Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley has expressed the firm's disappointment in an official statement released in response to the banning of Aliens VS. Predator in Australia.
As reported this morning, AvP became the latest game to be refused rating by the ultra-strict classification board of Australia. A released copy of the ruling revealed that its high-impact violence was the reason behind the refusal.
Here's Kingsley's full statement in response:
"Rebellion is disappointed that its upcoming title Aliens vs. Predator has been banned in Australia. However, as we understand the law in that country the authorities had no choice as we agree strongly that our game is not suitable for game players who are not adults.
"The content of AvP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent. We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."
Australian's don't know how lucky they have it. Shame the game doesn't get banned over here, for the serious quality control issues it will undoubtably be marred by
Moving on, I found this quote from Rebellion's fellow quite refreshing:
"We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices."
A shame it may affect adult Australians whom might have an interest in playing this game...Unless they import it I suppose (if that's even legal for them - of course customs have to intercept the potentially offending parcel first), yet it'll cost quite a bit more and Aussie game prices are already staggeringly high compared to certain other countries from what I've read.
not surprised its been banned in Australia,their highest age rating is 15 and i saw some pretty gruesome head hunting done by the Predator in the gameplay vid
i am looking forward to this game however,looks great
We will not be releasing a sanitized or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices.
I'm pretty sure that's a subtle stab at the Australian government, despite them 'agreeing' with their rating policies
might not the worst thing to happen if this game turns out as woeful as rebellions last two efforts shellshock2 and rogue warrior,they are capable of making good games like the originals AVP and sniper elite so hopefully this will turn out good
Australia really needs to get it's act together and sack the idiot that's holding back the 18 rating there.
Agreed. That or simply overrule him/her/them completely. Anyone holding back an 18+ certification range are no longer relevant in a contemporary liberal democracy where one of the fundamentals of the law rests upon the notion that people of a certain age can be held accountable for their actions because they are found to be capable of grasping the potential consequences of their actions. If you remove the means for people of an already established legal age to decide for themselves then you would also need to remove any laws that maintain that they are accountable for their own actions since they are not able to carry out that responsibility. The door swings both ways. Always. Ouh! That turns out to be a line in the second "Predator" movie as well!
[i]Is there no such thing as adult rated games in Au? No. Their game age rating only goes as far as the “MA15+” rating is restricted to those 15 and over. So if a game is deemed unsuitable for those of the age of 15 then it doesn't get classified resulting in a ban.
Its absoloutly ridiclous, fair play to Kingsley for standing up for developers everywhere! Video games are the first to get blamed for violence, they should be trated in the same way as everything else in the entertainment industry.
What about movies in general in Au? Movies can have an 18+ rating
Well I can link you to the 360's page on metacritic which has an average score for Rogue Warrior. Other platforms dont look too good either score wise. I would suggest Rogue Warrior is looking pretty s**t.
Well I can link you to the 360's page on metacritic which has an average score for Rogue Warrior. Other platforms dont look too good either score wise. I would suggest Rogue Warrior is looking pretty s**t.
It is all becuase of South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. He is the sole reason Australia is not getting and 18 rating. he is a self rightous ar*e who thinks that he can not only decide for the people of South Australia but the whole of Australia.
Is there no such thing as adult rated games in Au?
What about movies in general in Au?
Was the Alien movies banned too?
Must suck to live in down there(regarding this subject). (Me, I'm from Denmark)
Actually, Australia is only really nitpicky about videogames for some reason.All movies and music gets released here, sometimes movies that aren't released in Britain get released here.
It is all becuase of South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson. He is the sole reason Australia is not getting and 18 rating. he is a self rightous ar*e who thinks that he can not only decide for the people of South Australia but the whole of Australia.
Yeah, I agree, he's worse than Jack Thompson. I don't think that he has actually sat down and though about the fact that if Australia did have an R rating then not only would adult gamers get to play what they want, children who's parents let them play MA15+ games that should be rated R (GTAIV, HoTD Overkill, Madhouse come to mind), won't be able to play these innapropriate games.
Don't feel too bad for us aussies. Its actually around 40% cheaper to import games from the asian region. Full english and uncut games. Not that all that many get edited that would make much difference. Left for dead 2 is the exeption. Only problem is we are making asian shop owners instead of aussie shop owners. Govt could stop that, but choose not too.
The Alien vs Predator movies are available in Australia, why not the game? (correct me if I'm wrong here, but on my DVD's of the Alien/Predator movies I get several copyright warnings and one of them is for Australia) why not the game?
The movies are just as violent and bloody as the games going to be, what with face huggers and aliens bursting from chests, not to mention the scenes in the Predator movies where the predator actually removes people spinal chords and skulls for trophies.
The argument that usually pops up is in a movie the scene happens once but in a game you get to replay the action over and over... Well HELLOOOO! DVD and Blu-Ray players have rewind buttons so you can rewatch scenes and it's not like you can buy a movie and only watch it once.
Why do games seem to be singled out in all this when a lot of the time movies are just as bad if not worse than anything you see in a game?
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