Grand Theft Auto Still Banned Down Under

SicariusMan sent us a CNN story that talks about australia upholding the ban on GTA3. It's been mentioned here before, but its interesting that its gonna stick. GTA3 really is perhaps the best PS2 game out in recent memory. I'm having a PS2 resurgance of late, beating Klonoa2, MGS2, Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, and getting hooked on Jak and Daxter and Frequency. And GTA3 is easily among the best of PS2 games. Sorry .au! At least they probably won't ban FFX!

Comments

What?

[OblongPlatypus]

Am I to understand that stealing cars is illegal in Australia? How... weird.

Re:What?

[AugstWest]

I tell you what, tho....

I was speeding down the interstate the other night, passing people on the right, when i spotted a speed trap too late. I saw the cop's lights go on, and watched him looking for a space to pull onto the highway to pull me over.

I jumped into the middle lane, then the right lane, hid behind a trailer truck, then shot off the offramp, and wandered off and hid.

At that point, I realized I'd been playing WAY too much GTA3. It was my first reaction.

Wrong side of the road.

[billnad]

I believe that I can clear this up. Any single video game can integrate itself into a countrys culture. Perhaps the Aussie authoritys are worried that this will cause people to drive on the "wrong" side of the road

Re:Wrong side of the road.

[oddjob]

You drive on the road in GTA3? I much prefer the sidewalk.

Odd thing to complain about.

[Kanon]

I remember from the earlier article that Australia was concerned about being able to hire prostitutes. Do your thing and then beat them up for the money.

It's probably a good thing they didn't realise you can wander around, beat someone up for their money, kill the paramedic when he arrives, steal the ambulance and then mow down prostitutes by the dozen. All in the privacy of your own home!

Re:Odd thing to complain about.

[mekkab]

So I sez to my wife "Wife, this game is great! You pick up prostitutes, have them 'do there thing', and then beat 'em up to get your money back!"

So she sez "okay, show me!"

So I do... and to say the least she was rather unimpressed. Millions of polygons, more ram, more space on the dvd-roms, and a creaky car is the best they could come up with?

Wife was not offended. THIS GAME SUCKS!

I'd be more sympathetic...

[Byteme]

...if Australia didn't export beer that has already been through the kidney!

Interesting Cycle...

[Uttles]

I mean isn't Australia just a big island full of convicts? Funny how now they seem to be so strict. I wonder if someone gets arrested for having that game, are they going to ship them to the UK?

Steering Wheel wrong side...

[toupsie]

All they need to do is move the steering wheel from the left side of the car to the right side of the car and mirror all the scenes so players are driving on the correct side of the road in Australia. This is completely understandable. The last thing the nation of Australia needs is a bunch of teens taught to drive on the wrong side of the road.

On a serious note, I lived in Australia (Newtown, NSW) in 1992 for about 7 months. When watching TV, I started to notice you really didn't see violence but man 'o man did you see breasts! While I was there, the movie "Ten" w/ Bo Derek was shown on their equivilent of NBC. In America, they cut out all the nudity scenes. In Australia, they actually had more than the original movie had! Special Director's Cut for Australia. What a great country! Great beer, beautiful women and those cool, lickable toads.

From a known fellon:

[cavemanf16]

Hello slashdot!

I found that GTA and GTA2, while not as graphically pleasing as GTA3 looks to be, were a wonderful addition to my skill set. Not only do I now know how to go on a "Kiiiiillll FRENZY!", but I also know how to hotwire most major makes of car, from the unimposing Ford Fiesta, to the ever-popular Tank!

These sorts of skills are very important to an aspiring criminal mastermind, such as me. And why work so hard for a Cisco or MSCE certification? They cost so much more! For only $49.95 (before tax), you too can learn the same skill sets I now have.

I'm just wondering if GTA3, with all it's new-fangled '3D' graphics is really worth the investment in my future. I mean, I already know how to highjack cars and kill random people. Do I really need to know how to interact with the mob? Please help me decide slashdot!

New Autralian version to come in Jan 2002

[substruo]

The article says that the maker of the game is trying to make a new version of the game for distribution in Australia in Jan 2002.

How are they gonna pull that off??? Remove the guns, prostituts, organized crime, etc.... what are you left with??? Crazy Taxi????

Re:Support your Aussie gamer!

[nocent]

If anyone has any friends in Australia, I recommend that you ask them if they want a copy of GTA3. If so, you should offer to buy it and mail it to them. With the surge of Christmas packages, I doubt Customs would search every package, especially if it were sent in an innocent-looking envelope.

You should buy them a new PS2 too while you're at it. Region coding for PS2 games means that they won't be able to play your US GTA3 on their Australian PS2.

Re:It's not really that bad

[ZaMoose]

Re: open-endedness. Why not ban the Sims too? I mean, I can wall people in in my bathroom and chuckle gleefully over their cries for help as they slowly starve to death.

Or pause the game when a Sim is swimming, remove the ladder from the pool and then watch as they tire and drown.

Seems to me that this sort of mayhem is much more within the reach of the average consumer (vs. obtaining rocket-propelled grenades and high-powered sniper rifles).