AUSTRALIA—With R18+ computer games set to become legal in Australia, the federal government is now under more pressure than ever to respond to the recommendations of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) inquiry into Australia’s classification scheme. Responding to the situation, Sex Party president Fiona Patten (pictured) said recently that while she welcomes the legalization of an R18+ classification for games, she believes it makes a complete mockery of the nationwide ban on X18+ material.
She added that in light of the fact that X18+ film classifications remain illegal in all states, the Senate’s acceptance of the draft guidelines for the R18+ games rating represents a show of support by Australian senators for the notion that depictions of extreme violence, including murder, rape and serious assault—all of which are realistically simulated in R18+ games— are considered less offensive than consenting sexual depictions.
“The ALRC has recommended that the Commonwealth assume enforcement powers for classification issues around the nation so that Australian moral standards are seen as equal in the different jurisdictions,” she said. “This needs to be expedited or come next January we will see computer games legally available in Queensland that are four and five times more explicit than restricted (Category 1) soft core magazines, which are banned in that state."
Patten added that with the rapid convergence of media, there should be one set of guidelines to cover all media regardless of the platform it is displayed on. Under the new draft guidelines for R18+ games, however, high-level depictions of sexual activity will be allowed as long as they are simulated and not real. While the vast majority of computer games are simulated and do not use ‘real’ or ‘actual’ images, she said, the levels of fantasy and explicitness around the ‘simulated depictions’ were often way above what would normally be in an X rated film.
The Apple dictionary definition of ‘simulated’ is "reproduced by simulation" and "not genuine." Synonyms include ‘replicated,’ ‘pretend,’ ‘virtual,’ ‘cyber-‘ and ‘computer-generated.’ These definitions all clearly define the new R18+ computer games guidelines.
“If ‘simulated’ depictions of high level sexual activity will soon be legal in computer games, the government should consider amalgamating the two upper adult categories of R and X," she said. “Simulated sexual depictions of penetrative intercourse are extremely real these days and with the use of enhanced CGI, Fractal Geometry and other simulated design programs, the differences between R and X will be merely academic and of little consequence to the majority of users of the two categories.”
Pstten added that in the online environment, the difference between R and X ratings means nothing, since both of them require adult verification for access.
“Adult actors are already making their own erotic computer games to go alongside their films," she said. "It is completely insane to require that the simulated depiction be rated differently from the real one when they will look almost identical."
For more information on the Australian Sex Party, go here.
