Left 4 Dead 2 Ban Surprised, Saddened Valve

[rufuslives]

Okay, I'm in Australia so I can summarise.
- The Aus government promised a review of classification (finally) in March last year
- The Attorney General of South Australia, Micheal Atkinson, who previously had veto'd any discussion on an 18+ rating decided he wanted to "review" the discussion paper when it was ready for release last September. This is a man who has said many times he will not support an 18+ rating in Australia.
- The paper did not see daylight till April when it was finally released to the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Brendan O'Connor (I only found out about this part the other day)
- SFA has continued to happen.

So if you are in Australia, want an 18+ rating for games, and are willing to send LOTS of letters to news agencies and everyone from your local member up to the Prime Minister then come join us on whirlpool (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1286583). I am trying for a two pronged attack to get the discussion paper released so we can finally have our review and get Micheal Atkinson taken out of the decision making process for abusing his power based to support his personal opinion which creates a conflict of interest.

 

[mannaroth]

Wow, I love how freedom of expression means nothing these days.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

"The game contains violence that is high in impact and is there unsuitable for people under 18 years to play"

...So classify it as an 18, retards.

 

[Danman1]

Austrailia. Why do you have to suck this way? Atleast us Americans are such gore junkies that we'll allow a game where you bash babies over the heads with puppies so long as your characters junk isn't out but Austrailia was founded by murdering,theiving, baby bludgeiuning convicts last I Wikipediad it. For christs sake Australia is where monsters are born (EDIT:Actual monsters mind you, not australians) and your government won't allow Zombies? I say you should revolt and elect a dashing,forum trolling, Kung Fu master to lead the new global power,Vidja' Game Island.

 

[The Heik]

I can't get why Australia boycotts all this stuff. it just makes people work all the harder to get them, and it makes fewer game companies want to work there. That's like shooting yourself in the gonads in today's economy

 

[BloodyOne]

"The game contains violence that is high in impact and is there unsuitable for people under 18 years to play," the Office wrote, pointing out the "high impact" nature of the melee weapons and the ensuing gore as major reasons for refusing the game classification.

But...the gore makes us who we are!!!

Hey... does this mean that Yahtzee is going to get a bootleg copy? Or maybe he will take a trip overseas to play it? Or (duh!) order a foreign copy?

 

[Santa Clauz]

As I have said before and everyone seems to be ignoring, Australia does not have freedom of speech, it is assumed and usually allowed, but not guaranteed.

Here, it is basically if though the President was vito-ing every decision on the matter, regardless of everyone else'sa opinion

 

[Spirit_Of_Fire]

Funny thing is that they said anyone under 18 should not see or play it. if thats the case then just make it an 18 and your problems solved.

 

[Ninja_X]

I'm a big fan of L4D and I would be really bummed if that happened here in America.

That won't happen.

America is to awesome.

I can get any game I want, thank you democracy.

 

[Leftyrem]

fear is sold there isnt it or is that banned too?

 

[Leftyrem]

Oh for the love of christ......IT'S JUST A GAME AUSTRALIA!
THE RATING SYSTEM IS THERE FOR A REASON, F***ING USE IT!
DON'T LET YOUR PEOPLE MISS OUT ON THE GAME JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN'T FIGURE OUT WHAT TO CLASSIFY IT!
HERE I'LL HELP YOU; IT'S SURVIAL HORROR!

you should be their rating guy im serious id hire you

 

[Buschmaki]

ON THE ONE HAND
Games are not yay-yay funtime for baby. They're an emerging medium, and we need to work over the common misconception that they're just for kids. There are going to be some cases where gore is needed to convey the artist's desires maturely. Just make sure there's solid restriction on them for younger audiences, and that it isn't just used as a freebie mechanic to sell copies with the tagline "WALLS MADE OF INTESTINES!"

