classification in their original form include
Reservoir Dogs,
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,
Manhunt and
NARC. D3Publisher’s
Dark Sector was initially refused a classification, but has recently been cleared for release.
Bethesda marketing vice president Pete Hines recently
discussed Fallout 3 and its content with Gamasutra in an interview. The game is due for release in the U.S. and Europe this autumn on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
