Leaked footage of gameplay from Activision's Modern Warfare 2 has the Australian Council on Children and the Media calling for the game's MA15+ to be reconsidered, effectively banning it from sale.

The skippable scene of terrorist atrocities in Modern Warfare 2 first came to light via leaked footage on YouTube early yesterday. News travelled quickly, however, with an AP report dropping yesterday afternoon, distributing the news to just about every news organization on the planet. Word obviously reached Australia, prompting Australian Council on Children and the Media Jane Roberts to call on the Australian Classification Board to reconsider the MA15+ rating the game received, which is the highest rating given games in the country. Reconsideration would effectively ban the game from release. Roberts claims that even with the MA15+ rating, the game would still be readily available to children.

"The consequences of terrorism are just abhorrent in our community and yet here we are with a product that's meant to be passed off as a leisure time activity, actually promoting what most world leaders speak out publicly against."

Do not read on if you wish to avoid Modern Warfare 2 spoilers.

Here's the report regarding the offending scene filed by the Classification Board that accompanied the MA15+ rating decision.

"Several civilians are shot with blood burst bullet wounds; civilian corpses are strewn across the airport floor, often in stylised pools of blood; injured civilians crawl away with lengthy blood trails behind them."

The report goes on to mention that you cannot inflict post mortem damage on the civilians, and that all other missions of the game will result in failure if a civilian is shot.

Activision released a statement to Kotaku yesterday regarding the scene, explaining that it was "meant to evoke the atrocities of terrorism."

Back in Australia the debate rages on, with Nicholas Suzor, spokesman for the lobby group Electronic Frontiers Australia, using the situation to call for a R18+ rating for games released in the country, while rejecting the idea that a video game could foster terrorism.

"Films often show the villain's perspective and, by doing that, they get across the character's story and the heinous nature of people who carry out atrocities. Games, too, are becoming more expressive, and are telling more involved stories. We may make an argument that these sorts of topics are not suitable for children, but I don't at all accept that it is unsuitable for adults."

The Classification Board cannot review its own decisions, so anyone interested in getting the rating reviewed will have to apply directly to the board.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is slated for Australian release on November 10th.

Video of the level:

http://www.justin.tv/clip/83124ba3d928c5bc

I can see why now.

MMMhh, don't you guys love socialism? When some government bureaucrat get's to decide what you can and cannot do or have, and limits the free speech rights of others and promotes censorship under the guise of "political correctness"? What a bunch of socially conditioned sheep. So because a game has terrorists means we need to ban it. How about, regardless of what's in the game, you have no damned right to ban it because that is a violation of the right of all people to express themselves however they want without some Aussia dumbshits telling them what's appropriate "for the children luls."

Wall of text.

Age is a stupid thing in this World, people should be judged by maturity. I mean, i'm not 18 but i've been playing GTA since i was 5 and i've been watching any movies i want. Banning a game because it has terrorist acts and a lot of death is LOLS, It's like banning the use of cars because they can lead to car crashesh, or banning airplanes because they could lead to even more serious events.

And what your all saying about never going to Australia ( i don't live there), I would never go to America because of the requirement of 21+ to be considered adult, that is so stupid, 18 is a long enough age as it is.

Logan, If all the countries that have nuclear weapons used them, you can say bye bye to the world but wars such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc etc, their mostly on foot and people shoot eachother AFAIK.

And about Children going mad cos of games, that is fail excuses - some boy gets pissed of at life for 1 reason or another, shoots 10 people in school and blames the games he played for people to pity him.

Just pirate it.

Age is a stupid thing in this World, people should be judged by maturity. I mean, i'm not 18 but i've been playing GTA since i was 5 and i've been watching any movies i want. Banning a game because it has terrorist acts and a lot of death is LOLS, It's like banning the use of cars because they can lead to car crashesh, or banning airplanes because they could lead to even more serious events.

And what your all saying about never going to Australia ( i don't live there), I would never go to America because of the requirement of 21+ to be considered adult, that is so stupid, 18 is a long enough age as it is.

Logan, If all the countries that have nuclear weapons used them, you can say bye bye to the world but wars such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, etc etc, their mostly on foot and people shoot eachother AFAIK.

And about Children going mad cos of games, that is fail excuses - some boy gets pissed of at life for 1 reason or another, shoots 10 people in school and blames the games he played for people to pity him.

4. I agree that their are many things that go into school shootings, most of these reasons have to do with what goes on in the school itself, however, the consistency of the many school shooters and their preference in movies, literature, and games (many of these preferences are revealed by family and friends after the shooter is dead, and not by the shooter themselves) is not something to be taken lightly. However, censorship is not the solution, or at least in my opinion. A better solution would be making a minor edit to that 2nd bit of the Bill of Rights that basically gives us all the right to blow each others head off whenever we feel necessary...

I agree, maturity SHOULD count but it's really hard to determine. I've been watching horror movies since I was three or four. I don't think it's ever effected me negatively. Some people on the other hand, it would. Honestly, the way it's done in the United States is not too bad. Just have your parents buy it for you, if you're under age. Completely banning it is crazy.

Also, the legal age of an adult is 18. You just can't buy alcohol till you're 21. It's a stupid law and nobody really follows it anyway. It's similar to our gaming laws. You just get a parent or a friend to buy it for you. The reason you shouldn't move to the United States is because our healthcare system.