Gaming World Forums
General Category => Entertainment and Media => Topic started by: hobomasterxxx on July 10, 2008, 10:47:09 am
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Fallout 3 has been banned in Australia. And it's not because of violence... It's because of drug use. This pisses me off to no end, considering now my main reason for buying a 360 is gone. Here is basically the reason they wont let ti come out here-
"The player can also select and use 'Morphine' (a proscribed drug) which has the positive effect of enabling the character to ignore limb pain when the character's extremities are targeted by the enemy."
The highest rating allowed in Australia for video games is MA 15+. Hence, any game with material the OFLC deems inappropriate for children under 15 will not receive classification. So yeah, what are your thoughts on this?
P.S.
This guy made an excellent point
Make your head explode for ingame drug abuse = wrong
Make 10 heads explode with a sniper rifle = achievment unlocked!
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yeah This has shitted me abit,
But hey, Dark Sector was banned (recently Raped and unbanned) and i have a copy of that from ebay,
PLUS it was cheaper than if i bought it retail.
Moral of the story,
When Australia's rating systems and the global market tries to rape you, Order it online.
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Yeah that's gay but just order it online
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Just as a matter of interest, do you guys in australia have violent films shunned too or are they just targeting video games because of politicians who are looking for some sort of argument get stuck into?
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just videogames, Films are fine, although at the moment there is this whole deal going on about child nudity in photography, but that is another issue completely.
As i recall, They were trying to bring the R Rating in, And the Christian representitives and the porn industry were both working towards the same goal. But i think there is one minister who opposes it in nsw and so it hasn't gone ahead.
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Is the 360 region free?
@crumply: It's basically just games. This is the main reason why.
The introduction of an R18+ rating for video games in Australia has in the past been blocked by South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson.
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Ordering online is the solution for stupid country policies.
Around here they sell games and consoles for at least 200% of the market price. Even if they tax your shipment (which doesn't usually happen for small packages) you still get to pay a lot less than what they charge at local store.
Btw, is it PAL or NTSC around there?
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I just fucken hope us in New Zealand don't get this because of your stupid rating like we did with the censored Grand Theft Auto IV. And no the 360 isn't region free I'm afraid. If New Zealand still gets it then you could just order from us haha.
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was FO2 banned there? because it had far more suggestive drugs then morphine(though i was kind of hoping fo3 would too)
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As i recall, They were trying to bring the R Rating in, And the Christian representitives and the porn industry were both working towards the same goal.
???
was FO2 banned there? because it had far more suggestive drugs then morphine(though i was kind of hoping fo3 would too)
Did Fallout 2 even get a European release?
Anyways, I was reading a recent interview about "suggestive material" in Fallout 3 and I'm kind of sad they took out child killing. Not that I would actually go around murdering chillins in game (atleast, not in the first playthrough) but one of the appealing factors of Fallout is how everyone was mortal. Fallout 3's important NPCs can't be killed (knocked out) and you can shoot children but they instantly run away and pretty much everyone in a 10 mile radius turns hostile.
But it makes sense when you think about it. There's nothing more frustrating than screwing yourself for the rest of the game because you killed an important character by accident and EVERYONE in Fallout turned hostile if you attacked someone, even a fucking badguy or bandit.
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???
Did Fallout 2 even get a European release?
I thought I read that some region got a censored fallout, where the only change was that all the children were removed from the game.
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Well if you have a PS3 you can just import it.
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???
Christians were saying there should be an R rating for games,
Porn industry were saying there should be an R rating for games,
its like one of the few times both groups have agreed on the same thing
Fallout 2 was Released in Australia
which makes this even more hilarious.
But I'm still annoyed that they find no fault with the violence. Only fault with drug use in the game.
I read a comment somewhere that went,
Shooting up 10 times and making your head explode = ban
Shooting 10 people with a gun and making their heads explode = achievement.
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I thought I read that some region got a censored fallout, where the only change was that all the children were removed from the game.
Yeah, this is what happened. The annoying thing was they could still pickpocket you even if they were made invisible. Awesome.
