Silent Hill: Homecoming is Banned Down Under
Silent Hill: Homecoming is Banned Down Under
September 26, 2008
GameSpot reports that Konami's upcoming Silent Hill: Homecoming has fallen victim to Australia's notoriously ban-happy censors.
Silent Hill: Homecoming thus joins Dark Sector, Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, and Fallout 3 among the ranks of games which were refused classification (i.e. a rating) in 2008. Dark Sector and Fallout 3 managed to get back on board, however, after making edits.
From the GameSpot story:
An Atari spokesman (Atari is the local distributor for Konami titles) confirmed the game banning to GameSpot AU, saying that Australia's Classification Board found issue with the high impact of Silent Hill's violence. Examples used by the Board in its report include copious blood spray in the game, decapitations, partially dismembered corpses, numerous scenes of attacks, fights, torture, and death.
The spokesman said plans for Homecoming's Australian release are now "on the backburner until early next year" pending discussions with Konami to see if any changes can be made to accommodate Australia's classification regime.
Silent Hill: Homecoming is scheduled for North American release on September 30th.
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Posted 11/20/09 at 05:42pm
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
ZippyDSMlee: oh may the cute stab out your eyes, http://www.youtube.com/user/simonscat
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:17pm
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
JDKJ: O.K. Suit yourself. But when you're wearing Ray-Bans, sitting on a curb with a white cane and a cup of pencils, and doing Stevie Wonder impersonations, don't say I didn't warn you.
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:10pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No thank you I don;t want your cooties...or STDs...
Posted 11/20/09 at 05:01pm
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
JDKJ: Me. I'm rehearsing the role just in case I do get dubbed Zippy The Soecnda.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:59pm
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
DarkSaber: Wait, is that meant to be Zippy, me or you?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:49pm
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
JDKJ: I cud caer lez. =^^= *wakes up in mid-afternoon after staying up until 3:00AM soldering resistors on to circuit boards, stumbles around in formerly white but now grey underwear, while simultaneously scratching groin with vigor and making coffee*
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:46pm
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
DarkSaber: knell? Don't you mean Neil? Anymore of tht and I'll dub thee Zippy The Soecnda
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:44pm
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
JDKJ: Now, now, Saber. Don't be salty. You weren't the first one to knell and bob and you ain't gonna be the last one, either.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:42pm
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
DarkSaber: JD's feeling rather desperate it seems.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:33pm
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
JDKJ: C'mon, Zip. You already touch yourself way too much. Spread the love. Before you go blind.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:27pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
ZippyDSMlee: JD:No and I ain't touching any part of you or your friends!! :P
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:25pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Lik Mitaint?
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
ZippyDSMlee: neill and bob,oldest giveing head joke and most lamest...
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
JDKJ: But thanks for the memory. MIB's a classic. *sings* "Here come the Men in Black. Galaxy defenders. Here come the Men in Black. They won't let you remember."
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:18pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
ZippyDSMlee: JD:for the record I told you you can suck your own dck.
Posted 11/20/09 at 04:07pm
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
JDKJ: Naw, man. That's Mueedeegiaap and Bob. And you can stop bobbing. I got Zippy bobbing now, too.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:56pm
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
DarkSaber: OH I get it now! It's Men In Black quote! The twins that run the comm centre in HQ.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:49pm
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
JDKJ: I'd like to introduce you to them. First, Neil. Then, Bob.
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:47pm
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
ZippyDSMlee: JD:I know they are intimate friends of yours...
Posted 11/20/09 at 03:44pm
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
JDKJ: @Zip: You know Neil and Bob?
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Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Game Politics and Game Politics logo are trademarks of the ECA.
Comments
Arg, at the Aussie prom that scaly wag of a date plundered my ship. Arrrrr.
Yee horrors needs be taughts a lesson in manors, by walking the plank!
*takes note that international talk like a pirate day was last week, but doesn't care*
Aye thy blubbering scum be taking all our games and throwing them overboard. We need to fight those scurvy dogs and have their ihdes for breakfast. Avast, man the port side cannons and let's give them a good broadise. Arr.
Remember remember the 25th of September. Twas the day Jack Thompson was disbarred (although he is still a lawyer till October).
Dang it, color me stupid... I like it so much that I can't get enough of it.... There should be a zero punctuation day, haha. I think we may need to make the day Spore was released the game industry pirate day, and keep celebrating the FSM one as well.... hummmm.
This is terrible news. Obviously it's bad for gamers, Australia, and the whole "games r teh evil" campaign, and the topic is going to be freaking flooded with masked xenophobia by the time I've finished typing this. But moreover it's bad news for Silent Hill fans:
If Silent Hill: Homecoming is too violent, then it's probably not a good Silent Hill.
Woe. If anyone needs me, I'll be at Toluca Lake, drowning my sorrows.
I think they're fretting over the whole "bodies hanging in cages, bloody and torn to pieces" stuff you see in Silent Hill, not exactly the interactive violence. After all, most violent scenes involve monsters getting beaten or shot, or you getting hit. The only effect of such confrontations are the blood.
I'm all for Silent Hill, always, and the ban-happy classification board in australia is certainly not worthy of confidence, since they single out video games for banning. So... screw them. I just hope they don't water down the game for everybody, like Fallout 3, because the rating board members are a bunch of sissies and want everything being fairy-like and for the children. Dammit, Silent Hill is a disturbing game, it's for ADULTS.
