The Australian government has denied classification to this year's upcoming Mortal Kombat game. Games without classification are effectively banned in the country. Retailers cannot sell them, and all pre-orders for the game will be canceled.
Due to the lack of an R18+ rating for games, many violent titles that are too extreme for the highest game rating of MA15+ are refused classification. Warner Brothers said in an official statement, “We are extremely disappointed that Mortal Kombat, one of the world's oldest and most successful video games franchises, will not be available to mature Australian gamers.”
It's possible MK could still make it through - Warner Bros wasable to appealfor an MA15+ rating for FEAR 2, which was thenreleased without censorship. Conversely, titles like Left 4 Dead 2 had to be altered tofit the MA15+ rating. MK without excessive blood and fatalities is a no-go, so we don't expect Warner Bros totake that path.
Any of our readers affected by this and other similar "banned" games in Australia? Are you thankful your government is thinking of you when it bans a medium it rarely takes part in?
[Source:IGN Australia]
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