Fallout 3 Banned in Australia

The rumors are true and it's bad news once again for gamers Down Under: Bethesda's hotly anticipated post-nuclear RPG Fallout 3 has been refused classification in Australia.

The website for the government's Office of Film and Literature Classification indicates the game has been refused a rating classification, which functionally bans its sale in Australia. Unfortunately, the OFLC website does not provide information regarding the specific reasons for a classification refusal, but according to Gamasutra, which uncovered the decision, the denied rating could be the result of the country's "inflexible" regulations regarding in-game displays of drug use.

Bethesda can apply for a review of the decision at a cost of just under $8000, but appeals and reversals of classification refusals in Australia seem quite rare; most developers faced with similar obstacles opt to modify their games in order to make it more palatable for Australian release. While Rockstar Games had a famous and ultimately successful tussle with the British Board of Film Classification over the release of Manhunt 2 in the U.K., the industry bad-boys chose to cut content from the Australian version of Grand Theft Auto IV in order to get it past the country's censors.

Bethesda Softworks has declined to comment on the Classification Board's decision.

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That is terrible... this might actually be a game worthy of recognition and Australian gamers don't even get a chance to try it out.

So, does that mean Yahtzee has to rely on GAME TRADERS ROBINA again?

Likely. Australia's so willing to jump onto the BANNED-wagon that it's banning things no one else is banning.

Goddamn, I hate my country sometimes. No, scratch that, I hate it ALL the time.

Then again, I also hate Bethesda after Oblivion, so I'm not quite sure how to feel about this...

Meh so we can't buy the game in stores but who can stop up getting a legal download of it. Now hopefully there are online stores that offer it as a legal download, or steam.

But our crappy censorship of games sucks.

Oh well, Yahtzee will just have to find another way to get hold of it. He did with Manhunt so...muh. God I'm glad I don't live in Australia.

I thought we were the puritans. Sucks to be you guys.

Are Australian movie releases subject to the same level of censorship? If not, why not?

They're not, because the OFLC in Australia has an 18+ rating for every entertainment medium except videogames, which have a maximum rating classification of 15. So while a movie like Buttfuck Sluts Go Nuts would have no problem getting a classification and being sold in Australia, games like Fallout 3, GTA4, the Punisher and numerous others end up either censored or banned altogether. The whole system is based on the premise that videogames are kids' stuff, so there's no need for videogame rating higher than 15 - and if a game does demand a rating higher than 15, then it's not welcome in the land of Oz.

...BWAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHH

HHA
ha

aaahh

That is the most evil thing I've heard all week. I feel a tiny morsel of sorrow in my spleen; but it is washed over by my sea of assholism.

I wonder how Yahtzee is going to get his hands on Fallout 3 now that is quite puzzling.

Xwii360:

Reasonable Doubt:
I wonder how Yahtzee is going to get his hands on Fallout 3 now that is quite puzzling.

GAME TRADERS ROBINA!

Sorry didn't read anyone else's post I just posted my own and no all caps it makes my eyes hurt.

well im glad i live in canada and dont have to worry about the games i want getting banned

You know, guys, there are greater concerns here than whether or not Yahtzee has to make another trip to GAME TRADERS ROBINA!

well for those saying "use steam" that would be blocked, they can block you based on ip, if it's banned there they check via your ip

that being said, ebay is your friend OR get a friend that lives somewhere else to buy the game for you and then mail it to you, problem solved

cleverlymadeup:
well for those saying "use steam" that would be blocked, they can block you based on ip, if it's banned there they check via your ip

that being said, ebay is your friend OR get a friend that lives somewhere else to buy the game for you and then mail it to you, problem solved

Or order it online, like what I was gonna do with my copy of GTA4.

Alright, as an Aussie, and one that was interested in this, I'm pissed. Really pissed. I hate how our government is alright with everything but video games. Hell, they still call them 'computer games', a tell-tale sign of not knowing what's going on. It's about time we replace those old idiots, that have no idea what they're doing, and get some people in who've actually played video games.

**mumbles inaudibly**

Can't you import the games from Britain? Do they have the same PAL region stuff on their consoles as Australia?

WHAT?! What the hell for?
Dam governement, they'll let in games like the suffering but not Fallout 3?

That is it, i'm going to start a rebellion.

UpInSmoke:
Can't you import the games from Britain? Do they have the same PAL region stuff on their consoles as Australia?