Anyway, they wouldn't get that concept even if it was somehow embedded in a sledgehammer and bash on their heads until it entered their skulls (probably would work, since their thick heads must only serve to hold vaccuum between their ears, so it's easier to enter),
What I find funny about this is the fact that porn apprently gets a rateing. But silent hill and fallout dont.... Huh that makes sence surly. I am for rates. Yes i am even for some bans (or no rateing), for intence if a gamer were to show something really disgusting and violent, ie rape, sexually/torture exe. But to my knowlege these games didn't inclub anything particularly violent and really advencesive. So then y the bad?
And Saw movies... just wanted to add that in there with porn.
You know some porn features secenes of sexual torture and (faked) rape. I'm not sure how much there is of that (although if you listen to anti-porn crusaders, you'd think that was the only porn that exists).
I'm not for banning games with rape and whatnot, if rape of pixels disturbs you, then you can avoid looking at that stuff. Some people like really disgusting stuff but I'm pretty sure those people are a small enough minority that you'd rarely see that stuff for sale in your day to day travels.
Remember remember the 25th of September. Twas the day Jack Thompson was disbarred.
I know i am going to sound like JT when i write this.... But it not so much that it offend me. But rather the danger it has. How do the police know it not real? I know with a game you dont have this problem and their are way to tell but but still i dont know i just thing that kind of hate speach agaist women or anyone for that matter should not be allowed. And even if you dont think do it would still come under the superm court rule about absence miteral. But my real point was about porn geting a rateing and any game not.
Hmmmmmmm
If Konami follows through with their plans to release this on Steam, how precisely is it going to stop anyone from obtaining it?
Steam can lock different regions out of being able to buy games and have different prices for them.
For example, this weekend there's a sale on of 50% off Rockstar games. In the USA, you can buy Max Payne or GTA3 for $5. Here in the UK, they cost $7. In Australia, they're not even available.
When Ubisoft released their entire catalogue onto Steam, it was only available in North America.
Unless you change your IP with a program, or ping it all through certain web servers out there across the world...
People need to stop whining over it and work to stop the bannings.
--- Official Protector of Videoland!
Does this ban included places like GAMETRADERS ROBINA?
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Okay, I swear that Konami had better not pull a Sega and have the game altered to have it sold in Australia. When it comes to the censorship of games like Manhunt 2 it is more the principle of the matter. Silent Hill on the other hand is one of my favorite series.
So, when is a game company going to stand up for themselves and just not release a game in countries where they get banned?
I mean, if a game company has a highly anticipated game coming out and a ratings board won't give it a rating or gives it an AO, when will a company just say, "Well, sorry fans. If you want to get this game, take it up with the respective ratings board/government/Sony,Nintendo,Microsoft. We will not alter the experience we want you to have, just to make whiny ban happy babies feel better."
Australia needs to take these bans to task. Get that stupid AG to allow an 18 rating.
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony need to stop the hypocracy of allowing 18 rated games on their consoles in other countries but not the US.
We need some game companies with the balls to stand up to censor happy jerks like this.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
MySpace Page: http://www.myspace.com/okceca
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I agree with your sentiment, EZK. That's what companies SHOULD do. But they won't, because they don't want to risk losing markets. And also, the asshole censors would think "That's right, we don't want your evil games in our country". It's hard to do what's right... money talks first, hipocrisy too.
No, No don't do that they'll claim victory. Do what I suggested a while back. Basically put a disclaimer on the censored version that says something along the lines of.
"We wanted to make a cool game for adults, we wanted to deal with some mature subjects but the tyrannical censors [insert the names of the guys stopping a 18+ rating here], and the Austrailian government forced us to censor the game. Apparently they don't think Austrailians are mature enough to handle pixels on a TV screen and insist that they be watered down to suit their taste. [Next screen]We wanted to make a mature game, but these guys forced us to change that [list names and addresses of politicians and whatnot who are trying to stop 18+ rating, (that is if the addresses are a matter of public record)]."
Now if every censored game had that message I'm sure you'd see more results.
Remember remember the 25th of September. Twas the day Jack Thompson was disbarred.
This is so utterly stupid, this is a HORROR game it is supposed to be disturbing and violent. Do they expect it NOT to be dark and scary? I find this wierd that they let the previous games pass since they all had extreme violence and disturbing imagery as well.
I don't find it wierd. Silent Hill: Homecoming is the first "next-gen" title in the series so it's graphics will be of higher quality than previous games in the series.
That doesn't mean anything. Just because the graphics are higher quality doesn't make it more shocking then the other game. The Silent Hill series has always been one of the most disturbing and twisted game series in existance, this appears to be nothing more then a knee-jerk reaction due to the current climate with the relase of GTAIV.
The graphics may not make the content more shocking but it does mean that everything will look more realistic. I'm also not sure how GTAIV is relevant to this case as the issue with that was sex, not violence.
Another redundant Aussie game ban, wheeeee~
Well, at the very least, they can still import it on the cheap(er) a la GTA IV, right? And any PS3 can play it.
Michael Atkinson is the man that's blocking the introduction of an R18+ rating, I'm not sure where you got Simon Atkins from.
I hopelessly made a major blunder of naming a wrong name. Similar last names can be confusing sorry about that everyone
Well that sucks. What sucks more is that I can't help in any way, shape, or form. Sorry.
-Remember kids, personal responsibility is for losers! For information on games and psychology, look up: Jonathan Freedman(2002)Block & Crain(2007) Just to name a few...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSQ2cpkCXss