Australians may soon get "Mature" games

The great land down under.  Many times it has been refused the games they so rightly deserved.  They have either been watered down or not released at all.  Well soon they may be getting a path to gaming salvation, a path to the true game.  Or at least that is what they hope.  A R18+ guideline has been proposed to the the Australian government that will allow more adult friendly titles.

The new R18+ would allow "virtually" no limits. In the old R15+ (at least according to the draft) sex was limited to implied but could not be a reward, nudity could not be a reward, drug use has to be justified by the context of the game, and violence had to be justified while strong violence could not be shown very frequently.  In the draft of the R18+ violence "is permitted except where it offends against the standards of morality, decency and propriety generally accepted by reasonable adults to the extent that it should not be classified." Sex may be a realistic simulation (not real), nudity is allowed (period) and drug use is allowed (period).  If you are interested in this hit the source link for the PDF that has the guidelines.

Australia Refuses to rate Mortal Kombat

No real surprise here given their history, but Australia has found that Mortal Kombat does not fit into it's limited rating system, and has therefore been banned from entering the country legally.  This is mostly due to the outdated notion that the Austrailian parlament has about games being only for kids since their highest rating for games is still MA 15+. While many groups have tried to get an MA 18+ rating into the Australian system these attempts have so far failed.  This leaves no room for games that are made soley for the adult population, and causes Mortal Kombat not to be availble for mature Australian gamers.