HL2 Rated "15+" by the OFLC

SidewinderX

SidewinderX

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The Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification has officially rated Half-Life 2 as "MA 15+", dispelling the rumours that it would be banned down under. [br]
I'm sure all of our Aussie members are glad to hear this!
 
Do they automatically ban MA 18+ games or what? Then why rate them in the first place? :) Seems like an unnecessary rating if it's never used? What about San Andreas?
 
no it doesnt get banned automatically its just games like ManHunt that exceed the requirements of a particular rating and it most likely went over a MA 18+ but that whats they had to give it since thats the highest rateing you can get for a movie/game and so on and ManHunt wasnt automatically banned,it was banned after about a year and trust me theres plenty of MA 18+ Movies and games,not sure about the games though.
 
That's good news for the folks down under. Everybody should have the privilege of playing Half-Life 2.
 
Good news for the Australian peeps :)

Even tho it doesnt matter really. Import/steam
 
Cool HL2 is safe for Australia, otherwise Australia would have a lot of emigrants this year :p
 
Australia actually bans games? Damn, you people need some free speech rights.
 
Im Australian too :)
Yes No Limit, In Australia, games do get banned if they exceed their rating (in terms of animated violence etc). Thats how ManHunt is now banned from being sold here.
 
I'm american but I'm glad aussies get HL2, no one should miss out on this experience that HL2 will deliver.
 
I am an Aussie
Unfortunately Australia only alows games rated up to MA15+ to be sold in Australia

Games like Manhunt Postal2 are banned

Grand Theft Auto had to be modified to comply with MA15+ rating

They even banned Leisure Suit Larry Magna Cum Laude and that has built in censored bits I couldn't believe them banning that.

At least HL2 came thru unmodified.
 
Harryz said:
Any Aussies here?
Click to expand...

We're everywhere!!!

Seriously though, the OLFC needs a major overhaul. The highest rating a computer game can receive here is MA15+, which is just crap.

We have an R18+ rating for movies but not for games. So we will never see any mature (and by that I mean serious horror / psychological thriller) type games until the OLFC drags itself out of the 80's and into the modern era.

It also means that game content can be changed to suit the MA15+ rating. Just like the content was changed in Germany for the original HL, the MA15+ cap on game ratings means that Australia could also be subject to this kind of content censorship in the future.

EDIT: OLFC = OFLC. I'm Lysdexic :)
 
Im an aussie!!! :D
This is great news, now i dont have to resort to a torrent :p
Townsville is the best city in the world! except it hasnt rained in about 17years :S
 
WAYNEOOO said:
Im an aussie!!! :D
This is great news, now i dont have to resort to a torrent :p
Townsville is the best city in the world! except it hasnt rained in about 17years :S
Click to expand...

Everyone knows the best city in the world by name and nature is Addis Abbaba

PS - I'm in Brisbane...
 
I'm Australian, and I actually think censoring is a good thing, just because a game allows us to do something, eg. prostitutes in GTA, doesn't mean that it should. In my opinion it is a good thing that Manhunt and Postal2 got banned, we really don't need to be entertained by the sick and twisted.
 
Robinhood_01 said:
I'm Australian, and I actually think censoring is a good thing, just because a game allows us to do something, eg. prostitutes in GTA, doesn't mean that it should. In my opinion it is a good thing that Manhunt and Postal2 got banned, we really don't need to be entertained by the sick and twisted.
Click to expand...
i smell religion...
 
Robinhood_01 said:
I'm Australian, and I actually think censoring is a good thing, just because a game allows us to do something, eg. prostitutes in GTA, doesn't mean that it should. In my opinion it is a good thing that Manhunt and Postal2 got banned, we really don't need to be entertained by the sick and twisted.
Click to expand...

That's amazing that they ban games above 15+... how about just not buying what you don't want to play? A forty-year-old can't play Manhunt because 14-year-olds exist in Australia?
 
postal 2 was just a load of crap. manhunt i have never played but dont really care about. i think its good that the kids today arent seeing that kind of crap, i can sacrifice my own "free speech" for that. its no biggie.
there's nothing religious about it, i dont really give a crap about or believe in any religion, it's called family values.
 
And family values say that parents shouldn't even buy games for their kids that are restricted to over 15 or 18 years of age.

I knew the OFLC wouldn't ban HL2, if they did I'm sure it would have led to mass piracy. They make some stupid decisions sometimes (ET had a PG rating for "supernatural themes"?? LSL banned) but I never thought they would ban HL2.