This is another crock of shit. The Australian ratings system is boned and I was incredibly keen for this game. Couldn't they have just changed the drug names?
I know it's not going to do much but I'm going to write a letter just because.
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I never knew Australia was this anal about this kinda stuff.
Its also a shame they took out child killing. :shh:
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Its also a shame they took out child killing.
good lord this sentence this sentence
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I never knew Australia was this anal about this kinda stuff.
yeah we're actually pretty bad about it!
lots of games get censored or refused classification since we still don't have the R rating (as others have said). Mark Ecko's Getting Up was banned because of its graffiti content (regardless of the fact that it was hardly a big success). we get some films cut or banned in some areas; the same goes for some books.
but mostly: we have some really restrictive internet laws--in theory. a lot of them aren't actually practiced. that said, plans to censor the net are underway. THANKS MR PRIME MINISTER THIS IS WHY WE VOTED FOR YA. we wanted this more that reconciliation with the indigenous population or the troops sent home or lower taxes anyway.
yeah country sucks there's no-one cool here everyone's a dong (except me).
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first the stolen generations and now they're banning fallout 3?!?!
get a grip australia
rudd's a dud.
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Australian Fallout 1+2 still had children in it.
The internet Censorship keeps failing Because a kid keeps documenting how to hack their filters in under half an hour. And they were trying to get an ISP based filter system going but it was rejected because it slows down the internet too much.
Mark Ecko's Getting Up was a shame, i wouldn't have minded playing it, And graffiti art should be incouraged over those shitty tags that everyone just flashes up as quick as they can.
Melbourne and sydney have some FUCKING AWESOME graffiti art.
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Haha, holy shit this is terrible. Here's hoping the US 360 version isn't region-locked (I'll probably just buy it for PC though).
Man I live in a terrible country.
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I now have a reason not to move to Sydney, which was one of my plans.
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It's not even drug abuse though :/. He's takin morphine to cure the pain. It's not like he's smoking crack to get bonus points. It's just like getting a health pack, but using pain killers i.e morphine.
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It's not even drug abuse though :/. He's takin morphine to cure the pain. It's not like he's smoking crack to get bonus points. It's just like getting a health pack, but using pain killers i.e morphine.
If it's like the previous games, you'll get addicted to it if you use it too often, and suffer withdrawal if you don't use it while addicted.
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This is the same country that banned Santa Claus from saying "Ho Ho Ho"
I'm not surprised.
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Goddamn it, I hate living in Australia.
This is stupid, anyway. What about Max Payne? That had you taking painkillers to restore health! Bring in the R Rating for games, fine. Pissing me off with your gay fucking censorship laws.
And as it's been mentioned, it's not even going to stop people getting the game, because you can just import it. So all the kiddies who want their drugs can buy it on eBay with their parents' credit card.
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It's not even drug abuse though :/. He's takin morphine to cure the pain. It's not like he's smoking crack to get bonus points. It's just like getting a health pack, but using pain killers i.e morphine.
The fuck are you talking about?
It is drug abuse, Morphine is a drug. And you will have the ability to overdose and become addicted to it in game.
Which is why they are up in arms, Because its a perscription drug that exsists today.
Its not that i dont see reason in their banning, Personally i believe alot more games should be rated R18+
It just fucking sucks
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I don't understand how the 360s region encoding works. Right now (RIGHT NOW) I'm playing Just Cause which I bought in the middle east and it's a Region 5 game and my copy of BioShock came from Singapore which is region 3. I bought my 360 in the states so it's region 1 but apparently it's region free or something!!
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The region locking is on the discs, afaik, Marcus! It's a pretty ridiculous (but beneficial in many circumstances) system.
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Yeah, but while drugs might help you in the short-term, they lead to withdrawal and addiction later on (at least in FO 1 and 2). Maybe a good lesson for the kids, eh?
