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Valve appeals Australian L4D2 rating
Author: Joe MartinPublished: 25th September 2009
Valve has formally appealed the fact that Left 4 Dead 2 has been refused a rating in Australia, effectively banning it.
The Australian rating body refused to rate the game over concerns about the frequent and intense violence, which a minority of the board believed made the game unsuitable for some audiences. The highest rating the Australian government gives is a MA 15+ and the board has been frequently criticised for not having a higher rating tier for 18+ or AO content.
Because Left 4 Dead 2 has been refused a rating, it is illegal to sell the game in Australia - meaning the game is effectively banned. Valve is now appealing that decision, requesting the same MA 15+ rating that was previously given to Left 4 Dead 1.
The game, which is due out on November 17th, has already been rated in most territories and Valve has supplied a list of how the game is currently rated.
COMPLETED RATINGS
PEGI (continental Europe) - 18+
ESRB (North America) - M
CERO (Japan) -Z (corresponds to Mature in US)
IFCO (Ireland) - Approved the title for classification.
USK (Germany) - 18+
Singapore - Mature 18
FPB (South Africa) - 18+
KGRB (Korea) -18+
PENDING RATINGS
OLFC New Zealand - In progress.
BBFC (UK) - In progress.
OFLC Australia - Refused to rate on September 17. Appealed September 23
Let us know your thoughts in the forums and check out our latest Left 4 Dead 2 hands-on preview for more info about the game.
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no your definately not. Honestly you think the people banning all this stuff would grow up a bit, im all for protecting young kids from senseless violence etc but jesus, when an adult wants to shoot some zombies on his pc for fun with mates, just let them get on with it.
Give games ratings, enforce them, problem solved. Those that get all "Nooooooooooooooooooooes make killers etc" should be slapped, a lot.
Penn and Teller did a recent episodes on Videogames that I think most of those ranting about how evil games are should watch.
bulls eye ;)
Germany's rating system is maybe the best in theory. Put into practice though it has a lot of flaws, yet I still have to say that if every country was as strict as Germany on this topic we would a lot less confusion and arguing.
L4D + frying pan bouncing off zombie face = not rated
Hmmm.
Mary Whitehouse alive and living in Aus in would seem.
Trivialising the issue by implying L4D1 and L4D2 have the same level of violence doesn't help. L4D2 has more gore, and they use it as a selling point.
The lowest rating for this game in the world is 17, for Australian ratings board to think it inappropriate for a 15 year old is not unreasonable. What is unreasonable is the fact that they have no rating higher than 15, but that isn't the fault of the classification board itself as they have no control over the legislation that governs them. I'm personally amazed at the number of titles they let slip through with the MA 15+ rating, but I feel like L4D2 is pushing the limits. I doubt the appeal will have any effect.
I'm sorry, didn't mean to upset you.
The amount of gore is actually relatively the same, just that the infected don't always die when an arm gets dismembered, unlike L4D1
What? Why would you guess that? And do you always think someone is upset if they don't agree with you? I accept your apology though, no offence was taken.
"The axe cant go unexplained either. Its utterly brutal, and shows off the Infecteds newly regioned vulnerability. Swing it low and you can slice off a zombies legs, letting them collapse horribly to the ground, bleeding out of their fresh stumps. Or maybe swipe off either arm. Or most horrendously of all, remove a face.
This same gore is achievable with all the weapons, with new ragdoll deaths for the throngs, to make their entrail-spilling, armpit-dribbling, face-exploding ways all the more entertaining. There were many gasps and cries of OH GOOD GRIEF! as we played, the strings of guts slopping wildly into the air, or as mentioned above, the faceless leaking mess suddenly bursting like a blood-filled balloon as the Infected fell to the floor. Its awesome."
Most previews I've read have mentioned an increase in gore, and from gameplay footage of the axe I'd agree. Apparently so does the Australian censorship board.
Oooh... VIDS PLZ! :D
That sounds awesome
Wow...sounds like they did some nice tune-up work on the source engine.
Is that trivialising again? :S
Sorry, I just wanted to air my opinion, hope that doesn't offend too much.
My thoughts also.
I don't think I've ever been offended or angered while arguing a point on the internet, you really don't need to apologise. Your original post had a common misconception that I rebutted, it was nothing personal. I'm sorry if you took it badly.
I suspect Valve will release a scaled back version for Aussies. In theory, all they have to do is removed half the blood spray and change to the old death animations. Gameplay shouldn't need to be changed at all. Which is good, because then Aussies get their game and anyone who cares about the way it was meant to be played can still import. The common public probably won't even know there's a difference. But that's also bad because just circumventing a problem isn't going to make it go away. It'll be there until at least the next election, sigh.
unfortunately, the general elections for who gets to sit in parliament won't help with this, as the classifications are done by the Attorneys General, of which there is one in particular (Michael Atkinson, in South Australia) who is blocking the introduction of R18+ for games. Every time this comes up, it introduces a whole new slew of emails and letters to him. In a group of these emails that were posted during the time Fallout 3 was refused classification, it seems that Michael Atkinson doesn't believe an R18+ rating could be regulated well enough in stores, despite fines for the offending store already being in place for the sale of MA15+ games to those under 15.
Unfortunately, even the import option is somewhat problematic - L4D2 will most likely use Steam to verify the Product Key/Installer which will effectively result in Steam 'locking' you out from your game as it is "not available in your region."