On the Left 4 Dead Ban

[Green Ninja]

It's not as if I play games just to see lots of blood and gore. It's disappointing that I am forced to play games that have been censored, but at least I'd get to play the game, so as long as Left 4 Dead 2 is actually released, I'd be... well, I'd be more or less satisfied. Happiness seems to be a revolution away, though.

Well... that may be true in part. Most of the censorship madness we have here at the moment, though, is the result of a school shooting in Erfurt only a few years back - that's when the thumbscrews on gaming went from squeezing the metaphorical fingers to grinding them into paste.

I'm with Sonicron on this one. I don't need the gore every time but I refuse to pay money for a product labeled 18+ which still got cut because it's "youth endangering". That's just plain stupid.

I guess there's not that much of a difference betwwen here an Australia. There may be no 18+ rating in Oz, but the USK is much stricter than most other similiar boards. Take Bionic Commando for example, which I recently bought. There's also the British label on the disc which declares it to be okay for 15-year olds but in Germany it's 18+ because of the ragdoll physics. Yes, the ragdoll physics. They usually cut them out for the German versions. In the Bourne game it is not possible to throw people of the train because they don't fly far enough when you throw them. Just one of many examples.

 

[Chunko]

I don't think a game could get banned in America, too many people would complain. In Australia there is a smaller gamer to normal person ratio.

This is another thing: Why is it a ratio at all? Shouldn't it be some kind of Van Diagram? Atkinson seems really set on making a distinction between "normal people" and gamers (you can see this in the GS Interview). This sort of divisive approach just splits people up. If we can make this an issue of oppression and not just a "gamer" thing, maybe more people would be on our side.

I'm not angry at you, mind, but gamers ARE "normal people." They do taxes, they drive cars, they act like morons every election year... The only difference is a FREAKING HOBBY. This media stereotyping of gamers needs to stop. And I think it slowly is, but Atkinson definitely hasn't gotten the memo yet.

You don't have to read into peoples posts that much. You realize I'm a gamer aswell. No one's normal there are tons of types of people. I was just using normal people as a term for people who don't play videogames on a daily basis.

 

[Jerich0]

i cry for Australian gamers every night. the ratings board people are douches.

 

[UtopiaV1]

"Oh, god forbid that post-mortem damage be inflicted. It's perfectly rational to separate a limb bloodily from a torso with a single sweep of a machete while the owner is still alive and capable of raising an objection, but once you start hacking away at dead bodies, well, suddenly we've crossed a line."

Laughed till i cried....

Yea, classification systems suck ass, as it's non-gamers telling gamers what we shouldn't play, backed up with legalise and lawyers to make sure we don't complain. Just take refuge in the thought that, when the revolution comes, they'll be the first up against the wall.

Also, Logan's Run is a great film, first time i ever saw nudity on the big screen. Gotta love sci-fi when it was actually PUSHING BOUNDARIES, rather than being Star Trek-style cg-effects and terrible writting/plot. ¬_¬

 

[eels05]

I can think of a shit load of titles that are just as gory that have escaped the censors to grace Australian shelves.

If they're going to patronize us by insisting its for our benefit then at least they should be fucking consistant.

What a joke.Hypocrites.

 

[Zersy]

Why does everyone hate blood and gore? It's anatomy. And violence is a natural occurance. Kids are gonna see it in school anyways...

Point proven nicely.

Violence is something kids know since they could........ well they were born pretty violently , so i guess violence is what made kids.

 

[Valthek]

I wonder...

what if they replaced the zombies with monkeys.. would it still get banned?

 

[Ernie Devlin]

Can't you just import it? Get a U.S. or U.K. region 360, PS3 and wii (if you must) and order games online?

The silly thing is we (Aussies) can order L4D2 in PAL format from New Zealand or Hong Kong. Refusing the game a classification won't stop people buying it as long as there is a credit card invovled..

