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Hotline Miami 2 Refused Australian Classification

S

Shaneus

Member
JaseC said:
The lack of an R rating was never the real issue but rather the guidelines that board members use to determine whether or not a title should be refused classification. As others have already said, though, the ruling shouldn't affect the PC version of the game since digital titles aren't required to be rated in the first place and Valve isn't in the business of policing the regional availability of games.
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Didn't stop Left 4 Dead 2 getting censored. Nor South Park Stick of Truth.
 
A

Alkastelca

Member
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Is the Most Violent Game I Have Ever Played - IGN First

200_s.gif
 
D

Dryk

Member
Shaneus said:
Didn't stop Left 4 Dead 2 getting censored. Nor South Park Stick of Truth.
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Those games had physical Steamworks releases. This is pretty uncharted territory because digital titles don't usually get RC'd, but Marc Ecko came out on Australian Steam despite being banned here. That's a much older game though so who even knows.
 
J

JaseC

gave away the keys to the kingdom.
Shaneus said:
Didn't stop Left 4 Dead 2 getting censored. Nor South Park Stick of Truth.
Click to expand...

Both of which aren't digital-exclusive. Valve and Ubi could have made the Steam AU versions uncensored (see: Silent Hill: Homecoming) but that probably would have been seen as strongly incentivising digital purchases by their retail distribution partners. Valve actually rocked that boat with Portal 2 -- the original intention was to have the ARG finishers unlock the game the Friday before release, but EA cried foul and the date was pushed back to the following Monday, hence the GLaDOS@Home... thing.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
Keio said:
No. And you are drawing a bizarre implied meaning from my question. Why are you so keen to defend a rape scene?

I'm asking because I'm honestly trying to understand this thread. I did play the first HM and thought it was a well made game, but the reactions around HM2 perplex me.

Edit; and to be fair other forms of media don't also often feature scenes as portrayed by the Board in the description. Curious on how it will contribute to the storytelling of the game.
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In case you are, "honestly trying to understand this thread", and not just trying to draw silly implications, the point is not much whether or not the rape scene fits into the larger game (nobody can know since nobody has played the game top to bottom yet, and even then it's a matter open to debate).
The problem is having a board of people make that decision for you beforehand, when you're an adult that can think with their own brain.

If these same people were to negate me the chance to see a Gaspar Noè film, then yeah i'd be pissed, regardless of what personally offends their sensibilities, which i personally don't care about, not everybody reacts the same to the same stuff.
Sure, put a big label on the product about its more extreme content, because it can be a trigger for some people, but beyond that, it's pigheaded to be wanting to keep "protecting" people from themselves... or whatever other reasoning they thought up for this censorship.
 
TaroYamada

TaroYamada

Member
Happy to hear Cactus stuck to their guns on this issue, was worried they might back down and I rather dislike when developers do that. Much like some others in this thread I perceive the refusal to classify more as an endorsement. Hope Ozzy folk manage to get their hands on the game.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
JaseC said:
Valve actually rocked that boat with Portal 2 -- the original intention was to have the ARG finishers unlock the game the Friday before release, but EA cried foul and the date was pushed back to the following Monday, hence the GLaDOS@Home... thing.
Click to expand...

Oh wow. That explains THAT little debacle. Man, people were flipping their shit about doing all that work, only to release the game a few hours early instead of days.

Goddammit EA.
 
F

Filthy Casual

Member
jediyoshi said:
Are you upset it's getting in the way of all the violence? Why are you drawing the line of abhorrence at sexual assault?
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So the line shouldn't be drawn then? Not saying the game should be banned but come on you can't put rape on the same level as the usual violence we see in games. Would graphic 3D rape be fine in your book then? Weird.
 
D

D43M0N

Neo Member
The_Dude said:
Meanwhile, Salo is about to get released uncut on blu ray.
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It's been out in an uncut form for about four years now.

All our classification board is doing is pulling up Australian retailers by their own overpriced petard (although I'm not 100% if Hotline Miami 2 was going to get a boxed release here) - anyone who's going to play this game is going to have an avenue of getting it through a US PSN account, Steam, GOG, XBL, you name it. The ACB keeps damning itself to irrelevancy in a digital world.

As with other classification boards, though, it's on the onus of the publisher or developer to show context - GTA5 mostly had humor to fall back on for its sexuality. Compare it to other banned material such as American Psycho's book version which was banned due to sexually implicit material, Cannibal Holocaust's original release for the rape scenes presented as found footage, and countless other releases denied classification - there's precedent, so it's not entirely a surprise regardless of the medium. As shitty as the ACB is, it wouldn't surprise me if Devolver didn't submit context for the scene either.
 
