Silent Hill: Homecoming Banned In Australia

This is getting a little repetitive: Silent Hill: Homecoming is the latest game to fall victim to Australia's ban-happy censors.

GameSpot has the news that the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification has refused to issue a classification for the upcoming game, thereby banning its sale in the country. The OFLC website doesn't provide information about reasons for the ban, but an Atari spokesman said the censors took issue with "the high impact of Silent Hill's violence," citing examples such as "copious blood spray in the game, decapitations, partially dismembered corpses, numerous scenes of attacks, fights, torture and death." Previous Silent Hill titles released in Australia have been rated MA15+, the country's highest available rating for videogames.

Silent Hill: Homecoming was originally set for release in Australia in November, but the spokesman said those plans are now on hold "until early next year" while the publisher has discussions with Konami about possible changes that could be made to the game in order to satisfy Australian law. The game is coming out on September 30 in North America and October 30 in Europe for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

2008 hasn't been the best year ever for gamers Down Under; Silent Hill: Origins is just the latest in a long and silly line of games to fall afoul of government censors. Other banned titles include Fallout 3, Shellshock 2 and Dark Sector, although Fallout was eventually edited to accommodate the delicate, ladylike sensibilities of Australian gamers, as was Grand Theft Auto IV.

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Wow. Yahtzee will be pleased, huh?

I'm amazed that the highest rating available is MA15+. Maybe raising the highest rating would help. Developmentally, there's a big difference between a 15 year old and a 17 year old, and even a 21 year old. The fact that they think material for an adult is also appropriate for a 21 year old shows how ineffective this system is. And why they have to ban everything.

^

Hasn't got a bloody clue.

Sucks..... This means tyhat I will get the shitty version as well

Again...? Seriously, do the idiots in the OFLC have no life? Have they no sympathy?!

And as ever, its not to accomodate 'the delicate, ladylike sensibilities of Australian gamers' but the stupid backwoods sensibilities of NON gamers, who wouldn't know the difference between Ping and Manhunt if it crept up behind them and jammed a crowbar into their eyesocket.

Find me a gamer demanding that games rated higher than 15 should not get released at all, just one, in Australia.

Also, as above...15??? Come on, at least bring a sensible 18 or 21, I'm not sure of the legal state of things over there, but an aussie guy can drink, smoke, have sex, drive, (not all at once), join the army and kill people, but he can't play Fallout 3? in case his delicate mind snaps and he shoots up a school?

Bah, and indeed, humbug.

Please let's have a repeat of the Fallout fiasco.
Uncensored SH in the UK please. I would pay double and I'm broke.

GO DAMMIT AUSTRALIA! WHY MUST YOU BAN EVERYTHING?

ShadeOfRed:
GO DAMMIT AUSTRALIA! WHY MUST YOU BAN EVERYTHING?

Michael Atkinson. Yep, just one man... one man has the power to halt a nation's progress.

Anyone tried submitting Michael Atkinson for review by the OFLC, just for the heck of it? Maybe he'll be found too adult for Australia, and be banned.

Is there, like, a rule in Australia that 1 in 5 videogames has to be banned? Someone should look that up, you never know what you can find in the lawbooks of your country.

...Are laws recorded in lawbooks? Or did I just make that up? I'm really, really tired, I'm going to bed.

Heh Im guessing one of yahtzees next videos will be a brutal stab at the censors. *cant wait*
He will probably spend the entire week thinking up new insults for them.

avykins:
Heh Im guessing one of yahtzees next videos will be a brutal stab at the censors. *cant wait*
He will probably spend the entire week thinking up new insults for them.

There is probably more to his life than that... doesn't he work at Pandemic? Remember him saying something like that on AustralianGamer.

TheWickerPopstar:
I'm amazed that the highest rating available is MA15+. Maybe raising the highest rating would help. Developmentally, there's a big difference between a 15 year old and a 17 year old, and even a 21 year old. The fact that they think material for an adult is also appropriate for a 21 year old shows how ineffective this system is. And why they have to ban everything.

