The Walking Dead, The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct, Company of Heroes 2, Gears of War: Judgment, Killer is Dead, Alien Rage, Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Blacklist, Deadly Premonition the Director's Cut, God Mode, Borderlands 2:Add-on Content Pack, Fuse and Deadpool might undergo tougher Australian censorship following a review of The Classification Review Board.

All 12 video games were previously rated MA+15. According to the Review Board, this rating means that "classified material contains strong content and is legally restricted to persons 15 years and over. It may contain classifiable elements such as sex scenes and drug use that are strong in impact. A person may be asked to show proof of their age before hiring or purchasing an MA 15+ film or computer game. Cinema staff may also request that the person show proof of their age before allowing them to watch an MA 15+ film. Children under the age of 15 may not legally watch, buy or hire MA 15+ classified material unless they are in the company of a parent or adult guardian. Children under 15 who go to the cinema to see an MA 15+ film must be accompanied by a parent or adult guardian for the duration of the film. The parent or adult guardian must also purchase the movie ticket for the child. The guardian must be an adult exercising parental control over the person under 15 years of age. The guardian needs to be 18 years or older."

The board will conduct its meeting to decide on the matter on Nov 18, 19 and Dec 2, 4 and 5.

The application for the board to give tougher ratings on these video games was lodged after South Australia's Attorney-General, John Rau, said that he will write to the Federal Government to scrutinise the board's lenient rating.

"It is concerning to me, particularly as a parent, when I see that 13 games have been released in Australia as MA15+ whilst exactly the same game attracts up to an R18+ classification overseas. These particular games have been assessed as having intense violence, blood and gore, nudity and suggestive themes. If the standards are not more rigorously applied I will be referring each of these games to the South Australian Classification Council for review," Mr Rau explained during a September interview with ABC.

According to Mr Rau, it was the Australian Council on Children who had called his attention about the matter.

Meanwhile, Interactive Games and Entertainment Association chief executive Ron Curry said that the application for review was redundant and costly.

The review will cost the government as much as $336,000 and if indeed these games are to be given new ratings, they need to be recalled from stores and should undergo repackaging.

"Most people don't realise that before a video game lands on a store shelf, it has already been rigorously examined against a set of guidelines set out by our Government. In fact, Australia is one of the few developed nations to have classification guidelines determined by Government. Not only have these games already been examined against stringent guidelines, we also haven't heard of any formal complaints made by parents or adults who think the video games are wrongly classified. The review is an unwarranted and costly exercise to satisfy a vocal yet unrepresentative minority," according to a statement from Mr Curry.

Mr Curry also pointed out that the classification board of the U.S. should not be taken into consideration, as classification guidelines between two different countries are structured differently.

"What's really concerning is that these reviews are happening not because there are certain parts of a game that have been identified as contentious or troublesome. To take a lump of games and say, 'we've compared the games ratings to the US' is not a fair comparison. It does set a bad precedent. In addition, the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in the US does not have an equivalent to Australia's MA15+ rating. Any game that is considered to be for a mature teen will automatically receive a 'Mature 17+ rating. For all titles requiring review, none have received the highest classification in the US, their AO (18+ only) determination."

Mr Curry said that the Australian rating scheme is guided by the Government.

"This is an example highlighted by the Australian Law Reform Commission of the dysfunctional nature of Australia's classification system. Like the ALRC, IGEA calls for the urgent modernising and nationalising of content classification in Australia."