We can... its just not the same............ sigh

Malygris:
You know, guys, there are greater concerns here than whether or not Yahtzee has to make another trip to GAME TRADERS ROBINA!

yes, like how alot of great games aren't getting to players who really want to play them and those companies are subsequently loosing money.

Reasonable Doubt:

Sorry didn't read anyone else's post I just posted my own and no all caps it makes my eyes hurt.

That's why you should always at least skim through the other posts before posting. You'd have known he can get it from GAMETRADERS ROBINA. Although GAMETRADERS ROBINA is an Australian store, so Yahtzee will have to have someone from the outside smuggle it in, if GAMETRADERS ROBINA doesn't do that already.

So, obviously you can't buy the game in Australia, but is it illegal to possess it? Would it not having a rating essentially classify it as contraband, or does it just make procuring the game inconvenient?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(cries like a little baby that's lost his Fallout)

m_jim:
So, obviously you can't buy the game in Australia, but is it illegal to possess it? Would it not having a rating essentially classify it as contraband, or does it just make procuring the game inconvenient?

What I've come to understand over the years, from truck stop bathroom stalls, is they have laws that restrict what stores can sell, so when their rating people refuse to rate a game and say it's evil, it doesn't allow stores to sell it. Banned from selling, not banned like crack. I think. It's like Cuban stuff in the U.S.A. You can have it, but you can't sell it or bring it in.

Fineldar:
That's why you should always at least skim through the other posts before posting. You'd have known he can get it from GAMETRADERS ROBINA. Although GAMETRADERS ROBINA is an Australian store, so Yahtzee will have to have someone from the outside smuggle it in, if GAMETRADERS ROBINA doesn't do that already.

It's actually Gametraders IN Robina, near Brisbane. They have a lot of rare or early copies of games but not illegel copies, otherwise I would have Dark Sector and other stuff by now.

Let's just overthrow Kevin Rudd and be done with it.

Whoa, time out, you can't get Dark Sector?

Wow....my soul just died a bit. I feel so sorry for you, man.

But surely you can order it, right? Hell, I live in Australia - I don't think the government can stop anyone from playing it or from buying it overseas. It might cost a (tiny)bit more to order it, but I think it should be region free, right? So there shouldn't be any problems. Just get it from Amazon.

The only people who have anything to really worry about is the company that makes Fallout 3 - there going to miss out on a lot of sales.

This is one of the times where the US is actually better than Australia - in the US, even if something is refused classification, it will not be banned from sale. That's because classifications in the US are voluntary. Here in Australia, the Government thinks it should morally police us. Australian governments have been doing this for quite some time.

Korolev:
But surely you can order it, right? Hell, I live in Australia - I don't think the government can stop anyone from playing it or from buying it overseas. It might cost a (tiny)bit more to order it, but I think it should be region free, right? So there shouldn't be any problems. Just get it from Amazon.

You could buy it over seas or order it from shipping websites such as play Asia etc but region coding will stop you from playing it (on the 360 at least, not sure about PC).

Besides, having a copy of Fallout 3 will be illegal here so I don't think anybody will ship it in. You could buy a copy from somewhere else for your PS3 (or PC maybe) but are you willing to pay for an overseas trip just to get a game?

This is really bad, hopefully Bethesda can try and get a way around this without ruining the game. One can only hope.

I hate how the governmet can simply "refuse" to give a game a rating wich makes it ileagle to sell just because they don't like something in it. cencorship of game content or the game itself is wronge and should be reformed or forcefully stoped. This is also like here in the U.S. where presedent bush refused to let the EPA(enviormental protection agency) help lower air polution reducing carbon emissions 6 parts to a billion. the plan was stoped by the presedent simply refusing to open the email that the EPA sent containing it. Maybe they could have gotten him to pay attencion in a way he could comprehend (like writing it on a birthday cake).

Indigo_Dingo:
This looks like a job for....
A Chaser-esque Stunt.

I need four total Sydney nerds - 1 dressed as a vault dweller, 1 dressed as Mark Ecko, 1 dressed as the guy from Dark Sector, and 1 dressed as the character from the original Manhunt. We approach Kirribilli house and speak about it as if it were an immigration matter.

"Mr. Prime Minister, you've said many times that you are opposed to the racism that marked the [previous government. But just look at these people who are still being turned away from Australia. How can you justify this, Mr. Rudd?"

I'm dead serious people. Look, at the very worst, we'll gain a small measure of fame in Sydney, and amongst the gaming community at large.

I'll get the camera.