So, as we all know by know, Australia banned Left 4 Dead 2 because the OFLC rating board is tied to archaic and outdated regulations. Australian fans will be pleased to know that L4D2 has now been approved for the country, but that a number of heavy edits have been made to achieve the MA15+ rating that all games need.
"The game no longer contains depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment," reports News.com.au. "No wound detail is shown and the implicitly dead bodies and blood splatter disappear as they touch the ground."
Ouch. Hardly seems like Left 4 Dead at all, does it? Valve is still appealing the original decision, and hopes that eventually an unedited version will appear. In the meantime, however, it seems like Australian gamers have been screwed over once again, all because some random guy wants to make decisions for them.
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Contest:
8:20 AM on 10.08.2009
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I'm sure Valve could easily just give aussie gamers a patch option via Live, to put the stuff back in again.
If in doubt, just import it.
why not just sell this as it is, and offer the missing pieces as free DLC?
Problem solved, just a minor hassle.
Somehow I imagine the ratings board having more of an issue with violently shooting the hell out of a hoard of cute bunny rabbits then zombies.
Granted, her threshold of game gore is pinata breaking in Viva Pinata.
So...take that as you will.
or is that too technical for anyone in that country?
I guess they deserve it for what Josef Fritzl did!
I expect Australians will get a good version somehow.
It depends on what kind of game we are talking about. In a game where the point is to survive a zombie invasion by killing people with guns and melee items, yes the gore is important. No, it won't ruin the game by a long shot, but it IS important.
I for one won't be buying the game in it's edited state. I don't doubt that modders will release a fix soon after the game is out, but until then I'll spend my time with Uncharted 2 and Borderlands.
Does anyone else think the standard PC version will be downloaded like crazy over there?
Fritzl was from Austria, not Australia. Those two are very far apart :P
So happy I'm in America.
HaHa, you know I never really thought of that.
Maybe il pitch this idea to valve for left 4 dead 3
I do feel sorry for the Germans though. EVERY single game containing blood or violence gets BANNED.
Or did my brain make this up so I would stop feeling sad? Lol
That's good. Any Aussies don't want to take a chance on a patch can import from NZ.