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Mortal Kombat: Censorship Failure
Speak no...
When the latest game in the long-running Mortal Kombat franchise of beat-'em-up games was refused classification in Australia due to our lack of an R18+ rating for mature gamers, I didn't think much of it. It was the latest in a long succession of games deemed unsuitable for children, which is quite a reasonable thing to conclude, given the games aren't supposed to be for children.
Then there's the slew of titles that get through with an MA 15+ rating, when in every other first-world country they're illegal to sell to minors at all. But that's an argument had a thousand times in the last few years alone, and not worth having here.
Still, this problem was foremost on my mind when a few of my friends started talking about playing Mortal Kombat.
Some were in the U.S. "Wait, it's banned in your country?" they ask, surprised. I sheepishly admit it is, quite embarrassed. They just laugh at us, like we're living up to the Crocodile-Dundee-is-my-neighbour never-seen-a-computer-before cliché the world's media sometimes presents us as.
Mortal Kombat
Others were, however, in Australia. Now, I'm no fool - I know people order games from overseas. However, I was still a little surprised by just how many of them were doing it. Weren't there laws against this sort of thing? So I started asking people just how and why they were doing it.
"Oh, I ordered mine a few days ago from a site in Asia," one friend said. He does this a lot. Tired of paying through the nose for games here in Australia, he just orders it from the U.S. or somewhere in Asia - paying the same as his America-based gamer friends, even when the game is available here.
I asked him if Customs check for this sort of thing. I'd spoken to a few other friends who wanted the game, but were scared of ordering in case it got picked up by those tasked to protect our borders from such terrifyingly illegal things as, in this case... video games.
He wasn't sure - but he'd certainly never had a game stopped. So I asked a few more people who I knew ordered from overseas. The next person I spoke to had been ordering from overseas for years. He'd never had a problem. "Oh, wait," he adds. I think he's about to say that he had lost a game to Customs once.
Mortal Kombat
But no, it turns out to be a whole portable game console, ordered in the months before it was due for release here. This made some sense to me - after all, my vague understanding of these sorts of things had me figuring that it wouldn't be legal to import electronic goods that hadn't passed our Australian certifications for usage within the country. (Think about all those stickers on your power supplies and such stating they're okay for use, for instance.)
"So you lost hundreds of dollars because of that?" I ask.
"Oh, heck no," he replies. "They just noted the cost of the device, decided it was expensive enough that I should pay tax on it, and refused to let me pick it up from the post office until I gave them $150."
Right. Well, with that in mind, I ordered my copy of Mortal Kombat, paying a mere fraction for a brand-new, sealed copy of the game which would probably cost $120 AUD if it were being sold here.
Mortal Kombat
As days passed and I waited, I spoke to more friends.
One friend explained that he tended to get games via direct download services, usually giving cash to an American friend and letting them pay for and ‘gift' the game to him.
"It's cheaper that way, you see, and you still get to play games that are banned here but available in every country with sane censorship laws."
Some people I spoke to were amazed I'd ordered it from overseas. "Aren't you worried," they'd ask, "that you'll be caught by Customs?"
Say - they were right! Just what IS the penalty for attempting to import banned games or films, anyway? I vaguely recalled a story of police shutting down a public screening of a film that had been refused classification some years previously in Melbourne.
So I asked around some more. "Oh, nothing," answered a friend of mine who'd already researched this. "They just replace the box with a message saying that it wasn't allowed here, and had been thrown in the incinerator. Unless you've ordered 25 or more copies. Then they can pin you with intent to distribute."
Oh. So, not so big a problem, I guess.
Mortal Kombat
On the day it arrived in Australia, I checked the tracking website for the courier bringing me my copy. Sure enough, I saw exactly what I'd hoped I wouldn't see on the list. Between leaving the warehouse somewhere in Hong Kong and arriving in Australia, a Customs check was noted.
Damn. Oh well. I spoke to more people, including a friend of mine who works for a game development studio.
"Oh, sure. We order all our games from overseas. Unless it's a PC game. Those we just buy unlock codes from overseas and punch them in to unlock the games on our accounts."
I thought about this for a moment. "Wait, when you say ‘we', do you mean you and your co-workers, or the company you work for?" I ask.
It turned out to mean the company. They need games for their break room, after all.
"The Australian classification system, in effect, is a complete pain of the arse for us. If we're making a game with mature content and want to compare it to other, similar games, how can we do that when we can't get them here?"
"If an Australian game developer releases a title that gets refused classification here at home, that will have so insignificant an impact on the total sales of the game that it's almost not worth worrying about."
