Australia To Get Half-Life 2

Aussie gamer gimpacause writes After reading about the possibility of HL2 not coming to Australia I was shocked and angered, but a story on Gamespy says I don't have to worry. Better start saving for a new graphics card!" From the article: "Half-Life 2 will be released Down Under, since OFLC rated Half-Life 2 MA 15 + for High Level Animated Violence."

Comments

Re:And 3..2..1..

[Ziak]

with that being said anyone have the code for the orginal nude for mortal combat?

*yes i'm being sarcastic*

There was no danger to begin with

[KDR_11k]

Rating bodies whose ratings are legally enforceable (or at least bear some weight on the retail channel) are generally more cautious of giving out higher ratings. The ESRP doesn't give out the AO rating even to titles like Manhunt because many retailers don't stock those games, the USK isn't that hard on games and apparently a "not cleared" rating doesn't happen often in Australia, either. A rating that is just a guideline tends to be more strict since guidelines are rarely adhered to strictly, an advised age of 18 would often result in people at the age of 16 or 17 deciding "well, it's not that much of a difference2 so the effective rating is lower. An enforced rating doesn't allow for lax interpretation or tolerances and especially a ban is seldom considered.
I doubt that HL2 contains violence that could be seen as "malicious" (that is, violence for violence's sake, deliberately overdone), therefore banning it would be a bit much. A game like Manhunt or GTA that (explicitly or implicitly) encourages violence is something else. HL2 doesn't encourage violence but it might be more violent than usual, making a non-enforceable 18 rating useful (the PEGI apparently factors in the amount of fear a game causes, which other bodies do not seem to incorporate) but an enforced ban a bit too much.

I knew this all along

[HeavyK]

I don't see how anyone could have thought that Half-Life 2 would be banned in Australia.
If SOF and SOF 2 could get passed totally uncut with the MA15+ rating then HL 2 definetly would.
The person who started the rumor obviously knew nothing about the classification system in Australia. Austrialia very rarely gives out RCs or even R ratings for games and movies. I'd say 90% of films and games rated 18+ in Britian and rated R/M in the U.S are given a MA15+ and sometimes even a M15+ down in Australia.

Re:I knew this all along

[Tyreth]

Exactly. When I saw that story earlier I knew it was a waste of space. Half Life 2 is no different from every other game. There was no reason to fear.

Re:I knew this all along

[urbaer]

Austrialia very rarely gives out RCs or even R ratings for games and movies.

When was the last time Australia gave out an R rating for a game? Some people might point out that Australia doesn't have an R rating for a game, which means that games like Larry are outright banned. Perhaps if we had an R rating in this country we'd have less games banned and less whining from 'current affair' shows about the dangers of gaming.

Re:I knew this all along

[brumby]

The person who started the rumor obviously knew nothing about the classification system in Australia. Austrialia very rarely gives out RCs or even R ratings for games and movies.

Um, we don't have an R rating for games in Australia. That was one of the things the Liberals abolished (or more accurately, never allowed to be brought in) when they were sucking up to senator Harradine. Got to take care of those poor, fragile Christian morals.

I'd say 90% of films and games rated 18+ in Britian and rated R/M in the U.S are given a MA15+ and sometimes even a M15+ down in Australia.

I don't have the figures to hand to say whether that's right or not, but yes, the OFLC does seem to be more leniant than it's overseas counterparts. As far as games go, they don't seem to like not having an R category, which would let them rank things on a similar scale to movies, so they appear to be letting the MA15+ rating accept a little more than it would if they were ranking movies. It's a fairly subjective process, so it depends heavily on the attitudes of the person making the final judgement call. However, a small change in the makeup of the OFLC and we could see games like HL2 being banned, so I can see how rumours like this get started.

Re:I knew this all along

[HeavyK]

Just so you know i did know there was no R rating for games in Australia, the R rating was refering to the movies.

What i should have said was this:

The person who started the rumor obviously knew nothing about the classification system in Australia. Austrialia very rarely gives out RCs for games and movies or even R ratings for movies.

My Mistake.

Shocked. Shocked I tell ya!

[pudding7]

I hate people who are "shocked and angered" about anything. Fvcking whiners.

Re:To: contact@valvesoftware.com

[Anonymous Coward]

Wonder why the author of this letter didn't sign it? Probably because he pirated it in the first place. "A paying customer"? Jesus Christ, he didn't even TRY.