When the classification board (a part of The Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) body) made a statement last year about seeking to rate and classify DLC content such as iPhone applications (in the same way all console and PC games are required in Australia), it was met with bewilderment and harsh criticism amongst many Australian iPhone and game enthusiasts nationwide. Such a move would seem highly impractical (the current number of apps in the appstore total more than 150,000) and entirely unnecessary, considering Apple's own reviewing system that weeds out inappropriate and offensive apps.

But imagine if the classification board was given the green light to classify every single iPhone game and application out there, each game requiring their standard reviewing process and a review fee of $1150 or $2040 before it can be released in the Australian market. What could the resulting effect be? Well, two things are sure to happen.

1. As explained earlier, the large number of apps released means that it's entirely impractical to review all new titles in a reasonable time. Games will meet inevitable delays, likely many months, before they get approved for release.

2. The review fee of $1150 or $2040 assures that many developers will find it extremely difficult to justify the cost of submitting their small DLC game (costing between $3 to $15 per pop) for review, and therefore many titles will not even make it to the appstore.

Such a scenario would prove disastrous for the appstore market in Australia, for developers as well as owners of iPhones, iPods, and iPads.

The shocking news, however, is that this same exact scenario has been taking place on the Nintendo WiiWare and DSiWare DLC service. All developers (local and abroad) are required to submit their games to the Australian classification board, and are charged the same fee for reviews as disc based games. The result, as predicted above, has meant that many games are either not available in the Australian WiiWare and DSiWare marketplace, or they are arriving much, much later due to the review process.

Not surprisingly, this situation has seriously irked Sydney developer, Nnooo. Nnooo are developers of Pop, the first Western game announced for the WiiWare service. While a new proposal for a reduced review fee to $550 is welcomed, Nnooo are making a call for an appropriate DLC option for independent game developers like themselves and have posted an open letter concerning the issues arising from the high fee costs.

From Nic Watt, creative director at Nnooo...