Posts Tagged ‘left 4 dead 2’
Borderlands Censored for Australian Market?
The Left 4 Dead 2 saga appears to have left the Australian gaming community somewhat spooked. Speculation is now mounting as to whether Gearbox Software’s upcoming FPS/RPG hybrid Borderlands has been modified for the Australian market. While hard evidence that this is the case is rather thin on the ground, the controversy does raise a number of issues in relation to Australia’s antiquated classification system.
The initial rumours of censorship stemmed from some peculiarities on the Borderlands page on digital PC game store Steam. While Australian customers could view the page, the ‘Buy’ button was, for a time, noticeably absent. This problem was remedied a couple of weeks later, but those viewing the page from Australian IP addresses noticed that the game was now listed as Borderlands Australia. The only other country known to have a region-specific version of Borderlands listed on the Steam store is Germany. Anyone who has followed the issue of video game censorship will be aware that Germany’s low tolerance for video game violence has seen numerous games (including Borderlands) modified for that country’s market. So perhaps Australian Borderlands fans in Australia do have something to worry about.
At this stage most forum users are willing to be optimistic. After all, Borderlands received an MA15+ rating back in August, and there has been no official word that anything untoward has occurred. But who’s to say a modified version of the game was not submitted for initial classification (as was the case with console versions of GTA IV) in order to avoid the very problems that have plagued Left 4 Dead 2? And what’s in it for the game’s publisher, 2K Games, in letting Australians know that they’re getting a modified version of Borderlands? Surely releasing this information will only drive consumers to either import the game– upsetting the publisher’s local retail partners– or to find a pirate copy of an overseas version.
Optimists have also taken solace in the visual style of Borderlands. The cel-shaded look of the game is far less realistic than that of Left 4 Dead 2, a game which is scarcely life-like to begin with. But looking overseas, the American ESRB rating summary for Borderlands gives some cause for concern. The following is their description of the violence in the game:
The combat is frenetic, and enemies moan or scream when they are hit. Damage from weapons also results in large spurts of blood, dismemberment, and decapitation. When a human or creature is decapitated, an effect resembling a fountain of blood will shoot from the neck for a few seconds and stop. Some weapons cause enemies to split in half, the top being separated from the waist.
Sound familiar? Remind you of a certain other game of post-apocalyptic survival?
All this speculation is probably just a storm in a teacup. It has been suggested that the quirks of the Steam page are simply the result of solving some glitch or other with the store’s listing of Borderlands. Elsewhere, there are claims that the Borderlands developers themselves told visitors to Perth’s GO3 Electronic and Entertainment Expo that nothing has been censored. All this sounds entirely plausible, but the lack off an official statement still leaves lingering doubt. And these seeds of doubt in gamers’ minds will only grow and prosper until an R18+ rating for games in Australia becomes a reality. For every game that is refused classification, publishers will be increasingly likely to modify their games in order to ensure smooth passage through the classification system. In turn, gamers will become less certain that they are getting the genuine article and become less and less willing to part with their money. This can only serve to harm the Australian video game industry at all levels.
Valve loses appeal on uncensored L4D2
Coming in from GameSpot, it appears that the Classification Review Board has made a decision regarding the unedited Left 4 Dead 2.
And it’s not good.
Any hope that the Review Board might take a more balanced approach, as with the reclassification of F.E.A.R. 2 was dashed yesterday, with the board citing that there was “insufficient delineation between the depiction of general zombie figures and the human figures, as opposed to the clearly fictional ‘infected’ characters.” As a result, Australian audiences will be restricted to a watered-down version of the game, which removes the “depictions of decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail, or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment.”
This is just the latest in the wheel of classification fortune. (Again, the inconsistency of the ruling is bizarre, given that F.E.A.R. 2 pitted you against clearly human adversaries.)
Tags: gamespot, left 4 dead 2, review board | Posted in News | 3 Comments
According to Kotaku, the censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 “no longer contains depictions of decapitations, dismemberment, wound detail, or piles of bodies lying about the environment.”
