F.E.A.R. 2 Banned In Australia

[Radelaide]

WHERE THE FUCK IS THE 18+ RATING. Honestly, that game wouldn't have been banned if that rating existed, but no, it all lies down to one idiotic minister.

Due to some politicians in certain states *cough*SA*cough*, it's unlikely that we'll get a R18+ rating for our games.

I'm thinking that at the next election, gamers should put forth the idea to the competing Prime Ministers the idea of R18+ in games considering the stuff that passes for M15+ on television.

the Australian Gov. pisses me off. If I lived there I would really try to get some real protest going

Protesting doesn't really work with such a miniority. I think that instead of the Australia Sex Party (an actual political party in Australia) we need an Australian Gamer Party that works to make the R18+ rating we deserve.

 

[Dr.Doctor]

Wow it's actually banned?
Is this normal is Austrlia or this a special situation, because I don't see anything in the game the already hasn't been done.

 

[RebelRising]

It's so ironic that, of all places, Australia looks down on violence the hardest...

Anyway, the OP hit the nail on the head about people getting worked up about drugs or sex, but not caring much about the extreme violence. It's very true in America as well.

It's like Marlene Dietrich said: "In America, sex is an obsession. In the rest of the world, it is a fact."

 

[Hey Joe]

You know, only 1% of games are refused classification in Australia. People who are against the R18+ classification say that if you really want a game that's been banned, you can just import it. Theoretically there's a law prohibiting the import of banned games, but customs officers are pretty lax about it.

 

[thenuminator]

Meh i'll just buy it online. Still sucks we have no R rating though. IMO gaming is an art form their for it should have no resrictions.

 

[fluffylandmine]

This is why I like America: If they(the Government) pulled that crap, for a large amount of things, riots would break out ,and the government could face a guerrilla war on a cocktail of PCP, peyote, and steroids.

 

[s3cur1tr0n]

Does Australia censor all media? Books, movies, newspapers, etc?

 

[Fire Daemon]

Does Australia censor all media? Books, movies, newspapers, etc?

Nope. At least not to my knowledge. I mean this book I'm reading right now "1984" it's great. It's all about this great government that saves everyone from evil people that try and rebel. They do evil things like think for themselves... their vile horrible people and for a second it looks like everything will end but then the Government with special police comes and saves the day. Yay! Everyone lived happily ever after. It's not censored at all.

Anyway, this sucks. I'm not a fan of Fear (although I was thinking of picking it up) and don't really care about the sequel but I'm still against banning games. Any game really, no matter how shitty it is.

 

[AceDiamond]

I bet it's because in the surgery scene the words "anesthetic" or "morphine" get used.

 

[Amnestic]

Bloody hell! Hand me the med-x...

Censorfixed ;D

This is why I like America: If they(the Government) pulled that crap, for a large amount of things, riots would break out ,and the government could face a guerrilla war on a cocktail of PCP, peyote, and steroids.

So it's okay if they pull this crap for a small amount of things, you're saying? Where do you draw the line between small and large?

 

[Gitsnik]

Austalia is communist now? I thought only China and Cuba ban various media. WEAK!

Well the labor (labour?) party is rooted in communism.

In reality this is just another CS-Cowboy (pardon the alcohol reference) who doesn't want to raise his children/nieces/nephews/cat properly but thinks that banning shit will work better.

I'm sorry Monolith, but I'll be pirating this - if any mono-employee's are reading this (hey or any other gaming company) is there going to be a way I can pirate the hardware and buy a CD key or something? Thus getting around Australia's dumb restrictions. Happy to pay full price.

Perhaps some americans will import the game for me.

(Please note, as a programmer I understand full well the implications of piracy and how much it can or can not hurt a company. I do not advocate breaking the law [most of the time], but things like this are just begging for it)

 

[Piemaster]

It's not that big a deal, you can import pretty much any game these days.

 

[Arkfeller]

It's not that big a deal, you can import pretty much any game these days.

It's still better to pick it up locally, if you consider possible shipping charges and all that crap. But then all the same, games in Australia are priced ridiculously.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Does Australia censor all media? Books, movies, newspapers, etc?

No. The country has 18+ ratings for every other media on the market, but videogames, because they're for kids, have a maximum age rating of 15+. Anything that exceeds that limit is refused a classification. Thus you end up with a situation where hardcore pornography is a-okay, but a videogame like Silent Hill: Origins isn't.

 

[fluffylandmine]

This is why I like America: If they(the Government) pulled that crap, for a large amount of things, riots would break out ,and the government could face a guerrilla war on a cocktail of PCP, peyote, and steroids.

So it's okay if they pull this crap for a small amount of things, you're saying? Where do you draw the line between small and large?

Games like FEAR are not going to bring up a problem(due to the small amount of people into "core" games that would do something).

However ban alcohol and you'll be in trouble(I know it happened before ,but I'm not sure the reaction would be any better nowadays).

So in a sense they could pull something like that on games ,but ban anything that has been defended by the media and you're asking for it.

 

[Cougies]

It's not that big a deal, you can import pretty much any game these days.

Now you see this type of attitude sucks. The moment that you import games, you are bypassing the Australian retail chain, hence you are making hard working Australians miss out on opportunaties to get paid. Take GTA 4 for example. People were happy to import the PS3 version of the game just so they could see one cut scene that was taken out... ONE!

Chances are that F.E.A.R 2 will be released here in Australia, just with some modifications to the game. It may be something small (Like morphine in Fallout 3 just being renamed). So although I hate this, and wish that Atkinson would DIAF, lets just wait and see what happens.

 

[Jumplion]

Does Australia censor all media? Books, movies, newspapers, etc?

No. The country has 18+ ratings for every other media on the market, but videogames, because they're for kids, have a maximum age rating of 15+. Anything that exceeds that limit is refused a classification. Thus you end up with a situation where hardcore pornography is a-okay, but a videogame like Silent Hill: Origins isn't.

I'm really getting angry at this Attkins guy, and I'm not an Aussie.

Isn't there something you guys can do to this bullshit? There has to be something, a petition and all that stuff. One man cannot be in this much control, can he? He can't keep on ignoring this issue, it's going to spread bite him back if he keeps ignoring it.