LeonardoCornejo: Wow. That actualy makes more sense than my theory. Of course, until something new comes out all these theories are in the air as plausible.

jefequeso: Hmm... interesting thought, although if that were the case one would think they'd make a point of telling us. Unless they can't for some legal reasons.

Telika: I did google "Withotu" expecting it to be another game genre (japanese or something). D'oh.

Anyway, one issue with the "horror" genre is, heck, the horror itself. It is mostly felt when there is a sense of dread, of fear, of vulnerability. This is felt by/through the victim. The monster is giggling. When you identify to the monster, is it still horror ? Does it still belong to the genre, or does it subvert it into its opposite ? For me, Jaws and its sequels belong to different genres, because in the sequels I root for the shark and don't care about the victims. The original Jaws manages to make me believe in its protagonists and side with them - and feel horror at what they face.

That may be one reason why most games that have you play the baddie have a cheerful tone. They rarely try to elicit a feeling that is at odds with their function. Haunted houses are scary when you're on the frightened end. When you're the frightener, it's a comedy - which gets aknowledged by most "inverted horror premise" games. And the more tension and obstacles you add (in order to not make it just an interactive torture app), the less it stays horror : Despite his occasional shriek-at-civilian-to-make-it-curl-and-weep moments, AvP's Alien is itself a horror-survival victim trying to escape death against all odds. Fright Night's vampire has to mariobros his way through idiotic ghosts and skeleton hands. Masquerade's vampire mostly fight each others. And Terrordrome wasn't pitting horror figures against a gallery of passive victims.

Basically, I consider that a "[horror] [game] [where you play the monster]" is a contradiction in terms. And that attempts to combine all of these just either fall flat or unwittingly ditch one. Succesful games consciously ditch one.

jefequeso: if that were the case one would think they'd make a point of telling us. Unless they can't for some legal reasons.

fronzelneekburm: As others have pointed out, that would be a rather unprofessional move on GOG's part, ESPECIALLY if it were true.

"Hey, bros! One of our potential business partners hatched this elaborate scheme on how to generate some extra controversy. Since this plan is likely to piss off a large part of our consumer base, we decided not to go along with it."

I'm all for transparency, but I'm afraid this won't happen. :P

fronzelneekburm: What if I told you... that the Hatred devs wanted to drum up some more manufactured controversy by preemprively "banning" the game from sale in Australia and Germany. The GOG crew, with the considerable backlash against region-locking Hotline Miami 2 and Commandos still fresh in their minds, chose not to play along, fearing that this would undoubtedly lead to more sour grapes among their customers. So they chose that they "can't" sell the game, without considering the shitstorm this refusal might eventually lead to.

Vainamoinen: It WAS interesting how much of a controversy said social outrage activists have created over a single supermarket chain in Australia removing a single over a year old console game from their shelves. But I don't think that outrage has boosted sales in any perceivable way. Older games just don't sell particularly well, whatever you do.

The Hatred developers may be in dire need of more controversy to sell their mediocre game, but I don't think they concocted such an elaborate scheme. As their game has shown, they lack the necessary creativity.

DaCostaBR: Does GOG carry any other games that were banned in these regions? Censored, sure, but any outright banned ones? If not, this could be the issue.

jefequeso: They wouldn't have to be that specific, they could just say something like "we couldn't come to an agreement on specifics concerning region locks." Or something like that.

DaCostaBR: Does GOG carry any other games that were banned in these regions? Censored, sure, but any outright banned ones? If not, this could be the issue.

TStael: So, paedophile hunt game aiming to rape children... Would this not be quite a big fat middle finger aimed at all those hippies?

U would play that, eh?

No, I think (hope?): so shame one u hypocrite!

And in case you need reminding: random murder is a crime, and bluaady cruel one. And so is raping children, obviously. Deeply cruel.

LeonardoCornejo: I think a game where the aim is raping children is vile and horrible, and cerainly I would not buy it even to spite those I stand against. But certainly if it ever gets published I could not care less. And if it was released on GOG I would actually support them for doing so.

In fact I was thinking that it would be interested if there was a game in which the main character had a frowned paraphilia such as hebephilia (Attraction to pubescent minors) or necrophilia as an example. or just took part in a relationship related to such paraphilia (Falling in love with a minor or an undead for example).I told my sister and a firend of mine and they thought the idea was rather cool, but it would be quite a challenge to make it subtle enough to get it released on a major platform.

TStael: Prime Suspect 3 & 6, I think.

And fcuk u - I quote u most wholeheartedly. ;-)

Atticusmj: Hot Line Miami 2 was banned so that idea is out the window

LeonardoCornejo: I have not played those games, but if there is a precedent that makes it even easier to release.