Go Australia :D
 
The Brew Master said:
no it doesnt get banned automatically its just games like ManHunt that exceed the requirements of a particular rating and it most likely went over a MA 18+ but that whats they had to give it since thats the highest rateing you can get for a movie/game and so on and ManHunt wasnt automatically banned,it was banned after about a year and trust me theres plenty of MA 18+ Movies and games,not sure about the games though.
Click to expand...
Oh okay. Good :)

moran said:
Unfortunately Australia only alows games rated up to MA15+ to be sold in Australia

Games like Manhunt Postal2 are banned

Grand Theft Auto had to be modified to comply with MA15+ rating

They even banned Leisure Suit Larry Magna Cum Laude and that has built in censored bits I couldn't believe them banning that.

At least HL2 came thru unmodified.
Click to expand...
The only reasons I can see for banning Postal2 & Manhunt are because they are crap :) Ban all crappy games :E Larry shouldn't have been banned. That's just silly.

But well this is good news for you all. Luckily there's Steam even if it got banned (right?).
 
No Limit said:
Australia actually bans games? Damn, you people need some free speech rights.
Click to expand...

OMG! I knew there would be at least one ill-informed American beating his chest over how "free" their country is compared to ours. Get over yourselves.
 
Reading all this makes me pround to be an American! :thumbs: :farmer:


I also like to :frog: :cat: :naughty:
 
I'm an Aussie as well, but this was never an issue for me - I mean if Doom3 can pass clasification I don't think HL2 passing was ever going to be an issue!

There is a movement in the Australian gaming community at the moment to seriously lobby for changes to the OFLC handling of games. We hope to change the way things are currently handled in order to give 18+ people the right to enjoy/play these more mature titles in the future!

At the end of the day, if kids really want to play these games, banned or not, there isn't much anyone can do to stop them - but I don't think that is any reason to stop older people from enjoying games tht they, as adults, would like the choice of playing.

ANyhoo, very much looking forward to the 16th, as I'm sure everyone else is around the world!

PS. Tassie rocks!
 
Schikitar said:
I'm an Aussie as well, but this was never an issue for me - I mean if Doom3 can pass clasification I don't think HL2 passing was ever going to be an issue!

There is a movement in the Australian gaming community at the moment to seriously lobby for changes to the OFLC handling of games. We hope to change the way things are currently handled in order to give 18+ people the right to enjoy/play these more mature titles in the future!

At the end of the day, if kids really want to play these games, banned or not, there isn't much anyone can do to stop them - but I don't think that is any reason to stop older people from enjoying games tht they, as adults, would like the choice of playing.

ANyhoo, very much looking forward to the 16th, as I'm sure everyone else is around the world!

PS. Tassie rocks!
Click to expand...

Amali Ward = Best thing to come out of Tassie for a while. She is seriously hot... :smoking:
 
no real impact from the rating on me.

if they had banned it i woulda just used torrent, their loss not mine.

but im glad thats not the case :)
 
Or instead of thievery you could have bought it through steam...
 
It was never going to be banned.

And yes... many Americans seem to be obsessed to the point of lunacy with "freedoms" and "rights", but only when it suits them. In many ways Australia is a much freer country than America-- the archaic game rating system is something of an anomaly.
 
Australia is like the perfect blend of traditional english laws and background, and stick it to the man freedoms of america.
 
I posted the other day in regards to the OLFC - About when Duke 3d came out eons ago, they banned it after it had already come out, even tho heaps of people had it, then re distributed a "clean" version without blood or swearing, cutting edge at the tim but still bull shit.
 
Great news, if the did ban half life 2 here, they would expect some civil unrest.
(Civil war :p)
 
Im aussie too!
I can't wait for the game, bring it on ! !


____________________________________________________
The CountDown is on...... U beta vote Kerry!
 
ah yes, finally. HL2 is just to good to be banned. Man im so proud to be Australian right now. And yes, Townsville rocks my world to. :)
 
Bah people are so pessimistic. To think people actually believed that HL2 would be banned in Australia brings somewhat of a tear to my eye. The OFLC would never have banned HL2. No argument.

But I do agree that Australia rocks, and Americans should get over the whole free speech thing :p
 
well if a game is rated r18 in america or eurrope it will usually come down to a MA15+ rating here in AUS. i also remeber the matrix reloaded getting an r rating in america while in australia it got M15+...

im excited beyond words that i will be able to buy hl2 :thumbs:
 
should be 18+, therefore less little kids playing on the mp :E wohoo!!
 
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