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I think this country's forgetting about the fact that you could have dope or something in GTA Vice City and could run around with blurry vision. As said before, they could just change the name. Call ULTRA ADDICTIVE CHEMICAL SEVENTY THREE instead of morphine. I've never played Fallout 1 or Fallout 2, but this I was really looking foward to. I just hope they dont's find some gay reason to ban Fable 2, or Guitar Hero 4, or even Lemmings. Yes, I DO believe they'll find something wrong with Lemmings. There are porn DVD's in PLAI VIEW at my local DVD store, why not ban movies? A very popular movie,Wolf Creek, was made here, and got no cut whatsoever, even though it was mainly concerned with murder and rape. I hate my government. OH WELL! I'll import FO3 when it's released.
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Or they could just give it a generic name like painkillers. Max Payne used pain killers as health but they never said exactly what drug it was. Probably aspirin since it was available everywhere.
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first the stolen generations and now they're banning fallout 3?!?!
get a grip australia
rudd's a dud.
rudd apologied to the stolen generation & aboriginal people though, which was something no prime minister had done before! that was kinda good. he's not great otherwise but it's only been a few months.
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How can they possibly throw a fit over the drug use in fallout when you can get addicted and suffer withdrawal symptoms and the like. Its not like its portraying drugs as good.
Oh and when you use morphine in the game does anyone know you'll halucinate? Cos morphine isn't a painkiller, its a hallucigenic.
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Guys, seeing the virtual effects of virtual drugs on kids isn't going to dissuade them from anything. The two or three of you that said THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO PORTRAY THEM TO KIDS is way off. They're not associating it with real life (when they are we consider that a PROBLEM, not a good thing).
Also part of the point is that kids shouldn't be playing this anyway so...!
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Also part of the point is that kids shouldn't be playing this anyway so...!
Yeah, I was thinking about this today. What kind of young kid would play the Fallout series? It's text-heavy as hell, doesn't have flashy graphics (although that's a bit different with the new one) and generally is just NOT FOR KIDS.
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Yeah, I was thinking about this today. What kind of young kid would play the Fallout series? It's text-heavy as hell, doesn't have flashy graphics (although that's a bit different with the new one) and generally is just NOT FOR KIDS.
haha are you kidding me, i started playing fallout early highschool.
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haha are you kidding me, i started playing fallout early highschool.
Do you really think the average youngin would play Fallout at a young age though? I started early but that's because I was always into those kind of games. Assumedly you were as well.
I might be stereotyping a bit but I've seen a lot of young people who shy away from anything too complex and would rather play console games instead of PC games that don't have a lot of visceral payoff.
If someone asked me WHAT GAME IS FOR KIDS? Fallout would definitely not be anywhere in my mind.
Also any news on NZ's stance? Can us Aussies play UK games on our 360's? I'm definitely not missing out on this.
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I played fallout in 1997.
i was 12
due to recent fire, Michael Atkinson has decided he needs to explain his stance.
I am aware that statistics show many game players are adults. Indeed, a whole generation has now grown up with computer games. It is not surprising that those who enjoyed gaming as children... play electronic games with their own children... 62% of Australians in these gaming households say the classification of a game has no influence on their buying decision...
Given this data, I cannot fathom what State-enforced safeguards could exist to prevent R18+ games being bought by households with children and how children can be stopped from using these games, once the games are in the home. If adult gamers are so keen to have R18+ games, I expect children would be just as keen. I have publically argued that because electronic games are interactive, the violence and other adult content in games have a strong impact. I am particularly concerned about the impact these games have on children, who can spend a lot of their unsupervised leisure time gaming.
Pretty much what he's saying is "We are parenting your children and decided what we want them to play/see/eat/hear/do" Im over 18, I have no kids and i want to play a game in a household that has no children. This guy seems unable to grasp the concept that adults play videogames without kids
god i hate that cunt.
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I just downloaded a new trailer from the Playstation Store, and wow... you Aussies will really be missing out!
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Michael Atkinson is a twat. Leave parenting to the parents.
I really, really don't see why people over 18 should have to suffer because some parents won't be able to resist picking up 18+ games for their kiddies. It's retarded as shit.
