On the Left 4 Dead Ban

[Xbowhyena]

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

Do you live in Sparta or something, where blood and gore are an everyday part of school?

Because kids don't dissect hearts and eyeballs in school today?

 

[Captain Pancake]

you're preaching to the choir on this one. First they kill off Bridget on Neighbours, then they ban Left4Dead2? the only obvious course is, in fact, to boycott australia.

But then again, the whole world tried to do the same thing to my country, so maybe I shouldn't punch my saviour.

 

[Darzen]

wow...i still like australia but i'd keep a friend in america to send me games that are new at my request then i'd send him money.i still hate america...or atleast living here.with this economy i can't even get a job.16 years old and every job for 16 year olds are taken by 40 year olds.

 

[topsyturvy]

I live in the United States and well apparently the ACB has never seen a rabid 11 year old who listens to rap, wears baggy trousers and vomits verbal diarrhea. Seriously, kids today know what sex is even before they get sex education classes and will act "gangsta" even though it'll end up with then sniffing crack through 3 holes in their noses. If it were me, I'd pick playing video games over acting "gangsta".

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

Atleast the old men running the film and classification system haven't heard of the internet yet. This game is going to be the most pirated game in Australia when it comes out, ironically by the under 15s that these Dust Collectors want to "protect". Hell, 5 seconds on Google will give you instructions and tools to make any activity virtually invisible, the Great Firewall of Australia will only be an inconvenience to those who obey the law.

 

[Ninjahedge]

You say this as if it already isn't happening in the US.

Yes, the Grand Olde USA, place where you can show a man being evicerated on prime time TV (or have a corpse being eaten by cats... recent episode of Bones) but Boobies?

HEAVEN FORBID!!! The only time you can see boobies is when you are below 2 or above 18, otherwise someone needs to be ARRESTED!!!!!!

 

[Mr. Shoggoth]

Wow, he truly ripped the Australian ratings board into pieces. And he made me love every single second of it.

 

[yosophat]

When is GAMEDAMAGE premiering?

 

[Tarmon'gaidin]

Ah well, shit happens I gues.

A person once sang;
"You can't always get what you want!!"

 

[Green Ninja]

I feel with you Yatzhee. I'm from Germany and our laws regarding this topic are almost as strict as yours. The German rating board, known as the USK, has a 18+ rating, or "no youth" as it is sometimes called. But there is a "rating" above it. The USK can decide that a game is too violent to be released in stores and then another German institution called the BPjM (yeah, we have a lot of those) will prohibid advertisement and it can't be sold in public because the game is "youth endangering". So to avoid that nail in the financial coffin, the game needs to be cut in certain ways to get the 18+ rating.
We will get L4D2, but with less blood and probably without the chainsaw
Fallout 3 for example had no blood at all, and coming with that, no visual represantion of the "bloody mess" perk.

Few games even get banned. Among those are Manhunt and Dead Rising, but that has nothing to do with "protecting the children", but our laws against "glorification of violence".

So yeah, you're not the only one who suffers from crap like that.

 

[Ninjahedge]

This a game where the world has been infected by zombies though, zombies that attack and can kill you. Shaun of the Dead is more violent then L4D for God sake!

For some strange reason, I was thinking (almost) the same thing.

Somehow it is OK to WATCH someone dismember a zombie, but you can't do it yourself?

And someone else here made a good point, the ACB is only doing its job. The key here is to CHANGE THE ACB'S JOB! Or, at least, the regulations they have to follow.

Don't hate the messenger, but you don't have to invite him in for tea (or "consentual" bending over)....

As for the first step to totalitarian government oversight and regulation? That is a tough one. They seem to be lagging a bit. It would help if people who actually knew what a game was and how to play was in charge of rating its apropriateness for a particular demographic. It would also help if that person realized that games, like toons, aren't just for kids anymore.

But back to censorship.... the danger here is not a progressive one, but more like a tripswitch. With regulations like this still in effect, the ultra-right-wing can use the guise of "god fearing" and "child protecting" to certify everything short of kitten killing in the name of the Child Loving Lord.

It is more reactive and riding the radicals on a wave of current affairs support (OMG Bombs means all muslims are BAD!!! DON'T GO TO THAT COFFEE CART!!!!!!). With outated regulations like this still in effect, they CAN and WILL be used as a tool to get a small sector of the populations wishes and model of a world realized.

Those rules have to be changed before the wrong person goes "Oh! Really? There's a law for THAT?"

 

[L4Y Duke]

I don't think GAME TRADERS ROBINA will be able to help the poor man. Since it's been refused classification, it's illegal to sell it commercially.

However, he could always come over here to New Zealand for a day, pick up a copy of the game and fly back.

 

[Ninjahedge]

Ah well, shit happens I gues.

A person once sang;
"You can't always get what you want!!"

You quoting a 'Mic?

 

[Dr. James]

...Did Gears of War/2 get rated? I can't be bothered looking it up, but for crying out loud the games most iconic weapon is a bloody chainsaw, and pretty much every gun leaves an enemy in bloody chunks on the ground that bounce when you run over them. Every other death leaves blood on the screen. If that's acceptible (and I'm not saying it isn't) then I don't see why L4D2 isn't.

 

[Ninjahedge]

We are coming from a time when DOOM's best weapon was a chainsaw.

Go fig.

 

[Fniff]

I need to start a gamers charity.

Help those poor gamers in Australia,give them hope that someone still cares about them, at send games to Australia (S.G.T.A)

Now that's a charity.

 

[jpoon]

Hilarious, what a fucking waste of time these censors have made of their lives. Not like every game that someone really wants cannot be got through illicit means. Basically these jackoffs are fueling the black markets and maybe deep down inside that is their intent. RIP THE SYSTEM, ZERO! Then give us a review of the game! =D

 

[Odjin]

Good... one horrible, boring and mindless game less. Makes room for "real" games which are interesting, challenging and have actual gameplay. Yes I don't feel sorry for this game to fall under the table. In fact I would not feel sorry for most of those "gory" games since they totally lack what makes good games: gameplay. Many game devers forget that a good game and good gameplay does not require massive gore. In fact massive gore is the sign of poor games since devers need to distract players with gore from their flaws in the game. And you are right, your country is a warning... a warning to game developers that crap games don't have a future

 

[BehattedWanderer]

...so find someone who agrees with instituting it who has enough influence in the legislature. If it's unanimous except for Mr Atkinson, then it shouldn't be hard to find someone sympathetic to the cause.

Hell, if that fails, try and get something else going--a system where only 5/6th of the votes are required to pass legislation, as opposed to unanimous. Total agreement sounds like it wrecks your possibility to pass legislation like an overturned semi on the highway.

This whole "think of the children" mantra has seriously got to stop. I once had a Political Science professor who thought that a major source of conflict in modern politics are laws, regulations, and restrictions that are in place for the sole purpose of protecting the innocence of children. Ironically, he was also Australian.

Sounds like he had a good idea going there.

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

Do you live in Sparta or something, where blood and gore are an everyday part of school?

You clearly haven't been to a decent public school.