Widescreen Gaming Forum

Plus yeah it's cheaper to buy games on steam or overseas and pay the shipping than buy them here. Prices of things like electronics, dvds, games etc. are ridiculous. (Especially with our dollar doing so well)

Sounds like a slammin business idea, too bad so many other businesses beat me to it, however, there are some that are going to be a little more respectful, I however could become the next PlayAsia :lol:.

At least the USA cannot ban games and the ESRB rating is optional. The only game(s) to be banned in the U.S were due to some women flashing, and then later found out they were 17 = Child Porno.

Though California keeps wasting its time (And money it doesn't have) trying to make selling M games to under 18's illegal, the Supreme Court keeps striking them down.

The only game(s) to be banned in the U.S were due to some women flashing, and then later found out they were 17 = Child Porno.

Waitwhat? what game?

At least the USA cannot ban games and the ESRB rating is optional. The only game(s) to be banned in the U.S were due to some women flashing, and then later found out they were 17 = Child Porno.

Though California keeps wasting its time (And money it doesn't have) trying to make selling M games to under 18's illegal, the Supreme Court keeps striking them down.

The US obviously has better free sheech and expression rights for the courts to rely on... I don't know anything about AUS courts, but they must not have the same power as ours or they would prevent this stuff from happening.

As much as the courts in the US annoy me sometimes, I still think they are the last line of defense against politicians trying to twist things to get elected, thank God. If it weren't for them, we would have been banning things left and right for years.

[quote]The only game(s) to be banned in the U.S were due to some women flashing, and then later found out they were 17 = Child Porno.

Waitwhat? what game?

The Guy Game.

[quote][quote]The only game(s) to be banned in the U.S were due to some women flashing, and then later found out they were 17 = Child Porno.

Waitwhat? what game?

The Guy Game.

Ah Thought so.

No point buying it from overseas when there won't be any local servers hosting it if it's banned.

Also, it won't be banned indefinitely. Valve won't lose the potential profit from selling in Australia. What happens is the OFLC get the publishers to send them a file with all the worst parts of the game (i.e. offensive, violent or sexual content) and that is what they review. A couple games in the past have been "banned" and then another file has been viewed with the issue problem content in context and then had the RC classification lifted.

The stuff in L4D2 is a little more than that though, main reason being that the violence is not only done on "zombies" but stuff can be done to the survivors, this is where I believe the issue lies with the OFLC. If Valve can't get the RC lifted, then they'll just release an edited version.

As for why we don't have an R rating for games, the reason Atkinson gives is that movies and other media aren't interactive. You aren't controlling the main character in a movie to do the actions, whereas in a game usually you are the one doing the act. Personally I think it's bollocks, if it has an R rating it's an adults only game. If a kid gets a hold of it, the onus is on the parent to regulate whether or not they play it.

The politicians here in Australia don't realise the average age of a gamer is quite a bit over 18. It was my generation where "computer games" (consoles) took off in the late 80s with the NES and Master System then followed by the SNES and Mega Drive. I in particular am 24 (25 in Oct) and feel I should be free to choose what content I am and am not allowed to play or view.

The politicians here in Australia don't realise the average age of a gamer is quite a bit over 18. It was my generation where "computer games" (consoles) took off in the late 80s with the NES and Master System then followed by the SNES and Mega Drive. I in particular am 24 (25 in Oct) and feel I should be free to choose what content I am and am not allowed to play or view.

I watched some roundtable discussion with Aussie politicians once and a 20-something dude asked why they banned Fallout 3 and they basically spent 10 minutes making fun of him for playing video games.

It was pretty shocking for someone who is used to american politicians doing nothing but pander.

The thing is, you go into a retail store that sells games and go where they sell them and they'll have more people from my age bracket than kids.

I went into my local JB HiFi to pick up some stuff then went to browse the games and there was 6 guys in suits who obviously just finished work and were on the way home, one woman with her son (8-9 y.o.) and a guy with his son (6-7 y.o.), both of which were in the Wii games section.

[quote]What's to stop people from making a second steam account that isn't listed as AUS located? I've read people doing something similar to get around country-specific blocks on xbox/ps3 online things.

Somehow people can't work around this to buy games on Steam that are not in their region, "


Yes you can, you need a VPN to another country. My work runs all it's data out of the UK by VPN, I should be able to try it.

besides -

If you actually CARE about it, sign the petition.

http://www.petitiononline.com/l4d2inoz/petition.html

Also contact your MP and DO something about it.

I am doing.

Valve are appealing the ban, basically saying it should be 'the same as L4D'....I hope it doesn't make the tossers in the Oz board of classification (or whatever) retrospectively ban L4D!

http://www.ausgamers.com/news/read/2789988