Mortal Kombat
Almost literally as we chatted, a courier arrived. I expected some kind of note saying they'd picked up my game and burnt it, but no. I guess the Customs guys are about a diligent as you'd expect when being asked to enforce a law so ridiculous that it makes other countries laugh at us.
A printed out sticker on the parcel read, "Cleared -- Customs".
As we push further toward a world where all content is delivered digitally, even this will cease being a potential problem. Between proxies, friends in other countries, and unlock codes for sale, trying to enforce these sorts of laws as about as crazy as trying to enforce internet censorship or ordering the tide not to come in.
So, after this several-day journey and its related conversations, like a huge number of other Australian gamers who only want to play the games that their siblings, cousins and friends in other countries can play as mature adults... I'm off to play my copy of Mortal Kombat.
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16 Responses to “Mortal Kombat: Censorship Failure”
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Article Details
- published: May 29th, 2011
- by: Undercover Gamer
- in: Australian R18+ Debate, Company: NetherRealm Studios, Game: Mortal Kombat, r18+
- comments: 16
Author Bio:
See no evil
Hear no evil
Speak no evil
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My 3 copies made it through, I have two mates who ordered 2 (and 3) copies respectively and they all made it through. Reading Whirlpool showed me that 50+ other copies made it through, plus some from another games site I post on have made it through.
I have only heard of one copy being seized since the game was released, and that was in Victoria of all places.
Tis what I like to call, Customs Fail :)
Has anyone gotten their online pass codes to work? I have a friend who imported a copy and hasn’t gotten their online pass to work.
For the online code:
- create new xbox live account with say a UK address
- link that account to a new profile on your xbox
- login as the profile and enter the code
- get your fight on
The code patches the local content on the xbox and any account on that box can play online.
I get all my games from OS or direct download. I wouldn’t even know what the local rating is for most of them (most likely ma15, given how wide a range that rating covers). I doubt most of the indie games I buy have even been submitted for classification.
I ordered the Mortal Kombat Kollectors Edition off of eBay but I lost it due to customs I was very lucky to get a full refund. These classification laws are completely unacceptable. I am undecided if I should try and order it again. I have heard of people that have received their copies without a problem. I was just one of the unlucky few I guess.
Paladin, i need the store back up before i can try the online pass on PS3, but other games ive imported like little big planet 2, i couldnt use my collector copy dlc code as it was a different region.
I really hope there is no problem when the PSN store is back up.
As for ordering mortal kombat i just got it from amazon and it was clearly marked on the box what it was.
Good to know you finally got the game. Its a pretty awesome game.
If you want some laughs, beat the game with Sheeva in Arcade mode.
Trust me, the ending with Sheeva will either make you laugh hard or get you really pissed.
Enjoy the game
I agree that the Australian game ratings are ridiculous. “Protect the consumer” is what they are trying to accomplish, but what is there to protect from?
The image of some 3d generated limbs flying off some unfortunate NPC might scare some of those on the ratings board, but that’s the reason that there IS a ratings board.
For example, a child sees a game he/she wants, then parent can see the rating on the box so the parent can decide if they will let the child play it.
Though most gamers I know (even myself) were playing Mature (17+ here) rated games long before we ever reached the age of 17.
It is only illegal to sell in Australia, not to buy – importing it is fine. Just don’t import 3 or more copies as it gives intent to sell.
Another easy way to buy a downloadable PC game online from STEAM, etc. is just use a vpn service so your IP shows up as being from the US. That’s what I do in the Bahamas. I use strongvpn but there are many other vpn providers. It’s not a free service but worth it to me, especially since I use it on public wifi’s for privacy also. The open source OpenVPN software client makes vpn a no-brainer these days or you could also use a custom vpn capable DD-WRT firmware in your router. A Linksys E2000 router is what I use for mine.
[...] hold of even banned titles. Mortal Kombat was recently banned from sale in Australia but this did not stop anyone from ordering it [...]
Just to add my two cents. I ordered MK off eBay – no worries!
I buy all my games via direct download from overseas websites. I’ve never even considered if they are allowed here.
Many countries in Asia don’t maintain any censorship issues :D because all of the games are brought pirated :D Its also because of currency problem. :( In my country (Bangladesh) 1 us dollar=70 tk.(taka), so if the game is about 50 dollar, it will be about 3500 taka!!!!!! 0.0!!!!! plus international tax and other payment cost means 7000 tk. :( 0.0′ . Who will buy a game that is 7000 tk!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so no censorship needed,even its necessary! in a country like bd!!!!!!!!
[...] that the 2011 release is quite simple to acquire in Australia, even after the Board's decision, and the fact that Vita games aren't region-locked, enterprising [...]
[...] to adults in other regions. Other games, which were Refused Classification were often easily imported from overseas via online [...]