Fallout 3 Censorship Report

[GameBanshee News]

IGN offers a scan of the Australian classification board's report on Fallout 3. As expected, drugs have not so much been removed as simply tweaked slightly to be less offensive.

"The drugs depicted are fictional; drugs are depicted as stylised icons on a menu with the drug use itself not depicted. Whilst navigating a post-apocalyptic futuristic landscape, players can invoke the use of a variety of "chems" listed by fictitious names which include "Buff", "Rad-X", "Psycho" and "Ultrajet". Within the context of the game's narrative, the player may choose to make use of these "chems" to alter the physiological characteristics of their character in the game."
(...)
In the minority view of the Board the drug use in the game is in excess of the general rule applied under the Guidelines. The drugs are unambiguous in their visual representations, which include pills and hypodermic needles, and are related to incentives and rewards in that the incentive to take the drug is that progress through the game is achieved more easily and the reward is an increase in the character's abilities. The game therefore warrants and 'RC' classification.

No clear indication of what the change is, then. Perhaps just removing of real-world drugs like morphine.

Spotted on RPGWatch.

[Ronan]

So in the end it was about something that stupid?! Who the hell runs these commisions because he/she really needs to realize some things. It's not like this is going to change the drugg use in Autralia.

[CFM]

Drug references are unconscionable.

Society would be better off if they just replaced them with more violence. Yeah, that'd be ok.