Valve responds to Left 4 Dead 2 banning.

Valve (developers of the Left 4 Dead franchise, as well as Half-Life and Portal) have responded to the OFLC refusing to classify their upcoming zombie experience, Left 4 Dead 2. Spokesman Doug Lombardi gave a statement:

"We were surprised to hear of this news yesterday. Obviously, everyone at Valve is pretty bummed. It would be a shame if folks in Australia, or anywhere else, are unable to purchase Left 4 Dead 2 because of a ratings issue."

Right. Not exactly the kind of response we were hoping for. By the tone of Lombardi's response, it doesn't seem like they are too bothered by it. More like a "That's bad, but who cares?" type statement really.

This sucks. You know what sucks even more? That the Australian government and the OFLC will get away with it. Nothing will happen. No matter how many irate people write letters or 14-year-old fat kids turn up on the doorstep of Michael Atkinson dressed as Zangief, the general public won't be able to change a fucking thing.

NO.

I'm too depressed to continue talking about this subject at the moment. More news as it comes to hand...

Left 4 Dead 2 banned in Australia.

"The game contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons under 18 years to play,"

I'm shocked at this. I really am.

This country's backward and draconian classification board, the Office of Film and Literature Classification, have refused to classify one of the most anticipated games of Q4 2009, Left 4 Dead 2.

That makes four games now for this year. But that aside, a sequel to Left 4 Dead being banned in this country (and only this country) is truly shocking. The first game was critically-acclaimed for it's depiction of the impending zombie apocalypse and sold through the roof. The OFLC have put forth their reasons for this and there are as follows:

Violence is “inflicted upon ‘the Infected’ who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently.”

Melee weapons that “inflict the most damage” and cause “copious amounts of blood spray and splatter (sic), decapitations and limb dismemberment… or even cause intestines to spill from the wounds.”

"The interactive nature of the game increases the overall impact of the frequent and intense depictions of violence. This coupled with the graphic depictions of blood and gore combine to create a playing impact which is high.”

“a minority of the Board is of the opinion that the violence is strong in playing impact and therefore warrants an MA15+ classification” 

I can't really think straight with the amount of frustration and rage bubbling up inside me at the moment. I'll report on further developments as they come to hand. Let me leave you with this image while I calm down a bit...

2 quick reasons why Australia is a joke.

Ladies and gents, if you weren't already aware, this great southern land of ours is constantly getting screwed. In the world of video games, it is viewed as a retarded backwater, a behind-the-times place generally regarded as something to scoff at. The world gaming community is laughing at us and for good reason. Who's causing this unjust amusement? Well, there's two culprits. One, an old arch-enemy. And another, which we should have seen coming.

1. THE OFLC IS AT IT AGAIN.

My old nemesis, the Office of Film and Literature Classification, has struck again. A German RPG by the name of Risen has just been banned.

Yeah, I hadn't heard of it either.

Game studio Deep Silver has had their RPG refused classification in Australia by the OFLC (making it the third game for 2009) and the reasons are as follows:

"During the course of the game, players can interact with prostitutes (referredto as "whores" in the game) at a local brothel. Players can trigger a lengthy dialogue to engage in their services; sexual activity is strongly implied, but never depicted on screen. Many of the characters in the game smoke a fictional drug called "brugleweed." The "wood reefer" plant is described as having a mild relaxing effect on users, and can be bought, sold, and used by players."

Implied sexuality and fictional drugs? Look at these titles above. You let these two games pass in the last 12 months and they have both those things in them. I mean, Jesus Christ, look at this...

...GTA Chinatown Wars had a drug-dealing mini-game in it for fuck's sake! With real names for the drugs!

Head of the Games Developers Association of Australia Tom Crago had a few choice words...

Well it’s a joke isn’t it?  We are once again caught in this awful, ridiculous web of the antiquated classification system...  Here in Australia the sooner that changes, the better; it is obviously a battle to ensure common sense prevails.  We will get there eventually, but in the meantime as gamers in Australia we suffer, and to be honest we are embarrassed at how backward our government is...

The biggest problem we have here in Australia is that we don’t have an R classification for video games...  It’s ridiculous because it assumes that games are fundamentally different to film and outrageous in that it assumes that adults shouldn’t be allowed to access adult content in video games...  

We are the butt of a lot of jokes; I travel, obviously a lot, talking to other developers and publishers and people cannot believe it that we still have this ridiculous system here in Australia, designed twenty or thirty years ago, and hasn’t changed since... [South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson] is of course the problem... clearly this is a guy that doesn’t get it, and to be honest, I don’t think, ever will get it...

2. MICROSOFT WANTS TO ROB US BLIND

Last night, the new update to the Xbox 360 dashboard launched and added a few new features. In addition to the ability to now spend actual hard earned money on avatar clothing (both Adidas and Quiksilver have got their claws in already), one of the new features was Games On Demand. A service allowing you to purchase and download full Xbox 360 games straight onto your hard drive. Cool right? Well, hold onto your hats...

Bioshock - $49.95

Call Of Duty 2 - $49.95

Kameo - $29.95

Mass Effect - $99.95 <---RIGHT HERE! LOOK AT THIS SHIT HERE!

Oblivion - $49.95

Perfect Dark Zero - $29.95

Prey - $29.95

Rockstar Table Tennis - $69.95 

SEGA Rally - $49.95

Viva Pinata - $29.95

Viva Pinata:Trouble In Paradise - $69.95

All these are in Australian prices. Harrowing Australian prices. Mass Effect in the US is listed $20 which is $24 Australian. Which is pretty close to what you can actually buy the full retail game for now in Australia anyway if you look hard enough.

Xbox Australia has responded with some non-committal tripe...

"No one retailer has the lowest pricing for every product, and our program is about giving people 24 x 7 convenience and selection when shopping for Xbox 360 games. We’re incredibly excited about what Games on Demand means for digital distribution, and will continue to evaluate and evolve the service to meet market and consumer demands."

So there you go kids. Enjoy your day. Try not to kill anything.