Rockondevil

Rockondevil

Member
Good to see our R18+ rating hard at work. Just seems like they make a lot of old MA games R now and still want to mess with/ban things that should be R.
Everything that isn't MA or lower should be R, nothing should be banned.
 
Ovek

Ovek

7Member7
Damn that bit sounds brutal, it's going to be the most controversial thing gaming wise if it actually played out like the description.
 
Z

zogged

Member
Being one of the people who signed who knows how many petitions to get an R rating here I understand being pissed off whenever something like this happens. But I still understand why this decision was made. I'm not here to debate double standards or being denied the freedom to choose what media you can consume, but its important to remember that when the R rating was implemented the stance towards sexual violence was explicitly stated. I'm ignorant of the context behind the scene, but from the description posted I honestly cannot blame the rating board for their reaction to it.
 
G

Gruso

Member
I hate our censorship board as much as the next guy. But that description does sound pretty brutal. I would love to know more about the context, but as it stands, I'm not sure who would want or need a scene like that in a video game.
 
D

Deleted member 102362

Unconfirmed Member
Gruso said:
I hate our censorship board as much as the next guy. But that description does sound pretty brutal. I would love to know more about the context, but as it stands, I'm not sure who would want or need a scene like that in a video game.
Click to expand...

Some context (light spoilers):

It's supposed to be a scene from a movie, based on the events of the first game, that's being shot during the course of the second game. Pig Butcher is the serial killer representing Jacket, the main PC from HM1.

Some more background info, though this will have additional story spoilers.
 
C

CadetMahoney

Member
They don't ban GTA, but that makes a lot of money so they let regular murder and mayhem slide. Wonder if the UK gubment will also ban this.
 
U

UrbanRats

Member
Gruso said:
I hate our censorship board as much as the next guy. But that description does sound pretty brutal. I would love to know more about the context, but as it stands, I'm not sure who would want or need a scene like that in a video game.
Click to expand...

That's really not ground to censor it and, further more, it's more or less the argumentative technique of: "if you have a problem with the government invading your privacy without any restraint, it's because you've got something to hide!".
 
N

Novocaine

Member
Gruso said:
I hate our censorship board as much as the next guy. But that description does sound pretty brutal. I would love to know more about the context, but as it stands, I'm not sure who would want or need a scene like that in a video game.
Click to expand...

I want it. and as an adult it should be my fucking choice.

I'm so fucking tired of this damn ratings board telling me what I can and can't do as an adult.
 
G

Gruso

Member
To be clear, I'm not defending the RC classification just because I think it's icky. I'm anti-censorship all the way. I was just questioning the need for a rape scene in a game.

En Ex said:
Some context (light spoilers):

It's supposed to be a scene from a movie, based on the events of the first game, that's being shot during the course of the second game. Pig Butcher is the serial killer representing Jacket, the main PC from HM1.

Some more background info, though this will have additional story spoilers.
Click to expand...
Cheers.
 
D

dan2026

Member
The thing that disturbs me most is this strange assertion that rape is somehow worse than murder.

Murder is the ultimate crime. The only thing worse is more murder.
 
S

Spineker

Banned
At the end of the day, this is nothing but another embarrassment for the Australian gaming community. Any adult gamer that wishes to play HM2 already know of ways to get it in spite of this so it makes no difference in the world.
 
Y

YianGaruga

Banned
Devolver just posted this
We are aware of the recent report published by the Australian Classification Board in regards to Hotline Miami 2 and have been in communication with them. As such, we and Dennaton Games would like to clarify a few things:

First, to clear up any possible misconceptions, the opening cinematic that was first shown in June of 2013 has not changed in any way. We also want to make clear that players are given an choice at the start of the game as to whether they wish to avoid content that alludes to sexual violence. The sequence in question is presented below in context, both after choosing the uncut version of the game and after choosing to avoid content that alludes to sexual violence.

Second, in response to the report itself, we are concerned and disappointed that a board of professionals tasked with evaluating and judging games fairly and honestly would stretch the facts to such a degree and issue a report that describes specific thrusting actions that are not simply present in the sequence in question and incorrectly portrays what was presented to them for review.

Though we have no plans to officially challenge the ruling, we stand by our developers, their creative vision for the storyline, its characters and the game and look forward to delivering Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number to fans very soon.

- Devolver Digital and Dennaton Games
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http://www.devolverdigital.com/blog/view/hotline-miami-2-australian-classification
 
L

lefantome

Member
This is ridicolous, these morality bans must stop.
They are toxic towards freedom of expression.

They have ratings why not put a 18+ on it and go on?
 
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