Comment on Aussie Government announces Loot Box and Gambling content classification changes - Vooks
Zagorath@aussie.zone 1 day ago
and games that feature “simulated gambling,” like casino games [now R18+]
So Pokémon Sapphire would be an R18+ game if released in 2025, then? That’s fucking absurd. Gambling with in-game currency to win in-game currency or items in a single-player game should not have any impact on its rating. It gets more complicated if there are inter-personal dynamics, and obviously if real money is involved that completely changes the equation. But as that quote explains it, it’s absurd.
NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.org 1 day ago
Why?
Put aside your nostalgia for the game for a minute. Wouldn’t it be better if the game didn’t feature the slot machines? They’re
a) not important mechanically, narratively, or artistically.
b) presenting something socially harmful and addictive with absolutely zero context as to those harms.
c) Potentially some of a generation’s earliest exposure to gambling, and presented as an annodyne game with some mechanical benefits to playing.
The goal isn’t to keep Pokémon out of the hands of kids, it’s to encourage people to not include this stuff in children’s games. Imagine if you could just light a ciggy at some point in the game to give your Pokémon 5 experience points or whatever, it’s a completely gratuitous and possibly harmful.
TassieTosser@aussie.zone 1 day ago
Iirc the slots got you rare pokemon and skills as prizes. Including one exclusive pokemon. So it’s actively detrimental since it conditions kids to accept gambling as normal.
C126@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
Thank you government for protecting our children from Pokémon slots. I for one, can trace back my life going downhill to the exact moment I played slots in Pokémon red to get a Porygon. I often wonder what my life would be like if I hadn’t been introduced to such contemptible content at such a young age. Thanks to strong government oversight, our children won’t have to suffer these horrors.
NaevaTheRat@vegantheoryclub.org 1 day ago
You’re a Yank loonie. Why are you here?
C126@sh.itjust.works 1 day ago
I lived in Melbourne for many years.