Melon Farmers Original Version

We Dare


Daring to include minor sex references in a game


22nd June
2011
  

Updated: Politician Daring to Look Stupid...

We Dare up for a classification review in Australia

Australia's Classification Board is to review the current PG rating for Ubisoft's We Dare , a cartoon charades game which came in for nutter criticism earlier this year mainly over its adult style promotional video.

The review will be heard on June 17 by the Classification Review Board following an application being lodged by Federal Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O'Connor. He said to GamesSpot

I asked the Classification Board to review We Dare following media reports that the game's PG rating may be inappropriate. I believe that this game is unsuitable for children and I look forward to the outcome of the Classification Board's review of its PG rating. I share the concern of many parents that children may be inadvertently playing games that are more suited to adult gamers.

The censors initally gave the Ubisoft-published party game We Dare a PG rating for mild sexual references. A number of the party games alluded to kissing, spanking, and stripping.

The censors ignored Ubisoft's initial advice during the application process to give the game an M rating. According to the board's initial report, classifiers did not feel that the game deserved an M rating because there is no sexual behaviour actually displayed in the game and the graphics it contains are highly stylised and cartoon-like:

The Board disagrees with the recommended classification of M, the report states. Given the reasons noted above, the Board is of the opinion the game warrants a PG classification with consumer advice of mild sexual references.

The game also caused controversy in the UK, where it was given a 12+ rating by the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) ratings board.

Update: PG Retained

22nd June 2011. See  article from  kotaku.com.au

Kokatu are reporting that We Dare , the controversial game from Ubisoft has retained its PG rating. According to the Classification Board, the overall impact... does not exceed mild .

A statement from the Classification Board claimed that this decision was a unanimous one.

A three-member panel of the Classification Review Board (the Review Board) has by unanimous decision determined that the computer game We Dare is classified PG (Parental Guidance) with the consumer advice mild sexual references .

This game contains a series of mini games which provide a single player (or a multiple of players up to four) with a variety of tasks. These mini games, which are randomly available to players based on a choice of moods , include dance moves and activities, which may require interaction with other players. There are no sexual references in actual game play. Text boxes, which contain miscellaneous facts about gender differences and interactions, randomly appear whilst a mini game is loading. Some of those text boxes contain mild sexual references. The text boxes contain no interactive elements.

 

16th June
2011
  

Update: Politician Daring to Look Stupid...

We Dare up for a classification review in Australia

Australia's Classification Board is to review the current PG rating for Ubisoft's We Dare , a cartoon charades game which came in for nutter criticism earlier this year mainly over its adult style promotional video.

The review will be heard on June 17 by the Classification Review Board following an application being lodged by Federal Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O'Connor. He said to GamesSpot

I asked the Classification Board to review We Dare following media reports that the game's PG rating may be inappropriate. I believe that this game is unsuitable for children and I look forward to the outcome of the Classification Board's review of its PG rating. I share the concern of many parents that children may be inadvertently playing games that are more suited to adult gamers.

The censors initally gave the Ubisoft-published party game We Dare a PG rating for mild sexual references. A number of the party games alluded to kissing, spanking, and stripping.

The censors ignored Ubisoft's initial advice during the application process to give the game an M rating. According to the board's initial report, classifiers did not feel that the game deserved an M rating because there is no sexual behaviour actually displayed in the game and the graphics it contains are highly stylised and cartoon-like:

The Board disagrees with the recommended classification of M, the report states. Given the reasons noted above, the Board is of the opinion the game warrants a PG classification with consumer advice of mild sexual references.

The game also caused controversy in the UK, where it was given a 12+ rating by the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) ratings board.

 

15th March
2011
  

Update: Don't You Dare Do That Again...

PEGI unimpressed by misleading marketing for the We Dare console game

In a further twist, PEGI has now asked Ubisoft to remove the original We Dare advert from the web. It seems that PEGI were not impressed with being falsely accused of a too low rating.

