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[Ploid 3.0]

an enterprising gaffer could make some money relabelling copies of the games. A solid quality printer, custom adhesive labels, and american mortal kombat disls suddenly become "Xbox Kinnect Setup disk" or "Chromehounds"

I was just about to ask if this would be ok. I was thinking of painting the disks black and put them in normal cases. (not to profit. To help PSN buddies out)

 

[EatChildren]

I was just about to ask if this would be ok. I was thinking of painting the disks black and put them in normal cases. (not to profit. To help PSN buddies out)

If you got caught you'd be in shit, as you'd be selling illegal goods. You'd probably just get a slap on the wrist, but you'd be distributing banned materal which is technically a crime.

 

[glaurung]

*imagines an underwater smugglers den filled to the brim with illegal video games, a grizzled old henchmen with an eyepatch carving his name into a dead hooker's corpse.

That is - truth be told - modern Australia.

1984

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Prohibition era 2011. Moms will be against the smugglers.

 

[Nirolak]

If you got caught you'd be in shit, as you'd be selling illegal goods. You'd probably just get a slap on the wrist, but you'd be distributing banned materal which is technically a crime.

I'm trying to imagine the hilarity that would come from an international lawsuit where the government of Australia sues Ploid for mailing people Mortal Kombat discs.

The press coverage would probably help your cause greatly.

 

[EatChildren]

I'm trying to imagine the hilarity that would come from an international lawsuit where the government of Australia sues Ploid for mailing people Mortal Kombat discs.

The press coverage would probably help your cause greatly.

It would headline A Current Affair and we'd have our rating system dropped to PG only, leaving us with nothing but Ubisoft's Imagine franchise, a handful of Kinect games, and Wii Sports.

 

[Darklord]

But RC means it can't be sold here. You are still allowed to own it. What is illegal about importing?

 

[glaurung]

a handful of Kinect games

I always thought kinect games initiated violence toward children, cruelty to animals and the desperate need to destroy your liver with firewater.

How the hell is it allowed to beat your toddler up by accident but beating up a demon from the ninth dimension on screen is punishable by stupid fines?

 

[Arozay]

So if I understand this right, if I were to just mail Zaro fifty copies of Mortal Kombat, he would have to pay some astronomical fee?

Is Australia a banana republic now?

Would it be worth the shipping costs?

 

[Haunted]

Australia desperately needs that 18+ rating.

What's the official reason for not having this implemented by now?

FUCK......

Apparently customs will seize imports of Mortal Kombat. So now we can't even import it. This is getting ridiculous.


http://au.gamespot.com/news/6303984.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1

edit: wow, now that's some proper bullshit.

 

[EatChildren]

Australia desperately needs that 18+ rating.


What's the official reason for not having this implemented by now?

Christian, conservative, and children lobbies are the only ones standing in the way. Their argument 99% of the time is that having an R18+ rating will allow even more violent and pornographic video game content to enter the country, and that despite the rating system being in place it would be impossible to truly police, and thus children would still be able to access the content through means of pirating and sharing titles.

There is also a handful of super fundamentalist conservative groups who argue stuff like video games objectifying and disgracing the image of women, and thus they shouldn't be allowed in the country because they're the work of Satan, rarr rarr.

The EveryonePlays campaign has been pushing for a long time now to expand the rating system to include R18+. Hopefully we get a result soon.

 

[Haunted]

Christian, conservative, and children lobbies are the only ones standing in the way. Their argument 99% of the time is that having an R18+ rating will allow even more violent and pornographic video game content to enter the country, and that despite the rating system being in place it would be impossible to truly police, and thus children would still be able to access the content through means of pirating and sharing titles.

There is also a handful of super fundamentalist conservative groups who argue stuff like video games objectifying and disgracing the image of women, and thus they shouldn't be allowed in the country because they're the work of Satan, rarr rarr.

The EveryonePlays campaign has been pushing for a long time now to expand the rating system to include R18+. Hopefully we get a result soon.

So basically, it's the same old shit. Sounds like Germany prior to 2003, what a terribly shitty and outdated stance to have.

If there's concern about proper policing of the rating system, then that's the area that should be improved - circumventing this by not allowing the content in the first place is a shitty cop-out and not a viable long-term solution.


That they're not even allowing adults the freedom to circumvent this just tops it off.

 

[bumpkin]

FUCK......

Apparently customs will seize imports of Mortal Kombat. So now we can't even import it. This is getting ridiculous.


http://au.gamespot.com/news/6303984.html?tag=latestheadlines;title;1

Holy shit... Wow. It's a video game... A VIDEO GAME. I don't live in Australia nor have I ever been, but good god, this is some serious over-reaching. There are movies with content far worse than what's in the new MK; are those banned and seized by customs, too?

 

[hamchan]

I'm still gonna try importing. Considering some of the shit I've managed to take through before I'm willing to take my chances. The workers there are probably too busy looking for actual harmful things coming in, like drugs or weapons.

