Why does australia "edit" violent games for "young audiences"?

Question

take gta iv for example, rockstar stated they had made MINOR changes to the australian version of gta iv...MINOR?!?!?! i played it for 5 minutes and found 3 things out of order from the actual game (american) and the fake game (australian)

1: (most noticeable) u cant see prostitutes having s*x with you.

2: (medium) when you shoot someone dead blood doesn't come out in a pool of blood underneath.

3: (not very visible) when you shoot someone blood doesn't stain them where the bullet hits, also blood doesn't go on Niko when you shoot someone close range or get hit by a bullet yourself.

if you ask me they are just condoning violence, they say violence in video games cause people to become violent themselves, i do not think this is the case, i think it's the complete opposite, australian games don't have these violent qualities that the american games have so you can't let your anger or feeling out (or just have fun as much), so this aggressive nature stirred by the games and not properly reduced by them by adding these extra qulities makes people express their fellings outside of the game, now if australia didn't care about this this wouldn't happen at all because they can release these feelings, tell me what you think about my theory and please give me an answer.

Answer 1

It's a stupid law leftover from years gone by...

Video games in Australia do not have an R rating therefore these games are forced to make changes or they will not be allowed in the country.

In my opinion, this comes from when video games were first introduced they were mainly for children, and that's where the ratings came in. And then all those kids who played Pong with that sticker thing on their TV have grown up.

The government, and in fact mainstream society seem unable to comprehend video games as anything other than a childs play thing. Which is sad because a great video game can be just as powerful as a great movie.

I just believe that video games should have the same ratings and classifications as movies.

In short, it's a STUPID law, and we are waiting for the crusty old men that run the country to change it

Answer 2

If you dont like the game, just Import man.

try www.playasia.com

you might want to check if the game has region protection before buying.

I also think its pretty stupid that they reduce the quality of video games and at the end all you get is sh**. But lucky me since I live in the US.

Answer 3

Yeah, I know, it's bloody stupid! We should have the same "violence" as everyone else! And why would a "younger audience" even be playing GTA4 in the first place?

But if you want the real game, with all of its violence, like someone else said, get an import or something similar.

Answer 4

Because we are rather stupid, my dear.

And it takes forever to get video games in the first place, so we have to have some reason for delays, now don't we?