 

[widowspeak]

Honestly, why do governments care SO much about snot nosed minors. If the parent is a shitty parent and cannot control what their child sees then that is THEIR problem, not every adult in the nation, whose liberties are infringed thanks to concerned religious mothers.

Absolutely agreed. We have similar problems here in the U.S., just not on the same scale. Every time this issue has come up with some government official or other uppity individual (for example, Jack Thompson), we've somehow managed to quash it. Congressmen and other busybodies refuse to acknowledge that it is the parents' job to police the hobbies and goings-on of their own children. I can see why, given most parents around here seem to think it the responsibility of the government to do their job for them.

I used to work at a game store, and even though we had large posters outlining the meaning behind each ESRB rating, parents STILL didn't get that buying an M-rated game was going to expose their offspring to. . .well, not-so-kid-friendly stuff. I would point out the rating and the contents of the game to a parent at checkout, and, sometimes, I would get through to them exactly what they were about to buy for their kid. On those occasions, the parent would look at their child, and you could see from the child's face that they had hoodwinked good 'ol Mom or Dad into purchasing a game they really shouldn't be playing until long after puberty. Other times, though, I'd get screamed at for trying to tell a parent how to raise their little hellion. Is it any wonder why I no longer work in retail?

Bottom line: Parents, do your damn job. You've got to be at least a little better at it than the government. I mean, look at their track record. Do you REALLY want those idiots raising your kid?

 

[widowspeak]

I wonder...

what if they replaced the zombies with monkeys.. would it still get banned?

Probably not, but I'm sure PETA would be first in line to try.

 

[Skylarm]

Okay, this may be a stupid question, but can't you just buy off of Amazon? Or Steam? I don't know the workings of the mailing system/government system in other countries, but I don't think they can ban you from using Amazon, or buying it off Steam.

 

[Uszi]

What qualifications do you need to run for the ACB?
What branch of the government do they respond to?

What's the point of your representative democracy if the Australians aren't actually politicizing their unrest. A bunch of snide articles on esoteric video game based websites won't change a damn thing.

Yahtzee mentioned the average gamer is over 30. Is that true?
If it is, it seems like simply publishing a survey result arguing that should take the wind out of the ACB's sails. Or at least force them to implement an 18+ rating.

 

[rayman 101]

This article gets 2 thumbs up from me:

DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB
DOWN WITH THE ACB

 

[bushwhacker2k]

I can't imagine it's the first violent zombie game they've ever heard of, or do they only get out so often? Every couple years?

 

[JoshGod]

how about you all dress up as infected and go eat ur government. XD what too rash? how about talking with them and if they persist start patitioning against things old people like, for example pensions or worthers originals, or those mini car things... they could run people over on our streets ffs they're to dangerous the also encourage lazyness.
ha
i wonder when were in our old age if we do something similar to the new technology?

 

[Nuke_em_05]

I think it's better to focus on the bit about not having an 18+ rating.

That means that the ACB considers videogames a pass-time for minors. That said, all of their points are quite valid in their context, there's no point trying to ridicule them or justify it.

The problem is that since it is unsuitable for minors, and they have no rating for non-minors, they can't approve it for sale. That said, perhaps more effort should be spent in advocating an 18+ or "Mature" rating, instead of complaining about their reasons for it being unsuitable for minors.

The points are valid in-context. The solution is changing the context.

 

[Netwatcher]

all these reasons for the ban just increase my will to play this game...
good thing they didn't mention that you can even frigging DIE in the game, and float around like a ghost looking at your living allies fighting a horde of zombies and then extracting you magically from a closet somewhere along the way.
I won't wanna try that in real life.

 

[Aura Guardian]

Okay, this may be a stupid question, but can't you just buy off of Amazon? Or Steam? I don't know the workings of the mailing system/government system in other countries, but I don't think they can ban you from using Amazon, or buying it off Steam.

That might just work.

 

[Infernai]

Hmm, so basically the game isn't allowed because the ACB are Actually zombies themselves plotting world domination. And what us to be as unprepared as possible, for the zombie apocolypse that is currently on the horizon? I knew it!