ok, with weeks upon the release of the Sequel to the very popular First Person Shooter by Valve, Australian Government's Classification Board, who filter games and movies and practically every media that comes to australia, have effectively BANNED Left 4 Dead 2.
which begs the question - why was it banned?
a statement released by the Classification Board says that it refused to classify L4D2 on the grounds that it has "realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence".
realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence on ZOMBIES~!
right, so the last L4D didnt have that? it's the same damn gameplay (albeit with some changes in weaponry, characters, graphics and story). but come on, it's practically the same game. High Emphasis on GAME.
there's so much argument on the whole "Video Games influence children to commit acts of violence" but all we hear are those prudish people who think any source of enjoyment is a chance for the children of the future to be corrupted by.
but i'm straying from the topic, which is - why the hell the Australian Govt. wont allow this game to be sold here.
y'see australia's got a classification system here that ranges from "G" for General to MA15+ - Mature Audiences 15yrs and Older and sometimes R18+ (Restricted for 18yrs+).
we've got all that in our movies and what not but our Games stop at MA15+.
so anything that is classified over MA15 is theoretically banned from getting into the country. i dont get it - what's the difference from watching an R18+ Movie and playing a similarly classified game?
is it because you "get to do" those R18+ type things? i dont know - all i know is, i sure ain't out in the street gunning down civilians just because i played Counter Strike.
so okay; you tell me if it's sold here in australia - children can buy this game and be influenced with gory violence early on in life.
well that's why we need the 18+ classification; a child cant buy a certain game unless he proves that he's 18 and over, and if an adult buys it for him/her then it's that Adult's decision and responsibility.
what im saying is - game developers work to the bone and when they end up releasing to Australia or some other country they lose a majority of their audience because that country banned it, and not alot of sales mean not alot of money in the pockets of those hard working developers, coders, illustrators, and every one workin in that industry.
another Game released recently was Fallout 3 and it was banned because it had a bit in the game where you can buy drugs (which were correctly named) and use them in the game.
to be able to be released here in Australia they had to set back the release and rename all of the drugs so they didnt match their real life counter parts.
and it was allowed to be sold here.
do they think we're stupid? it's DRUGS. no matter what the name is it's gonna do your body some harm.
so i guess the only way L4D2 is gonna get released here in Aus is if they turn down the violence or the gore or something stupid like that.
it's not gonna be the same game experience, and it feels like you're drinking a heavily watered down glass of Kool-aid or Cordial or Juice;
tasteless.