No. The thinking behind it is that games are only played by people aged 12-18. Therefore, anything produced for an older demographic (ie Condemned and Fallout) isn't suitable for any gamers because they're not old enough to see blood. But GTA got released in Australia when that's probably worst influencially, when you look at that murder in... Thailand was it?
The only game that they banned for good reason is Manhunt really.

This is an outrage, im becoming very pissed off with the way Australia is banning games because they cant classify them. God damit Australia bring the ratings up to 18 and 21 and everyone will be happy.

If the rating were brought up to 18 and 21 then store personal should be able to refuse purchase of games if the buyer is clearly to young or if the brat standing next to the person buying is to young. If they look like they are of age then id should be called into play in both situations. If these suggestions was put into play then i think that Australia would be well on its way to success and a lot less gamers would be pissed off, well other than those preteens whining about how they cant get the game but they can get the hell over it.

Yeah, over here, now (UK), a lot of stores have an 'over 21/over 25' policy, meaning that even if you look about 25, they're still gonna ask for ID. I think it makes sense, everyone knows that if they want smokes or alcohol, they've gotta be bringing some ID.

We also have an official national ID you can apply for, so you don't have to carry passports, driving licences etc around.

Just apply the same to games, if they look early 20s, card em.

Personally , when I was behind the counter, I'd even talk it over with parents who were getting whined into buying stuff that was innappropriate, sometimes losing the sale or them buying something else. I do think half the time the kid didn't even know what they wanted, just saw guns n cars and wanted one.

copious blood spray in the game? boring
decapitations? boring
partially dismembered corpses? boring
numerous scenes of attacks? boring
fights? boring
torture and death? boring

banned in Australia? /pre-orders game

Yatzee's gona be pissed. Cant wait to hear what he has to say thou lol

SunoffaBeach:
copious blood spray in the game? boring
decapitations? boring
partially dismembered corpses? boring
numerous scenes of attacks? boring
fights? boring
torture and death? boring

banned in Australia? /pre-orders game

Now thats not fair. I intended fully to get Fallout 3 before it was banned the first time, and I intended to get this game too, to see if it could actually scare me.

ENOUGH! Ok, I don't give a shit about Silent Hill, but this has really got to stop. This is not even remotely funny any more. Australians spend $2million per DAY on games(That's AUD). We have ratings on everything. Personally, when I was a child, I don't know about the rest of you, but it was culturally expected by my peers that I'd seen Murderous Rapist Zombies from Outer Space 6 and not been scared by it. When I was 9. This current generation is all oh noes lets protect the children from all the horrible things in the world! And you know what, it's making your kids batshit stupid. Sure they have Christian 'values' but they're brain dead, and you know what natural selection does to the brain dead? It gets them drunk and wraps them around telephone poles after high speed collisions when they're 18.

I remember watching scary movies and being scared, hell the intro music to Doctor Who freaked me the most out when I was four. But now, NOW the average age of the 'gamer'(as in the person most likely to be making up the $2million dollar a day statistic) is 29. TWENTY FUCKING NINE!!!!!!!!!!! AND ALL WE'VE GOT LEFT IS FUCKING ANIMAL CROSSING AND BARBIES FUN TIME BIBLE CAMP ON THE SHELVES???? AND THERE'S NOTHING TO DO IN AUSTRALIA, BELIEVE ME!

Ahem... without the cathartic release that so many games give us, especially me, I think I would be a danger to society. So instead of bumping a ridiculously large portion of the "A" list titles coming out this season, lets have us a good, old fashioned, grown up rating for games that children will play anyway because the internet exists. And hell, if we can't get it legally then all that's being encouraged is piracy. Yes, prudery and Christian values causes criminal activity... I wish I was being facetious.

The other day I found a copy of Bully, as a trade in at EB and snatched it up. It was a pre-censored release version, I think. In any case, I have found virtually kicking people in the balls when they're down utterly hilarious. Arrest me.

