The Australian Government has announced changes to the way video games are classified in Australia. Starting from September 22nd, 2024, two new rules will apply to games that include “in-game purchases with an element of chance,” such as loot boxes [now M], and games that feature “simulated gambling,” like casino games [now R18+].
Games that have already been classified prior to September 22nd aren’t affected by this unless they need to go through classification again, however I’m going to laugh if Pokemon Red & Blue are rereleased on the Switch 2 at some point in the future and get slapped with an R18+ rating 😂
Yeah, GameFreak figured out the casino stuff wasn’t a good idea in gen 4 (HeartGold/SoulSilver) and replaced slots with Voltorb Flip outside of Japan, and otherwise closed the game corner in subsequent titles. In Pokémon: Let’s Go (Gen7) the player receives Porygon from a random person instead of needing to grind coins in the casino. Would be interesting to see if they could/would hack in that change.