Update: Saints Row IV Ditches Drugs To Gain Aussie Blessing

[Grant Delmore]

So how come they can allow GTA Chinatown Wars to feature drugs predominately in an MA15+ title but Saints Row have to clean up drugs for an R18+ game?
Screw this shit, The new rating was supposed to give us adults the freedom to play games made for us, i really think they should try to fight back legally as they could easily show they are being treated differently.
Honestly we need a whole new rating organisation because the ESRB is either bias or just stupid.

 

[Something Amyss]

Turns out "drug use related to incentives and rewards is not permitted," as the ACB put it when the R18+ was denied, is the only element that had to be dropped.

Huh. So all those people telling me I was wrong...And I wasn't. Go figure.

It's OK.

Even if the drug mission is cut from the game entirely, there's still plenty of drugs to be had in the real world.

So relax...

And all is right in the world. I mean, rampant drug use is okay as long as you don't depict it in a video game.

 

[chuckman1]

This is why I'll never move to Australia. Your guys government are douchey enough that the Egyptian military would've led a coupe. I hate the overarching control of us government but at least we MOSTLY have games freely released.

Yeah fuck important things like healthcare the economy and the of state of life our government banned 9 game and that make us worse than North Korea.

Is somebody a jingo? True I'm sure you have better healthcare, education, and economy than me but I can freely purchase more games. I wish the US government would improve but that seems..unlikely. I never even compared you to North Korea. New Zealand would be more my style though, especially if the population was bigger.

 

[Your Fearless Captain]

Is the edited version worldwide, or just for Oz?

Gaming has always been fucked up here, but i don't think we have ever managed to ruin it for everyone before.

The only thing that comes to mind was in Fallout 3 Morphine was changed to Med-X world wide. Not much of a change if you ask me.

 

[Vault Citizen]

I hope that it remains uncut for the rest of the world, there is no reason to let the Australian ratings system hold everyone else back.

 

[McFazzer]

The update implies it is just for Australia, since we can't co-op with the rest of the world due to the changes.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

So when will the Aussies finally grab the torches and pitchforks and get rid of these jackasses "ruling" them?

We're too busy ignoring them and finding new ways of working around their bullshit to bother.

Maybe after footy season (both codes) is finished.

 

[Doclector]

So, yeah, that update...dickish. Real dickish. But let us all remember this isn't Deep Silver's fault. This is the fault of the backwards old fucks in charge of the australian ratings system. Direct your anger. Channel it, let it flow through you.

 

[mad825]

Do we at least get a replacement mission? If not, then screw this game off.

Solution: import a version of the game from a country with a less retarded censor-boner...hmmm I can't in good conscience argue that the US or UK governments are less idiotic than the government that is found in Australia but at least, I guess, the US government didn't feel the need to mandate censorship of this particular game. So yeah, import the US version.

Video game censorship is no longer done by UK bureaucrats, PEGI is a third-party censoring board which is even worse because the UK itself does not have strict censorship laws as other European countries like Germany who are worse than us. They say that they'll judge games on a individual basis but it has been known to be inconsistent with BBFC's ruling, being stricter.

Feel free to call our censorship board retarded, it really is. Want to know how stupid it is? Even Germany hasn't forced an altered version be sold in their country and in the past they have been more strict on games than Australia.

Citation needed.

There have been reports [http://ps3imports.org/forum/index.php?/topic/1317-saints-row-the-third-differences/] that SR3 was edited therefore one could assume SR4 will be no different. USK and PEGI do not officially mention cuts.

EDIT: It is likly that this game will be region locked because of this excuse. There will be a least one country in Europe will have an edited version under PEGI's ruling.

 

[Roxas1359]

I hope that it remains uncut for the rest of the world, there is no reason to let the Australian ratings system hold everyone else back.

It is. Someone on Game Anyone received a reviewer's copy of the game and is doing a walkthrough of it right now actually. He's doing the PC version as well.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

So when will the Aussies finally grab the torches and pitchforks and get rid of these jackasses "ruling" them?

We're too busy ignoring them and finding new ways of working around their bullshit to bother.

Maybe after footy season (both codes) is finished.

hell, since it's getting an Australian release, cant you guys just import it from non-censored countries?


I know Germany has laws against importing censored games from uncensored Austria, but I'm pretty sure Grey Importing is in full swing with Australia.

The answer is Yes, No and Shhhhhhhhh...