All good friends living in Australia, get outta that country. =) And enjoy the wonderful games provided in all the other countries. Note, move out only if you can afford it.

stompy:
Again...? Seriously, do the idiots in the OFLC have no life? Have they no sympathy?!

Sympathy? For what?

OFLC are experts and professionals at doing... what they do. They recognise and understand that SH4567 may be a big title in the gaming world, but so what? Fallout 3 was a big title, and they edited it (and I've expressed my opinion on that before; how it was only very minor changes and won't really affect the gameplay overall at all), so why can't Silent Hill? It seems they've blocked classification due to copious amounts of gore, and I don't blame them.

Anyone remember when Silent Hill used to be scary before it was forced into laying down the tomato sauce to get a scream out of the average homeboy? This is laziness on Konami's part. Lazy gameplay, lazy self-control.

I was looking forward to this game. The fact that we were going to get it 2 months after everyone else pisses me off, let alone that it's been banned.

http://www.classification.gov.au/special.html?n=1&p=227

Submit a complaint if you feel the need.

There's a difference between "banned" and "refused classification". It is not illegal for you to own and/or import the game. It IS illegal for an Australian game distributor to sell/provide you with the game. This is why the correct terminology is "effectively banned".
This goes for any classified media. It is not illegal for you to own and/or watch an R18+ video if you are 10. It IS illegal for Video Ezy/Blockbuster/etc. to allow you to rent/buy it, but most of the time they don't care.
IANAL, but this is my understanding of the situation.

Aussie doesn't like games very much apparently

Yet another game I'll have to have shipped down here by a friend.... but yeah by the time I buy it for the US cost and add the shipping, it ends up being the $100 that EB would charge for it anyways.

It's funny that countries allow smoking which will kill the people but ban fake blood.... hypocritical as fuck.... but funny. I'm tired of parents not taking the blame they deserve for the content their children receive. Do they ban the news in Australia too? Censorship has always been a tool used by the weak to control the strong.

Look at the bright side... we are close to making DLC the norm. And when we do the censors can go eat themselves.

HAHA Yahtzee's gonna be pissed off even more now, lets hope the game either sucks enough to make it funny or it's good enough to make him mad

neoman10:
Aussie doesn't like games very much apparently

I'd like to disagree with you... so would others on this forum...

Believe me, I just finished "Homecoming" last night. It's a good thing for Yahtzee's health that he doesn't play that insulting claptrap.
I've been a fan of the series since day one, and I can't believe that thing called itself "Silent Hill'

I warn you now, the game is "Silent Hill: The mediocre movie 2"
Not "Silent Hill: The tits awesome games 5"

Fair, Fucking, Warning.

CHUGGA CHUGGA WOO WOO!

Failure train boarding, headed for Syndey and parts beyond.

Quinn Davis:
Believe me, I just finished "Homecoming" last night. It's a good thing for Yahtzee's health that he doesn't play that insulting claptrap.
I've been a fan of the series since day one, and I can't believe that thing called itself "Silent Hill'

I warn you now, the game is "Silent Hill: The mediocre movie 2"
Not "Silent Hill: The tits awesome games 5"

Fair, Fucking, Warning.

I don't play survival horror so i'm not in the know, SH:H is out already?

I don't play survival horror so i'm not in the know, SH:H is out already?

Came out September 30th in the US, comes out October 30th in the EU according to wikipedia.

Well, I've never played a Silent Hill game myself so I don't think I would end up playing it regardless. But the cencorship here sickens me! On the topic of Yahtzee: If anything, he should be able to pull a bit of weight if he were to attack our cencorship. Let's just hope he has something to say on the subject.

PurpleRain:
Well, I've never played a Silent Hill game myself so I don't think I would end up playing it regardless. But the cencorship here sickens me! On the topic of Yahtzee: If anything, he should be able to pull a bit of weight if he were to attack our cencorship. Let's just hope he has something to say on the subject.

As I understand it, it's just some dick from the south mucking it up for the rest of Austrailia, because unanimous decision is needed to revise the standards...or something.