It looks as if censors at Australia's Office of Film & Literature Classification have banned yet another violent video game.
games.on.net reports that F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin was refused classification by the OFLC. From the games.on story:
While we have a copy of the RC statement, we're currently waiting to hear back from the Board about the details behind their decisions - as well as comments from publishers Warner Bros about what their plans are now...
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin is the fifth game to have been refused classification in Australia this year - following Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, and Silent Hill: Homecoming which remain effectively banned, as well as Dark Sector and Fallout 3, both of which were later edited and resubmitted for a local release.
As Australia lacks an adult R18+ rating, the view of the Board is that anything unsuitable for a 15 year old is unsuitable for everyone in Australia...
GP: Thanks to GamePolitics reader Ryan for the tip!
Comments
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
img201.imageshack.us/img201/7863/yahtzeeatkinsonpa3.jpg
It can't be put much clearer than that.
*Jack Thompson loves it when people argue with him. He whacks off to it! PLEASE DON'T FEED THE TROLL!*
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
*sigh* And once again, we get screwed over. How long is it until we get a R18+ rating? I'm thinking in a few years, unless a new politician steps up and blocks it (please, no).
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XBOX LIVE GamerTag: Harry Miste | Steam ID: Harry Miste | PSN ID: HMiste | EYE. HAVE. YOU.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Well, I'm just glad that I live in the good ol' U.S. of A. I've been looking forward to this game for over a year. ^^;
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
I feel bad for you guys, F.E.A.R. is a great shooter.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Australians all let us rejoice.
for we are young and CENSORED.
With gold and soil and worthitoile,
our home is girt (surounded) by CENSORSHIP.
Our land abounds in natures gift.
Of beauty rich and CENSORSHIP.
In every page let every state,
Advance Australia CENSORSHIP.
In joyfull straits and let us sing
Advance Australia CENSORSHIP!!!!
I'd thought I should change the Australian National Anthem to better reflect how we are all living in this 'supposed' democratic free country.
Australia is known to be the lucky country, but it is not lucky for those who are videogamers and in the future may not be so lucky for those who want free speech and expression on the internet.
TBoneTony
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Technically Australia does not HAVE free speech. Unlike the USA we have no freedom of speech written into the constitution. This is not really upheld of course, kinda one of those things so that IF they (the government or whoever) really want to they can actually intervene. It may be slightly different on the interweb (as you are refering to) but I am not sure.
I like your adaptation of the national anthem though :)
I went to Europe recently and the one thing I realised is how much a bunch of conservative expletives our people in power are (and the people who vote them in I spose)... Unfortunately most of the people I am in contact with and have met around Oz are completely the opposite...
And in reference to an earlier comment, Australia is well known for our downloading. I think we have one of the highest per capita TV show downloads in the world. In fact our TV stations are trying to advertise that they 'fast-track' shows from the US in an attempt to prevent downloading (otherwise we don't see a new episode for months after it airs in the US). The funny thing being that 'Heroes' is 'fast-tracked' to Oz 18 days after it was aired! I would personally rather watch it that night - and so the cycle continues. Games are downloaded for this reason and also due to the bans like this one and lastly because we pay quite a bit more for the same product here a lot of the time.
Sorry for the long post but as an Australian this stuff really pisses me off.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Incorrect. RC games are illegal to own, import or play in Australia.
This is different to XXX which is illegal to sell in most states but not illegal to own or view (because it has a classification).
In further developments with this deadlock, the attorney general of South Australia (who is the one person blocking this) previous said if people wanted this, he would recant his position.
He then suspended the study in to whether people wanted this indefinitely and is on record saying (paraphrase) "Just because everyone else does it doesn't mean we have to. I'm happy that Australia is making a stand"
One of the people championing the cause is Wyld, a game admin for the ISP Internode (I happen to be a 'node subscriber ; ) who has a bunch of info on this puritanical neo-Luddite...
http://games.on.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=156961
One person forcing their opinion on 22 million.
Combine this with the current governments attempting to censor the internet at the ISP for the entire country (this is probably the best combined wiki resource for info on this BS http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=cleanfeed) and the fact that Australia is one of only a handful of western countries that has made the sale of pornography illegal in most states (although it is entirely legal in the ACT... Australian CAPITOL Territory... Yep, where all the politicians and diplomats are... draw your own conclusions), our leaders are completely out of touch with personal responsibility and instead prefer a moral based nanny state.
We used to describe Australia as "The Lucky Country"...
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
If you're going to "report" on this, please get your facts right!
The OFLC are NOT censors.
They do not go through material and tell the producers of that media to edit this, cut that.
They simply RATE the media in accordance with the standards set up by the government.
It is not their fault there is no rating above M15+
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Saying no go and their decision making it impossible to publish? Sounds like censorship to me.
They can take a stand and either refuse to rate ANYTHING or rate anything M15+ even if it deserves higher.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
No, he is 100% correct, the OFLC are not censors. They are given a list of specifications by the government and rate a game accordingly.
The government are the censors, they come up with the list of what get's by and what doesn't. The OFLC has no discretion in this matter.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
For a place that has huge poisonous spiders, kangaroos that can disembowel a grown man in one kick, and even the patypus is venomous...
You wouldn't expect their government to treat them like a nation of pansies.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Yeah, Australia has so many deadly animals (8 or 9 of the top ten most venemous snakes) that you'd think that the country itself was raging testosterone.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
I'm really surprised we're not seeing massive numbers of Australian gamers moving to the U.S.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Surprise! Another game banned in Australia? Didnt see this coming.