The biggest obstacle is how committed the publisher/distributor is to towing the line. If they're committed to towing the line then they could add a lot of region locked bollocks which would fuck up imports... No use trying a grey import if that's the case (on consoles anyway - pc is a different story).

As for importing foreign versions of a game... ennnh... honestly, if the game isn't RC (refused classification) and you're not blatant about it (as in ordering 10+ copies or getting 'fuck you, ACB' scrawled on the box), you'd be massively unlucky to have customs seize the game.

As for grey importing being in full swing... not really, it's just not that big a thing in Australia... or I should say that most people who import aren't paying attention to legalities, they're doing it to save money.

The people you should feel sympathy for are NZ gamers. Their classification board isn;t half as retarded as the ACB but often get stuck with the Australian versions anyway (unless the game is RC in Australia) because apparently a lot of distributors either don't know or don't care that NZ is a seperate country.

(big ups to my kiwi bros)

 

[Sack of Cheese]

The answer is Yes, No and Shhhhhhhhh...

The biggest obstacle is how committed the publisher/distributor is to towing the line. If they're committed to towing the line then they could add a lot of region locked bollocks which would fuck up imports... No use trying a grey import if that's the case (on consoles anyway - pc is a different story).

As for importing foreign versions of a game... ennnh... honestly, if the game isn't RC (refused classification) and you're not blatant about it (as in ordering 10+ copies or getting 'fuck you, ACB' scrawled on the box), you'd be massively unlucky to have customs seize the game.

As for grey importing being in full swing... not really, it's just not that big a thing in Australia... or I should say that most people who import aren't paying attention to legalities, they're doing it to save money.

The people you should feel sympathy for are NZ gamers. Their classification board isn;t half as retarded as the ACB but often get stuck with the Australian versions anyway (unless the game is RC in Australia) because apparently a lot of distributors either don't know or don't care that NZ is a seperate country.

(big ups to my kiwi bros)

About PC, some people said US Amazon's digital code works for them, or if someone from overseas were to "gift" you the game via Steam. If Amazon code works, I'd assume imported UK version will work as well.
Although, ozgameshop cancelled my preorder on assumption that this wouldn't work, and there was L4D2 where AU Steam prevents people from redeeming overseas copy.

 

[SSJBlastoise]

Citation needed.

There have been reports [http://ps3imports.org/forum/index.php?/topic/1317-saints-row-the-third-differences/] that SR3 was edited therefore one could assume SR4 will be no different. USK and PEGI do not officially mention cuts.

EDIT: It is likly that this game will be region locked because of this excuse. There will be a least one country in Europe will have an edited version under PEGI's ruling.

Sure do! And past cases seem to have little relevance (when it comes to games). I remember the first time I played Mortal Kombat 9 after it was unbanned and the whole time I was thinking; "this got banned? there is barely any difference between this and other MK games I've played".

Germany is getting the full game, uncut. When, Germany, a country renowned for its censorship of games allows a game to be sold unaltered and Australia appears to be the only country that has an issue with the game it indicates that our system is pretty flawed.

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Apparently the 'narcotics' involved were tied into the superpowers you can get.

What about the likes of FarCry 3? Or did I imagine all those drug hallucinations?

Lets also hope everyones favorite plumber doesn't get banned as well.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

Why does that matter?! I think anyone that is 18+ gets what drugs are about, so why censor it? The government isn't a nanny that can tell us what's wrong and what's right...

I'm not defending censorship, but there are plenty of people over the age of 18 who don't understand drugs.

 

[Aardvaarkman]

So when will the Aussies finally grab the torches and pitchforks and get rid of these jackasses "ruling" them?

Perhaps when the living conditions and economy in Australia gets as bad as it is in places like, say, the USA or Greece? At the moment, there are few (if any) better places to live.

EDIT: New Zealand is probably a better place to live than Australia. Can't think of any others, though.

 

[Antitonic]

Why does that matter?! I think anyone that is 18+ gets what drugs are about, so why censor it? The government isn't a nanny that can tell us what's wrong and what's right...

I'm not defending censorship, but there are plenty of people over the age of 18 who don't understand drugs.

What comparison rates are there though? How many people would be considered a large enough percentage of a population that the government would need to treat them like children? If it's less than 50%, then it's a minority, and in theory the majority would have the power. But hey, if there's one thing the Australian government does well, it's bending over backwards to please a minority.