Valve Appeals Left 4 Dead 2 Ban in Australia
Valve Software has appealed Australia's decision to ban Left 4 Dead 2 in that territory.
Yesterday Valve Software sent along a small announcement that it has formally appealed the OFLC's Australian ruling that has virtually banned the sale and distribution of Left 4 Dead 2 in that territory. Currently the game has scored ratings in all other foreign countries including Europe, Japan, Germany (gasp!), and even Korea. However, New Zealand and the United Kingdom are still marked as "in progress."
Last week the Australian Classifications Board refused to classify Valve's upcoming zombie shooter sequel, banning the game based on its "realistic, frenetic, and unrelenting violence," a feature many FPS games of late actually share. The game's high-impact violence was thus deemed unsuitable for gamers less than 18 years of age, and since there are no Adult Only ratings in Australia, the game thus remains in limbo.
"We were surprised to hear of this news yesterday," Valve's Doug Lombardi said last week. "Obviously, everyone at Valve is pretty bummed. It would be a shame if folks in Australia, or anywhere else, are unable to purchase Left 4 Dead 2 because of a ratings issue."
But there might be hope for L4D2. Apparently, there are some members on the OFLC who believes that the game could still classify under the MA 15+ rating, but with an added caption that advises consumers against strong violence as seen with the first Left 4 Dead installment. Valve said it would keep us informed on the issue.

Seriously, if I want to play L4D2 here what is stopping me from buying it digitally from overseas and playing on an overseas server? If the overseas retailer won't sell it to me then I'll just fire up utorrent and then everyone loses.
Just another example of how backward South Australia* is.
*The only reason we do not have R18+ games in Australia is because of the South Australian attorney-general Michael Atkinson is opposed to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Atkinson
That and all these damn zombies running around...
seriously ..... i mean how stupid can it get..... this is by far the dumbest thing iv heard ..... (until the next dumbest country makes some new crap up) we'v got australia in #1 dumbest .... second we have germany in #2 ....... any one else for 3rd (new zealand or UK maybe) ?
.......to be continued
That and all these damn zombies running around...
Seriously, if I want to play L4D2 here what is stopping me from buying it digitally from overseas and playing on an overseas server? If the overseas retailer won't sell it to me then I'll just fire up utorrent and then everyone loses.
Just another example of how backward South Australia* is.
*The only reason we do not have R18+ games in Australia is because of the South Australian attorney-general Michael Atkinson is opposed to it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Atkinson
Sarcasm exists you know, and mental preparation doesn't = training use with actual firearms
1. If that's the dumbest thing you've heard, you haven't seen your own posts.
2. Compared to things like the patent lawsuits, this is small apples for stupidity.
... Wasn't he using sarcasm right there himself?
yes, because shooting zombies is real, against the law, and racist. they have feelings too.
no but seriously, its a rehash of the first game which came out not even a year ago, why do they make asses of themselves
Unfortunetlty Aus has laws that allow one person to ruin fun for every one. Solution: replace ingame zombie skins with Michael Atkinson. Then the whole world can have fun mowing down zombie Michael Atkinsons (which is actually closer to the real thing lol).
...patiently awaits L4D2....
All those adds of 'resident evil 5' lying around were really really really annoying me. They're built in such a way my 'hardware visual processor' and my 'software mental processor' can't automatically ignore, so I installed addblock just to feel free to read the articles. After that, peace at least. So much peace I actually forgot the name of the game and had to disable the filter to check it again for this comment.
NO! I won't be playing your game if you keep bombarding me like that!
Brilliant idea!
Michael Atkinson is Australia's Jack Thompson (probably).
It's not about zombies, it's about (quoting the report) "living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently." Now of course, no other games with gore have living humans.
No body wins
I headshot boom in games. =D
With an actual rifle, I can't hit the side of a fucking barn... so yeah...
ha
No, not at all...
Hey, who's up for some games in the colliseum? I'll bring the popcorn. Hope I catch some guys arm.
Why yes, we do have a large zombie population. We keep them in our capital building and just gave them a pay rise so they would leave our brains alone. Sadly though all we get in return is our games banned. This is to go with our nice filtered, capped and overpriced internets.