Plus seriously, how many games have actually got banned here in the past? GTA temporarily, some shitty games. This is much more of a big thing and I'm really hoping that they figure out a way around it because it's just over-sensitive idiots crying foul at media violence/drug use once again.
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this is what's really ballsed up about games in Australia.
just copied from Wiki but whatever:
Australia (and as a by-product, New Zealand) is often a target of Regional Lockouts, as companies find they can charge a much higher price in Australia than the equivalent cost of a game or DVD in the United States or the UK. This was originally blamed on a weak Australian Dollar and import costs, but as the Australian Dollar rose, and import costs fell, the majority of companies refused to drop their prices, as they found that the market would tolerate high prices regardless of other concerns.
A major example is in Video Games, which often cost double their equivalent price in the UK or the United States. Games often sell for ₤25 GBP or $50 USD in these countries, but in Australia games will be sold on release at $100, which is equivalent to ₤45 GBP or $93 US Dollars, twice the cost or higher of the same game in the US or the UK.
On Valve software's Steam digital distribution system, THQ have locked out Australian users from buying their games. This is because the cost of Steam games is in US Dollars, and since the resurgence of the AUD to over 0.90c USD, it is not as profitable to sell over Steam as it is to sell at retail. These decisions have been immensely criticised by disgruntled prospective customers.[citation needed]
An example of this cost difference between retail and steam is Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl. On Steam, the price is $29.95 USD, which is equal to $32 Australian Dollars. At retail stores (both online and "brick and mortar" stores) the game retails for approximately $80 AUD, which is equivalent to $75 USD. This difference of over $45 US Dollars ($48 Australian Dollars) has caused THQ to block the sale of the game over Steam to Australia, and as such the game is invisible to an Australian user, either in the steam client or on the steam website. If any attempt is made to purchase the game by using a non-Australian version of the Steam Website, a "territory error" is shown and the game will not be able to be purchased.
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^Yeah, I've always complained about that. It's insane that we should be paying 55-60 dollars but instead get it bumped up to 100 because our currency was weak for a while (but now is quite strong).
I mean, we pay about $10 US more for a DS game than they do for a full priced 360/PS3 one.
I've really taken to using Steam/importing as much as possible (especially for PC since it's all pretty easy) and if companies like THQ are going to dick us around then I'm definitely not going to support then and will acquire their games through other means. I probably sound like a wanker but I've put an insane amount of money into gaming considering what the equivalent would be in the US and coupled with shit like our retarded OFLC and stupid release dates (Brawl just came out here) it's making me a bit jaded.
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I for one am glad this game is banned, it is vile and not what gaming is all about.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pta3VHiVTQ
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thanks bleep now my children won't play fallout 3 in the future come back to the past and commit a massacre on their highschool.
srsly was that a joke?
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This is fucking stupid. Really now, I bet lots of games bought to Australia had drug use. Whats next? Will HAZE be banned there?! If so, they are lucky.
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thanks bleep now my children won't play fallout 3 in the future come back to the past and commit a massacre on their highschool.
srsly was that a joke?
I think when he placed the picture of Fall Out Boy in there that gave it away as a joke.
Also he seems to be in league with Gamesmasterjasper so yes essentially that was a big joke.
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:(
i didn't notice that.
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I for one am glad this game is banned, it is vile and not what gaming is all about.
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=_Pta3VHiVTQ
Thanks Bleep, I agree whole-heartedly. Semper games.
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http://au.xbox360.ign.com/articles/896/896091p1.html
Looks like we're getting it after all - they did the expected, 'altered' the references and left it at that.
As my friend said, this won't mean any outcry and means we'll probably get stuffed over again in future, but I doubt not getting the game at all would've accomplished much anyways.
I'm still gonna try to grab an NZ copy.
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My local games store is getting the imported copy of this; while I love this fact, it shouldn't have to be some big deal anyway. I mean, I'm happy that I'll get the uncensored version, but we really should have got it all from the start.