********************
"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedom
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
well callme swimmer against the tide but I always am happy to see banned so poor games, no matter the reason why - excessive gore, excessive bore and lack of ideas or else.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
If you don't care for them, couldn't you just ignore these games on a self? Besides, none of that banned list were actually taking the shallow Manhunt approach. You are missing out on interesting experiences that happen to provide ambience with mature content.
You might want to consider that shrugging off adult games could be that same self-reassurance that single console owners use to not feel bad about missing good titles on other consoles.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
your and the above are really good points that involves freedom, and that are easy to share but sometimes is good also to give a break to things. Are we sure that it is really a good thing to leave mainstream game scene free to push the envelope just to one side? I mean, best selling VGs started with Doom, with pretty ridiculous cartoonish gore, and push by push have reached a thechnical excellence and almost photo realistic blood galore but we still use mouses, joypads and keyboards to play the same stupid plot: gotta shred thousands of foes, activate something, run shoot, explode. Well not such a big leap. We got freaking expensive hardware with a data crunching equivalent to the best mainframes of just 20 years ago and we play stupid games. I thing it need a break and try to turn the sight to other things, dont' you think so?
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
"I thing it need a break and try to turn the sight to other things, dont' you think so?"
You're creating a false dilemma.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
So, you'll be happy when a game you do want to play gets banned? Good luck with that.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
I wonder if there's a huge piracy problem or import rate down there...? Aussie gamers just don't catch a break.
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Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Betcha that GAMETRADERS ROBINA is gonna have a heckuva business jump from this one...
---You are likely to be eaten by a Grue.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
I think there was an article on this site earlier that showed a study that alot of Aussies DO pirate games and has quite the piracy rate.
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong though.
BTW for any Aussies on this site, as someone who doesn't have a grasp of Australian politics or how things totally work down there, is there anything you guys can do get rid of Atkinson/Not keep him as Attorney General or the like?
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
We have to wait for the State elections (should be sometime next year) and vote out the party that put him there. Or rather, convince South Australians to vote out that party.
In the meantime, the debate is getting a fair bit of coverage locally and there's been a heap of letters written not just to Atkinson but also to the other attorney generals. The pressure's getting pretty strong, so hopefully he'll fold sooner, rather than forcing us to wait until election time to get things through.
I'm actually getting a little suspicious that the OFLC is refusing classification for some of these high-profile games simply to keep the outrage up and the pressure on. It seems like many more games are refused classification than what used to be. Have games really become that much more violent as a whole?
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
There are only three ways to get rid of him. Natural eliminatoin (I don't condone this), if the South Australian people vote him out next time or if the Governor General of Australia gives him the boot (this guy has all of the power. He can actually choose not to put laws into effect if it goes against the best wishes of the Crown)
~IMA FIRIN MAH LASER!!!
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
"this guy has all of the power. He can actually choose not to put laws into effect if it goes against the best wishes of the Crown"
What's the point of keeping all the other guys when one guy has omnipresent veto?
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
He can't just veto anything. Australia is still a constitutional monarchy and can't make any laws that massively conflict with England. Ipso facto, the GG is more often than not a rubber-stamp of approval for laws. The only big thing I remember a Governor General doing was remove Gough Whitlam from his position as Prime Minister.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Just think they want to censor the net......there will be blood...
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/what-is-cigital-disobedience/
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Sometimes I think US Politicians are divorced from reality, and then another news story about Australia pops up. It's not even like they're on some moral crusade, or purposfully tanking an industry. They're just up and out clueless. I'm gonna have to watch that video again of those Australian politicians defending their bans by saying "i'm not for censorship, but I believe in these bans".
/facepalm
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
You can't really call it cluelessness. The one guy blocking the R18 rating knows average age of game players is around 30 years old. The guy knows the majority of the adult populous wants an R18 rating. Yet he chooses to not allow it, because he doesn't want it.
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
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E. Zachary Knight
Divine Knight Gaming
Random Tower: Game News and Commentary
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
see i dont get how that doesnt completely fly in the face of an apaprent democracy. Surely ppl can see this can can get him out. He should be there to represent the people, not himself.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Only children 15 and under play video games, DUH! /sarcasm
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Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Correction, I watched 1/2 of the video again, and my brain started to hurt, so I stopped. Seriously... how can people be this stupid...
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
ugh another game banned. This is just so idiotic its untrue. Just because its not suitable for a 15 year old it isnt suitable for anyone.
Last time i checked 15 year olds couldnt drive cars in OZ. So doesn't that mean they should ban everyone from over 15 from driving cars too? I mean.. itd be hypocrisy otherwise right?
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
This is what happens when you let one man make the decisions for the entire nation.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
The blood effects look AMAZING. :D
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Lets bow our heads in silence for another good game that those poor souls won't be able to play. Do the right thing and either move to a different country or protest!
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Or by der spiel from amazon? Az far as ich know, das is not illegal seeing as it ist technically nicht banned in ze country.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
This has to be the stupidest persona ever.
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
Could be wose like a game anzi that goes nuts over game qaulity...in german(insted of zippyspeak...)...
I is fuzzy brained mew =^^=
http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/
(in need of a bad overhaul)
I have a dream, break the chains of copy right oppression! http://zippydsmlee.wordpress.com/2011/12/31/what-is-cigital-disobedience/
Re: Report: F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin Banned Down Under
You hurt mein feelings, now ich will crawl up in ze corner, crying in ein fetal position. Ze fuhrer of ze gaylord have come to stay.