Here's my English speech that I made myself and presented in class today. I think I went well. :D

"

The ACB Australian game classification system should reconsider its standards.

The Australian Classification Board, or for short the ACB, is the primary classification system used for video games in Australia. For many years, this system has classified, and refused classification to games in Australia by what the majority of gamers call unfair, and ridiculous classifications. I say the time for a change in the systems standards and strict levels is NOW.

I'm not talking just about games that were refused classification, such as the new 'Mortal Kombat', I'm talking about ALL unfairly classified games that have fallen victim to the system. Let me show you one example, a World War 2 flight simulator, 'birds of prey', released and classified by the American classification system, the ESRB, was made to be E-10+, which is the equivalent to our PG, whereas the exact same game, unchanged and rated by the Australian classification system, the ACB, was classified MA-15+. What does this say to you? How can Australian gamers NOT be outraged when we are suffering to this ridiculous system! A recent first person shooter released for the Xbox and the PC, 'Alien vs. Predator', was told that is was to be COMPLETELY censored in all blood and gore before it was allowed classification in Australia, which the developers simply said that they would never do. The developers said either the game is to be released unchanged, or they would not even bother trying to release their game. Eventually, the ACB gave way for a completely unchanged game to be released, but ONLY because of the fact that the game was in the 'sci-fi' context of the future and certain events were uncontrollable by players in-game so consumers were very pleased that the ACB came to their senses on a this rare occasion, and were sensible in their decision.

Now let's take the time to think about these points. The ACB is officially the strictest classification system in the western world. It is one among of China and Iran for the amount of censorship taken place. However, the way games were classified in Australia, was not ALWAYS an abomination. Before the ACB, which previously only classified movies, the OFLC, or the "Office of Film and Literature classification", was in charge of classifying video games. It used different classification terms, criteria and conditions which was a great system for Australia to have. At some point in your gaming lives, you may have noticed a slight change in how those games on the shelf looked at your local retailers; that they looked... different. You couldn't quite put your finger on it. You may have noticed this specifically, in 2006, when the OFLC was dissolved, and the ACB took charge. Those 'g-8+' or 'M-15+' symbols that used to be in the corner of the box were replaced with those symbols used by the ACB, which were also used for film classification. Look at ANY of your old PC or console games. Look at cases of your GameCube, Playstation 2, or the original Xbox games. In the bottom corners, they carried the holy symbols of the OFLC. Now, games carry the unholy symbols of the ACB.

I believe I speak for the majority of the gaming community, console and PC alike, when I say the ACB is not currently fit for video game classification. Only until they reconsider their standards of classification, or until the OFLC is reinstated, this gamer, and many others, will NEVER be satisfied.

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Tell me what you think of it. :)