Well this is just flat out bizarre.
Mario. One of the best video game series. Also one of the most harmless, right? I don’t know about you but — creepy ass drowning animations aside — I feel pretty comfortable with my young children playing Mario. My four-year-old is flat out obsessed with Super Mario 3D World.
He’s also pretty damn excited about Super Mario Odyssey, which is coming out later this year.
But there’s been a little bit of controversy here. Super Mario Odyssey hasn’t been rated ‘G’ like pretty much every other Mario game ever made. Oh no.
This one is gonna be rated ‘PG’.
And the classification board has decided this is such a big deal they’ve put out a press release confirming it, and explaining their decision. Amazing.
The release was essentially a response to this story, which discussed (and made a little harmless fun of) the PG rating.
The classification board’s reasoning:
This game was submitted to the Classification Board by Nintendo under the computer games assessor scheme. Under that Scheme, industry assessors can recommend a classification and consumer advice for a game.
The Classification Board considers this recommendation to make the classification decision.
Nintendo recommended the game be classified PG with consumer advice of ‘mild themes and violence, online interactivity’. The Classification Board agreed with the PG classification but decided that the more appropriate consumer advice would be ‘mild violence, online interactivity’.
I mean, fairly pedestrian stuff, right? The PG rating recommends that children under 15 only play the game under direct adult supervision, which seems a bit dramatic. I can’t imagine sitting, arms crossed, with a fourteen year old as he plays a goddamn Mario game but it is what it is.
Very interesting that Nintendo itself recommended the PG rating, but Mario is capable of some seriously disturbing human possession in this game. Who know what’s going on here.
I can’t believe that, in my lifetime, the classification board felt the need to put out a press release about Mario game. 2017 is truly weirdest of years.
Comments
24 responses to “The Classification Board Put Out A Press Release About Super Mario Odyssey”
My guess is its because you are possessing some non-cartoony things and will have to use them to attack enemies.
Like i assume when you posses the Dinosaur you get to chomp up Goombas or something, which some people may see as a bit violent, and may not want their kids playing it if its kinda realistic.
In my opinion i cant see how any of that would disturb a child, but for parents of kids who may have their reasons it’s probably a nice thing for them.
LOL, as if a 14 year-old would be playing Mario instead of CoD or Destiny.
Anyone playing Mario Odyssey will likely be in their 20s… MINIMUM.
Powerful point!
Maybe that’s the reason for the PG – it’s too boring for children!
I think the phrase you are looking for is “not edgy enough”
True, teens are arrogantly rebellious edgelords for the most part 😀
Does having a mental age of 16 count?
haha true. 12 year olds all playing GTAV still while us oldies are hanging for new Mario.
Comment of the year.
haha yeah… but I’m a 13 year old and i HATE online shooter games. i mean i think it’s pretty stupid to endorse warfare and all that. i’ve always been a nintendo fan and would never get an Xbox or Playstation. right now i have a wii u and am saving up for a switch so…
Which in this day and age is short for “Practically G”, and not “Parental Guidance” as it should be.
My guess is that’s related to the online connectivity. If there’s voice chat, Nintendo will want the rating to have at least parental guidance.
Heheheheh… if there’s voice chat….
Aaaahahahahahaaaa…
Yeah, a Mario game with voice chat. Nintendo make these games remember?
I like to think it’s the psychological horror aspect. Imagine being the human possessed by the hat. Not being able to control your own actions, potentially being ran into traffic or being forced to enter a sewer or scale a building. As far as I can tell, no mushroom kingdom ever contained a toilet (odd given its extensive sewer system). How does Mario know when you need to poo? Is it just left to trickle down the back of your leg as you leap into another improbable situation beyond your own ability to act? That’s some pretty messed up stuff…
Can’t wait for the brazzers porn parody of this one!
It’s been a long time since I’ve been even peripherally involved in any kind of classifications submission but from memory you can do a course to become an assessor and then you’re allowed to submit recommendations along with the title. Most publishers will have someone trained because it makes submissions faster and cheaper.
I used to be an assessor for a small publisher in SA, and yes, this is the case.
Nintendo Australia also had an assessor of their own on-staff, at least they did a few years ago when I was in that line of work.
“Super Mario Odyssey hasn’t been rated ‘G’ like pretty much every other Mario game ever made.”
That is probably why the announcement. If every other Mario game is rated G, maybe most parents will assume the new one is too.
Gotta say I’m glad my kid is an adult now and can make his own decisions about what games he plays. The “why is this game rated M and is it ok for my teenager to play” game used to drive me bonkers.
At least we are now in the age of YouTube, much easier to find a Let’s Play online to see if the material is suitable for any younglings you may be responsible for.
I wonder if it’s because of New Donk City. The humans are closer to realistic representations so the game could be seen as having a more violent slant, even if minimal.
My guess? Christians. Someones barking about Mario “possessing” (capturing) people.
That’s an odd conclusion, he literally wrote Nintendo themselves recommended the rating.
So Super Mario Odyssey is going to be rated PG by the Australian Government’s Classification Board well that’s good enough for me hopefully Super Mario Odyssey rated PG will contain Mild Themes and maybe Mild Violence I don’t know we’ll see but I am excited for what Super Mario Odyssey has to offer since it will be coming out on October 27 later this year.
I wanna see Mario kill someone, then drink there blood while others watch on. Because all the Mario adventures have really just been him tripping on acid while he walks around, as he hit it hard because of losing he’s plumbing businesses, because lugi got killed on a building site. Yeah that’s what I want to see