Left 4 Dead 2: Banned in Australia by Australian Classification Board

[iridescentt]

Is the melee'ing really that bad? Well the ACB thinks so.​

Left 4 Dead 2's planned mid-November local release was put in jeopardy today, when the Australian Classification Board had put its legislative foot down. The Classification Board is the government body responsible for rating all video games content authorised for sale in the country. According to its Web site, Valve's upcoming first-person shooter has been refused classification (RC) for failure to adhere to the current maximum MA 15+ ratings guideline for games. (Only films can reach the board's maximum R18+ rating.) The announcement means the Valve title is now illegal to sell, rent, or promote within Australia.

The ruling goes on to say, "However, it is the use of the 'melee' weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage. These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore."

Full article here.

What a load of horse poop.

 

[Kev]

Tbh I can see why you'd give it an 18 rating, that's fair enough. But I don't see why you can't have 18 rated games in Australia.

 

[pcfan123]

Why ban it? 18 and over age limit will make sure children can not buy it. Why should someone else decide what I should and should not be exposed to.

 

[Kev]

My only guess is that in Australia (as in most parts of the world) is that ratings for games are largely ignored by retailers. I would hazzard a guess that it is much easier to buy an 18 certificate game from a shop than get into an 18 certificate movie if you are under 18. This is surely a problem with policing, rather than banning games because they are only suitable for over 18's, it would be better to concentrate on prosecuting retailers who sell to underage buyers.

As to your point Hmarka as to why have ratings in the first place, well it's not a perfect system but at the end of the day people under 18 are not adults and they do not have the life experience to know what is best for them all the time. You may not like that but its true. Get to 18 and you are generally considered to be old enough to make your own mistakes. Actually these days, although people seem to think they mature earlier, I think they mature later than they think.

 

[pcfan123]

My point was not that we should not have ratings, I agree with the rating system. My point is that simply because something is rated over 18 does not mean it should be banned for all. There is a reason its rated over 18, so people over the age should be able to purchase it.

I also do not like the idea of government making moral decisions on my behalf.

 

[Kev]

It's not the government who decide on ratings though. But they should enforce them. I never really faced this as an under 18 gaming wise, but it should be taken as seriously as with films and it just seems to me that it isn't. But Australia's decision to ban games that do not reach a 15 certificate smacks of a total misunderstanding of the gaming community. Gaming has an adult market these days. Over 18 and you should be able to make your own decisions on what you do or do not want to see in a game.

 

[evertonfan]

All I can say is unlucky crims, you get pwned again over a video game.

 

[The_gas]

They're crims though, this sort of thing would set a bad example to fellow crims.

 

[evertonfan]

I don't think crims are even intelligent enough to be influenced by these sort of games anyway. You could re-release Pong every week and it would keep them satisfied.

 

[Leicester Fox]

I don't really play games but if banned a game in the UK I would get it, I'm not that bothered about anything other than FIFA but by banning it they would make it a must buy for me.

I got ID'd buying a 16 game the other day. I know it's all that under 25 BS and crap but I didn't have any ID on me. When I went back it felt quite weird actually being able to use ID that had my age on

 

[Hooper]

Didn't they try and ban GTA IV here as well or San Andreas? People will still get it if its half good.

 

[MasterBlaster76]

Is the melee'ing really that bad? Well the ACB thinks so.​

Full article here.

What a load of horse poop.

Unlucky mate. Man, am I glad I don't live in one of these countries that can't just slap an 18 on it and have done with it!

 

[MattW]

It's not the government who decide on ratings though. But they should enforce them. I never really faced this as an under 18 gaming wise, but it should be taken as seriously as with films and it just seems to me that it isn't. But Australia's decision to ban games that do not reach a 15 certificate smacks of a total misunderstanding of the gaming community. Gaming has an adult market these days. Over 18 and you should be able to make your own decisions on what you do or do not want to see in a game.

Because gaming classifications were ignored by our constitution, it is a state responsibility to implement the classifications, but a federal authority does the classifying.

The issue for Australia is that the South Australian Attorney General refuses to make the change to extend R to games, every other state, and the federal government are supporting of doing so.

I really don't get the reasoning for it, that somehow getting a game clearly inappropriate for children and making tiny modifications to get it in to an MA15+ rating is somehow better than leaving it unmodified and giving it an R18+ one.

 

[iridescentt]

At least this isn't the most ridiculous thing we have banned. * cough *

I'm probably going to get the game anyway, It'll pop up around my area, either a pira legal copy or one from overseas. Happened with Duke Nukem 3D, and it's going to happen again.

Anyway, I can get it through Steam can't I? Because isn't this just for boxed distribution?

 

[MattW]

Nope. It is illegal to import material that is refused classification, downloading counts as importing, as such Steam won't sell it in Aust.

Likely they will just make some minor changes to the game for Australia to get it to MA.