Games News

Virtual reality headset manufacturer Oculus have announced that all games made available on its Oculus Store must have an age classification determined using tools from the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC). The company writes in a blog post:

We're committed to helping everyone on the Oculus platform make well-informed purchasing decisions. That's why we are now utilizing the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC) to give people trusted and familiar ratings for all Oculus experiences.

Moving forward, all titles in the Oculus Store will need to show age and content ratings assigned through the IARC rating process. This change will make it easier for developers to get age and content ratings for your app from multiple territories simultaneously. It also provides consumers a consistent set of familiar and trusted ratings that reflect their own cultural norms regarding content and age-appropriateness.

In order to give people consistent ratings no matter where they live, all titles in the Oculus Store must have IARC assigned ratings. New titles submitted to the store will receive an automatic prompt to obtain their rating through IARC by answering a simple set of questions. IARC will provide a rating for each applicable region and rating authority at the conclusion of the questionnaire. The ratings will then be automatically applied to the title. Existing titles will need to complete the IARC rating process no later than March 1, 2017 to avoid removal from the Oculus Store. 

Gal*Gun Double Peace is a Japanese shooter action game from PQube

A Japanese rail shooter where the player assumes the role of Houdai Kudoki, a high-schooler who has no luck with girls. A cupid-type angel accidentally shoots Houdai with a laser that condenses all of Houdai's romantic opportunities (for the rest of his life) into the next day. Houdai must use a pheromone shot to give the girls euphoria which subdues them and allows him to confess to his true love.

The game has just been banned by the New Zealand film censors of the OFLC who issued the following reason for the ban:

The game tends to promote and support the sexual exploitation of children and young persons, and the use of coercion in relation to sexual conduct. It depicts young female high-school students in a way that emphasises their sexual availability. For example, doki-doki mode involves the player touching and rubbing the girls to bring them to a state of euphoria , essentially a sort of orgasm. The game also continuously frames high school students as sexually compliant objects to be fetishized and touched regardless of their consent.

The game's lack of difficulty further supports the idea that the intention of this game is for the titillation and arousal of the player, rather than gameplay mastery. It is therefore likely not only to attract people with a prurient interest in young persons, but also to reinforce the belief that a sexual interest in young persons is acceptable, which contributes to their sexual exploitation in wider society.

The game is M rated by the ESRB in the US (17+) and 16 rated by PEGI in Europe.