ON THE OTHER HAND
Does excessive gore really fit with TF2? My brother is not a seasoned gamer but even he thinks the game is awesome. However, the one thing that doesn't fit to him is the amount of gore. It just sort of feels out of place. I can say the same thing about Left 4 Dead 2; the amount of dismemberment and blood just feels immature. This isn't what's needed to convey the theme and direction of the game. The theme and direction is four survivors helping each other out to get to safety against immense odds. I can't see any gameplay difference in the ability to dismember a zombie's limbs before he dies. Heck, if L4D1 is any indication, most zombies are only onscreen for a moment before being shot, kinda rendering the artistic value and excessive technology moot.

Team fortress 2 has blood and gore because it adds to the immature feeling of the game. I mean when you start playing TF2 it's not really as serious as gears of war.And in left 4 dead 2 you can sever their limbs because they're zombies and feel no pain if you kick someone in the groin and they're wearing a cup they won't not fight you.

 

[ender214]

ON THE ONE HAND
Games are not yay-yay funtime for baby. They're an emerging medium, and we need to work over the common misconception that they're just for kids. There are going to be some cases where gore is needed to convey the artist's desires maturely. Just make sure there's solid restriction on them for younger audiences, and that it isn't just used as a freebie mechanic to sell copies with the tagline "WALLS MADE OF INTESTINES!"

ON THE OTHER HAND
Does excessive gore really fit with TF2? My brother is not a seasoned gamer but even he thinks the game is awesome. However, the one thing that doesn't fit to him is the amount of gore. It just sort of feels out of place. I can say the same thing about Left 4 Dead 2; the amount of dismemberment and blood just feels immature. This isn't what's needed to convey the theme and direction of the game. The theme and direction is four survivors helping each other out to get to safety against immense odds. I can't see any gameplay difference in the ability to dismember a zombie's limbs before he dies. Heck, if L4D1 is any indication, most zombies are only onscreen for a moment before being shot, kinda rendering the artistic value and excessive technology moot.

Um...what about all us people that play video games to have fun and not to criticize it as an art form?

 

[L33tMarvin]

wow

ON THE ONE HAND
Games are not yay-yay funtime for baby. They're an emerging medium, and we need to work over the common misconception that they're just for kids. There are going to be some cases where gore is needed to convey the artist's desires maturely. Just make sure there's solid restriction on them for younger audiences, and that it isn't just used as a freebie mechanic to sell copies with the tagline "WALLS MADE OF INTESTINES!"

ON THE OTHER HAND
Does excessive gore really fit with TF2? My brother is not a seasoned gamer but even he thinks the game is awesome. However, the one thing that doesn't fit to him is the amount of gore. It just sort of feels out of place. I can say the same thing about Left 4 Dead 2; the amount of dismemberment and blood just feels immature. This isn't what's needed to convey the theme and direction of the game. The theme and direction is four survivors helping each other out to get to safety against immense odds. I can't see any gameplay difference in the ability to dismember a zombie's limbs before he dies. Heck, if L4D1 is any indication, most zombies are only onscreen for a moment before being shot, kinda rendering the artistic value and excessive technology moot.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Gore in TF2? Dismemberment and blood immature?

Wow someone let the douche out of the bag

 

[Echo42]

just to sum it up ... the australian governments views on ratings... sucks :\

if its to graphically horrible for little kids, parents shouldn't buy it for them? this is a hard task to comprehend

(and if this has been stated earlier tl;dr)

 

[Blubberburg]

The day PC douchbags choke to death on their mothers sacks will be a good day. I kind of wish i was 12 again so i could happily enjoy playing the R16-R18 games and feel badass about it, i mean whoa red colours are spraying on the screen! someone said a naughty! sometimes i beleave the raters make games like viva pinyata then get jealous when good games come out so they ban em

 

[Hitman 43]

Well, due to the boycott of L4D2 and the banning of it in Australia, the sales are certainly going to go downhill. But if they do decide to remake L4D2, that would be very idiotic. What they should do, is release it onto the PS3. Now there's a great idea.

 

[sharpshooter188]

so very glad i do not live in australia.

 

[stumpy107]

awww why are all the fun games banned, first manhunt now l4d2 i guess i will have to use steam or mininova. Also why is the new continent picked on is so bad for a 12 year old to be playing these games.

 

[masher]

ooh...that r-EA-lly sucks...