Left For Dead 2: Banned in Australia

[HeartsOfFire]

From Gamepolitics.com, and Gamasutra.

Via Gamasutra comes news that the Australian Government has refused to classify Valve Software’s multiplatform follow up Left 4 Dead 2.

Electronic Arts applied for the rating and was issued a classification of “RC,” for Refused Classification, meaning the game will have to be heavily modified to have any chance of being released in Australia. The ruling (PDF) stated:

These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore.

Australia’s videogame ratings comprise four categories: G (General, very mild content), PG (Parental Guidance Recommended, mild content), M (Mature Audiences, moderate content) and MA15+ (not suitable for people under 15, strong content).

The original Left 4 Dead garnered a MA15+ rating in Australia.

If you're like me and closely follow any sort of video game violence controversy, you'll know this is no surprise. Australia has a history of banning numerous M rated video games on account of extreme violence. One attorney general in Australia is lobbying for a total ban on violent video games both foreign and domestic to 'protect the children.'

[Igottago]

People need to get out of the mindset that all video games are for kids. A huge number of them shouldn't be played by kids at all. Yet, retailers continue to sell M rated games to kids, and parents continue to buy these games for kids. Banning games to "protect the children" makes no sense, becuase these games are not for the children. Its like banning R rated movies. It always irritates me when I hear about kids who play Grand Theft Auto and other mature titles, their parents need to wake up, and retailers should not sell mature titles to kids at all.

[Hemi-Cuda]

it's weird, Australia seems even more right wing than the US, whereas Canada and the UK are quite a bit more left. wonder why that is

[HeartsOfFire]

Originally Posted by Igottago

People need to get out of the mindset that all video games are for kids. A huge number of them shouldn't be played by kids at all. Yet, retailers continue to sell M rated games to kids, and parents continue to buy these games for kids.

Actually, this isn't the case.

Straight from the ESRB website -- http://www.esrb.org/retailers/retail...l.jsp#piechart -- you can see that according to their own information and resources, in 2008, 80% of retailers complied with a non-binding form of discretionary selling, whereby M rated video games would not be sold to minors without parental consent. 75% of those retailers had posted signage stating they adhere to these policies.