 

[Ploid 3.0]

Would it be worth the shipping costs?

Take the disks out of the boxes and put them on a single cd spool. Mailing stuff to other countries isn't that expensive it's only expensive if you don't compact the space and do it wrong. Disks are so cheap to do. Sucks if the person wants the original casing and you ship a lot of them depriving him of such box.

 

[EatChildren]

So basically, it's the same old shit. Sounds like Germany prior to 2003 -what a terribly shitty and outdated stance to have.

If there's concern about proper policing of the rating system, that's the area that should be improved, circumventing this by not allowing the content in the first place is a cheap cop-out and not a viable long-term solution.

It's made worse by the huge inconsistencies between ratings and the way the board manages its decision making. Sometimes bans and censorships can be avoided by simply working the submission document properly. Case in point, Left 4 Dead 2, which was really only censored (heavily, mind you) because Valve, EA, or whoever wrote the submission documented decided to refer to the infected as 'infected humans' or whatever, and not 'monsters'.

Inconsistencies are the fact there are many games that, under a full rating scale, would be rated R18+. Instead they are given an MA15+ rating and allowed in. There's a lot of games that, based on the current ruling, should be RC'd and banned but are not, and there are a lot of RC'd games that are less severe yet banned.

EveryonePlays aims to balance out the rating system to include R18+, which allows high content games to be given the rating they deserve, while still allowing them in the country, and thus allowing adults to have the freedom to chose the games they wish to play.

A lot of the lobbies seem to think we're all about getting an R18+ rating to allow a flood of RapeLays or whatever into the country, when it's really the other way around. It's extremely frustrating for our game and film rating system to be identical, with the exception that the game rating, for no reason, cuts off at MA15+ as opposed to R18+.

Holy shit... Wow. It's a video game... A VIDEO GAME. I don't live in Australia nor have I ever been, but good god, this is some serious over-reaching. There are movies with content far worse than what's in the new MK; are those banned and seized by customs, too?

Yes. As I said in my posts above, all banned material opened at customs, regardless of whether it is a movie or game, will be seized. It's been this way forever, and the searching is random.

 

[Router]

I'll be importing. Chances that customs will nab it are slim.

 

[Nemesis_]

Australia desperately needs that 18+ rating.

What's the official reason for not having this implemented by now?



edit: wow, now that's some proper bullshit.

People are so dumb. Customs were always seizing copies of banned games in Australia. This is nothing new.

As this is much more high profile than previously, I'll wait and see how people go with importing then import myself if the results are good.

 

[Darklord]

I'll be importing. Chances that customs will nab it are slim.

Me too. And it's won't result in a $110,000 fine. People were caught with L4D2 and they got a warning letting. There is no WAY you'd get fined $110,000 for importing one game for personal use. If you imported 50 and planed on selling them then yeah, maybe.

 

[Hanmik]

just found this interview...

http://www.thenobleeskimo.com/edboonblood.html

here he elaborates on the game being banned in Australia.

TNE: Speaking of violence and corruption, I see things on the Australian front aren't getting any better.

EB: F*** Australia and everything it stands for. Those mother f***ers think they're all hot s***, banning Mortal Kombat, saying it's too violent and s***. They sit there in their f***ing desert, riding their kangaroos and drinking their Foster's, and they have the nerve to tell me that they think my game is too violent? I'm f***ing Ed Boon. They're f***ing nobodies. Australia should be called "A**tralia."

the interview is full of win... ;o)

Spoiler

the webpage is not a 100 % serious site..

 

[Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew]

Customs seizing MK? No problem. Hide it in a box of Jesus Camp and it'll come right through!

 

[BowieZ]

Someone send me a case with photocopied MK art and a note inside saying lol censorship lol

 

[mclem]

So if I understand this right, if I were to just mail Zaro fifty copies of Mortal Kombat, he would have to pay some astronomical fee?

Is Australia a banana republic now?

I assume there's some sort of defense if there's no evidence it was solicited. Otherwise people could just send copies to the classification board members. That'd be fun

 

[PARANO1A]

I've already preordered from the UK. Will let you know if I get a lousy fine :-\

 

[CadaveriaIX]

I'm still on the fence about pre-ordering now, though this game looks to good not to risk it.

 

[LiK]

Seizing them? WTF is this shit.

 

[EatChildren]

Seizing them? WTF is this shit.

Again, this is how customs handles every piece of RC'd material sent to the country. It's a bit of a sensationalist title to the thread. The moment it was announced to be RC'd the knowlege existed that customs would seize any copies they find.

It's how it's always been. Odds are if you import they wont find shit.

 

[LiK]

Again, this is how customs handles every piece of RC'd material sent to the country. It's a bit of a sensationalist title to the thread. The moment it was announced to be RC'd the knowlege existed that customs would seize any copies they find.

It's how it's always been. Odds are if you import they wont find shit.

Good, hope all you Aussies get your hands on it. Ridiculous.