Video games in Australia cannot be rated R18+ as the rating only exists for film. This has led many games to be edited (to obtain an MA15+ rating) or refused classification. There is currently a debate over the need for the introduction of an R18+ rating in video games fuelled by research that indicates the average age of the Australian video gamer to be 28 years old.[1]
Banned because of a scene of sexualized violence. However, the game was censored, and re-released with an M15+ rating in 1996 for "Medium level animated violence".[1]
Banned because of a scene of explicit sexual dialogue.
Brazil
In December 1999, citing a man who killed three and injured eight, Brazil banned six games. Vendors were required to surrender the games to police or face a fine equal to about $11,000 USD a day.[5]
No games have been banned in Canada however, there has been controversy surrounding the game industry and certain games, much like the controversy in the United States. Games such as Manhunt and Soldier of Fortune have been given "Restricted" film ratings, thereby preventing them from being purchased by any person under the age of eighteen in Ontario and British Columbia respectively.[7][8][9][10][11]
Banned due to "smearing the image of China and the Chinese army" despite the fact that the game presents China as a quasi-protagonist.[12] It is largely believed that the game was banned because the GLA (a terrorist group) uses a nuclear device to destroy the Gate of Heavenly Peace. Additionally, the Chinese campaign has the player destroy questionable targets such as the Three Gorges Dam and the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
A game can be considered banned in Germany if it has been confiscated by court order because it violates a section of the Strafgesetzbuch (criminal code). Private possession (and thus playing it) and acquisition (such as downloading a demo from the Internet) is still legal, but any dissemination is not. The seller would break the law if a sale took place, not the buyer. On 2002-12-10 however, one German court (Oberlandesgericht Hamm) decided that a single sale of a single copy does not qualify as dissemination.[14] Unlike indexing by the BPjM, which effects all content-equal versions, the versions that are confiscated are enumerated in the court order.
Being put on the index by the BPjM or, since 2003-04-01, being refused a rating by the USK does not equal a ban, it just imposes rather strict trade restrictions on the title. While only very few games have been confiscated, the list of indexed games is very long.[15]
In December 2006, Bavaria and Lower Saxony proposed legislation, to be presented to the national parliament, that would make even playing games that feature "cruel violence on humans or human-looking characters" an offense punishable with fines or jail time of up to 12 months.[16][17][18]
Confiscated because of §§ 86a, 130, 130a StGB
§ 86a outlaws the use of symbols of unconstitutional organizations, § 130 Volksverhetzung (agitation of the people), § 131 instructions for crimes. In the official lists, these three sections are always bundled, so that action games where the object is to kill Nazis (and thus contain swastika flags or portraits of Adolf Hitler) are listed alongside racist propaganda pieces.
§ 131 outlaws representation of violence in media "which describe cruel or otherwise inhuman acts of violence against human beings in a manner which expresses a glorification or rendering harmless of such acts of violence or which represents the cruel or inhuman aspects of the event in a manner which injures human dignity".[19]
Gears of War and Dead Rising were refused rating by USK. Gears of War EU version, was put on the Index (part A) on 26.11.2006 and therefore it cannot be advertised and nor disseminated to minors. Dead Rising was put on the Index (part B) and confiscated by Hamburg County Court's decision of 11.6.2007. Microsoft refrained from publishing them in Germany.
The game was banned in the Mexican state of Chihuahua because the Mexican Army are the antagonists of the game.[20]
New Zealand
In New Zealand, games are classified by the Office of Film and Literature Classification. If they are dubbed "objectionable" in all cases, then they are considered banned. In this case, the game in question is not only illegal to sell, but illegal to own, possess, or import.
The various Pokémon games were banned in Saudi Arabia for allegedly promoting Zionism and (particularly in the case of the trading card game) involving gambling.[23] The Zionism claim is due to a six-pointed star appearing on several of the trading cards (representing unspecified energy card requirements).
due to a lesbian encounter between an alien and a human
South Korea
South Korea will typically ban any game that mentions a fictional war between North and South Korea in order to avoid tensions between the two countries. However, in December 2006, Korea announced that the games will no longer be banned due to "freedom of expression. However, Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Manhunt, and Manhunt 2 are still banned due to violence and cruelty." This is also with the addition of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction.[25]
Games in the UK only usually receive a ban when they contain extreme and gratuitous violence; sex and nudity are not the main concern. Games are not 'banned' but are refused classification (RC) by the BBFC. It is illegal to sell (although not illegal to buy and play) a game that has not been classified by the BBFC in the UK. This only applies to games stored on physical media, not to downloadable media.[26]
Few games have been "banned" in the United States (due to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution) or Canada, although several have been refused a rating below Adults Only by the ESRB, forcing a sort of self-censoring to obtain a lower rating or in the case of the Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Ontario, re-classification to its equivalent. Kakuto Chojin was pulled off the shelves in early 2003 for offensive religious content, namely that it had verses from the Quran being chanted as part of the background sound effects. It was later re-released with the offending content removed. Also a rare game called Thrill Kill for the PlayStation original was banned completely, although with a mod chip a few select people still acquired the game. EA games refused to release the game once a public outcry made it to the media.
Received an Adults Only classification in the US and Canada due to the Hot Coffee minigame controversy, effectively banning it as the game was pulled from the shelves of many major retail chains.
Governments have been criticized for banning games for many reasons, in that such bans violate rights, increase piracy, inhibit business opportunities, and that users can still order/download such games online.[28]