The Board’s official report states that “…the element of violence in the game has been sufficiently modified and is now able to be accommodated within the MA15+ classification”.
In other words, what was okay in Deadspace and F.E.A.R. 2 is not okay in Left 4 Dead 2. We can only hope that the Classification Review Board agrees, come October 22.
Tags: decapitation, dismemberment, kotaku, l4d2, left 4 dead 2 | Posted in News | 9 Comments
Yesterday at a Sydney press conference Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve Software, revealed that their publishers Electronic Arts have lodged another, censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 to the Classification Board. Gabe stressed that this was merely a backup version in case the appeal process to have the original, uncensored version classified as MA15+ was unsuccessful, and that they would prefer not to have to use the censored version if at all possible.
This morning, we awake to the news that the Classification Board have granted Left 4 Dead 2 an MA15+ rating for “Strong, bloody violence”. According to Softpedia, this classification applies to the censored version, as the appeal process for the original, uncensored version is not due to commence until October 22.
Tags: classification board, EA, l4d2, left 4 dead 2, valve | Posted in News | 7 Comments
Understandably, there’s been quite a lot of reaction to the banning of Left 4 Dead 2. The most notable of course being that Valve are appealing the decision and hoping to get the game passed on an MA15+ rating.
I had the opportunity to speak with the Classification Board as I was commissioned by games.on.net to write them a feature article on the Classification Board’s decision. Below is the full text of my questions and the answers that their spokesperson gave to me.
1) Was Left 4 Dead 2 examined by any of the same members of the Classification Board that examined the original Left 4 Dead?
The Classification Board acts as a body. It does not discuss or speculate on the opinions of its individual members. The Classification Board is broadly representative of the Australian community.
2) Does the Classification Board believe that the level of violence in Left 4 Dead 2 is objectively greater than in the original Left 4 Dead?
The Classification Board determined that the impact of the violence in Left 4 Dead was ‘strong’, and the impact of the violence in Left 4 Dead 2 was ‘high’. The Board classifies each computer game on a case by case basis.
3) Which specific areas of Left 4 Dead 2 would, in the Classification Board’s opinion, need editing in order to meet the requirements for sale and distribution as an MA15+ title in Australia?
The Classification Board does not advise on how material could be edited to receive a lower classification. That is a matter for the distributor of the computer game. The Board’s decision report contains information about the content that caused the computer game to be classified RC.
4) Have the publishers, Electronic Arts, stated or suggested to the Classification Board that they will be seeking a review of the RC rating for Left 4 Dead 2?
I understand the distributors applied for a review of the classification on 25 September 2009.
5) In the case of such a review, would the same members of the board who rated Left 4 Dead 2 as RC undertake the review with Electronic Arts, or would the review panel be composed of different people?
It would be a different board altogether. The Classification Review Board is an independent board, entirely separate to the Classification Board.
6) Is the Classification Board in a position to comment on the Discussion Paper for an R18+ rating for games which was developed by the Attorneys-General, and is the Board aware of any possible date at which the paper will be released to the public?
See answer to next question.
7) Was the Classification Board consulted on this Discussion Paper in any form, or will it be consulted in the future?
The Classification Board’s role is to classify material according to the National Classification Scheme. Changes to classification policy are a matter for Government.
As you can see, the Board was unwilling to provide me with any clarity on their seeming inconsistency with the different classifications with the original and the sequel. It was interesting to learn though that the Classification Review Board are entirely separate to the Classification Board – giving us slim hope that these new people will agree with the original minority decision of the Board to award L4D2 an MA15+ rating.
A big thankyou to everyone who left comments on the last article, the discussion was fantastic to see, and thanks to everyone who emailed in links about the events unfolding after the ban. Let’s cross our fingers and see what happens over the next week.
Tags: classification board, classification review board, EA, electronic arts, games on net, l4d2, left 4 dead 2, valve | Posted in News | 5 Comments
Tags: borderlands, left 4 dead 2, steam | Posted in News | 6 Comments