Eurogamer received the following statement:

The Committee concludes that the advertisement does NOT accurately reflect the nature and content of the product and it MISLEADS consumers as to its true nature.

Consequently, the Committee considers imperative as a first measure that the advertisement for the game which was made available online should be taken down immediately. If this is not done within three working days of this decision this Committee will consider further immediate sanctions against the publisher.

 

10th March
2011
  

Update: We Dare...Not...

Ubisoft dare not release its flirty fun game for fear of nutter reaction

Ubisoft has decided not to release its We Dare game in the United Kingdom.

Ubisoft said: Following the public reaction to the 12+ rating of We Dare, Ubisoft has made the decision not to sell the game in the United Kingdom.

The game was never targeted at the US but twill still be sold in other parts of Europe. No word on Australia where it was passed PG and kicked up a minor nutter stink there too.

 

6th March
2011
  

Update: We Dare is Actually Not Very Daring...

Investigating the hype for the party game We Dare

Due to be released on Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 later this year, We Dare features over 35 mini-games that take a distinctly adult approach, with marketing materials encouraging two players to kiss a Wii Remote simultaneously, spank each other to control on-screen avatars, and striptease to a variety of songs.

With its highly suggestive trailer and product description, Cubed3 queried PEGI on the seemingly low 12+ age rating.

PEGI stated that they do not look at the surrounding context of a game, only the in-game content. The suggestive naughtiness by the human actors in the YouTube trailer did not figure in the decision for the game rating:

PEGI does not take into account the context of a game when rating it, we only look at the contents of the game. [We Dare] has been rated as a PEGI 12 because it contains mild swearing, minor assault on a human-like character and words/activities that amount to obvious sexual innuendo, explicit sexual descriptions or images and sexual posturing.

       However PEGI:

Do demand that these types of artwork [are] on the same level as the game. In the case of We Dare, the cover and trailer are in correspondence with our guidelines.

It was considered that We Dare might justify a higher rating due to a specific (sexual) atmosphere , but this proposal was rejected by the Video Standards Council, an independent organisation that verifies PEGI ratings for use in the UK:

The game itself is in fact less sexual/offensive than the marketing campaign leads us to believe (for example, you cannot see real spanking in the game. There is a 'stripping game' but you don't have to undress; throwing away keys or anything that reduces your weight is good enough).

 

2nd March
2011
  

Update: Nutters Spank Censors...

Nutters whinge at Australia's PG rating fro We Dare console game

A party game for the Wii, We Dare , has been given an Australian PG rating even though the game promotes spanking, stripping and sexual partner swapping.

The Australian Christian Lobby said the We Dare decision showed the classification system was broken . Even the game's publisher, Ubisoft, says the game is intended for an adult audience. Ubisoft had recommended it be rated M.

The Classification Board has defended its decision. It said that despite We Dare encouraging players to engage in spanking, striptease and other risqué mini-games, the visuals on the screen itself are cartoony and tame. The Classification Board is only able to classify games based on the content displayed on screen, not what people do in their living rooms. The Board said: At the PG classification, discreetly implied sexual activity is permitted if justified by context and where the level of impact does not exceed 'mild'.

The Australian Christian Lobby said the game encouraged players to engage in sexual activity not suitable for a child. It said it hoped loopholes in the classification system would be closed following this year's classification review by the Australian Law Reform Commission.

The Australian Christian Lobby said the game encouraged players to engage in sexual activity not suitable for a child. It said it hoped loopholes in the classification system would be closed following this year's classification review by the Australian Law Reform Commission. Parents can have no faith in a classification system when these loopholes are present, said ACL spokesman Lyle Shelton.

Offsite: No Sex Please We're Video Games

See  article from  metro.co.uk

Why are video games so tame when it comes to portraying sex? Why is it acceptable for games characters to hate and kill but not to love? GameCentral examines one of gaming's oldest taboos.

...Read the full article



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