It seems that you're using an outdated browser. Some things may not work as they should (or don't work at all).
We suggest you upgrade newer and better browser like: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer or Opera

×
avatar
CharlesGrey: Trifecta? So we have regional locks and regional pricing... am I missing another one?
Regional discounts.
avatar
Lifthrasil: All this talk about Australia remindet me of a joke:

A man wants to move to Australia and is asked in the immigration office:
"Do you have any criminal record?"

He answers: "Oh, I didn't know, that that is STILL a requirement!"
This Aussie is cackling after reading that! I guess I'll have to be deported as I do not even have a caution to my name :( Any takers? This country is getting worse by the day(government)!

I never thought I'd see the day a game was regionally blocked on GOG :(

I thought with the introduction of a classification scheme in Australia, we'd have access to MORE games, not less. How the fuck can a game be UNCLASSIFIED? I've seen movies on SBS TV here that are far more explicit and contain far more drug use than any bloody computer game.

Oh well, not that I am interested in the game, but once again I will resort to all available methods to get access to regionally restricted games...and I don't even want this one! :P
avatar
Tarnicus: Oh well, not that I am interested in the game, but once again I will resort to all available methods to get access to regionally restricted games...and I don't even want this one! :P
The first one is a bloody (pun unintended) excellent game and since the second one comes with a simple map editor, there'll be lots of mods in no time. I highly recommend those games, especcially to Australians. ;)
Post edited February 25, 2015 by Klumpen0815
If you wish to voice your concerns to the Australian Classification Board and the snobs who sit on that board, they can be contacted online , written to [url=http://www.classification.gov.au/About/Pages/Contact-Us.aspx]here, and made fun of by looking at them and making memes about how ridiculous censorship is, by checking out all the members of the board here!

As censorship for adults irks me to no end (more so than regional pricing!), I will find the time between hunting for a new home and will get the board rolling. I will post my letter to them here once it is done, as well as any replies :) I'll start with my PR face, and when that doesn't achieve anything, will remove my mask and show them my monster face :D
avatar
Klumpen0815: The first one is a bloody (pun unintended) excellent game and since the second one comes with a simple map editor, there'll be lots of mods in no time. I highly recommend this game, especcially to Australians. ;)
I've got the first game but have yet to play it, hence the lack of interest from me for now :)

Edit: the list of "qualifications" is astounding, here are a couple...

Deputy director, Margaret Anderson: "Before her appointment as Deputy Director, she completed a two-year engagement with the Department of Correctional Services in the Northern Territory working as Deputy Director, Strategic and Executive Services; and then as the Executive Director, Youth Justice...From 1995 to 2011, Ms Anderson held several positions with the New South Wales Department of Corrective Services—including Director, Corporate Legislation and Parliamentary Support; and Executive Officer and Registrar of the Serious Offenders' Review Council. As Director, she led the development and implementation of numerous legislative reforms and as the Executive Officer and Registrar, she oversighted the case management plans of the state's most serious adult criminals."

I am wary of anyone who has worked in the Northern Territory in the "justice" system. See Aboriginal deaths in custody and the abuse that still continues there to this day...

Temporary member, Emma Ashton: "She is currently a blogger" Mad skillz :D

Here are the 3 review board members who review any decisions made.
Post edited February 25, 2015 by Tarnicus
avatar
Urnoev: Great, another thread for my bookmarks...

I'm not sure what to think of this development yet.
It's not really a development. Australia has the most stringent game content laws. Sometimes the board refuses to rate games and they can't be sold there. The only development here is GOG being big enough for well-marketed day 1 releases.
Post edited February 25, 2015 by Gilozard
Something to note; 4 days ago was the "Good News" 1 year anniversary!
avatar
Grargar: Something to note; 4 days ago was the "Good News" 1 year anniversary!
Reminds me of this.
avatar
Tarnicus: snip
This is how such problems once got solved traditionally:

[url=http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A4ndeaufstand_in_B%C3%B6hmen_%281618%29#mediaviewer/File:Prager_Fenstersturz_Wahrhafftige_Zeitung_aus_Prag.JPG]http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A4ndeaufstand_in_B%C3%B6hmen_%281618%29#mediaviewer/File:Prager_Fenstersturz_Wahrhafftige_Zeitung_aus_Prag.JPG[/url]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Prager.Fenstersturz.1618.jpg

http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/barocklyrik/images/a/a2/Prager_Fenstersturz.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20100305213123&path-prefix=de
avatar
IAmSinistar: Gah! That's as bad, possibly worse, than the Aussie list.

The Chaos Engine was sort-of censored when it was originally released in the US - the Priest was turned into the Scientist. Americans love them some guns, but have conniptions if you show nipples or fuck with the church.
avatar
toxicTom: Well Germany has two kinds of bans: "Kids in peril!" and "Evil! Evil! Evil! Banned!". Problem is, for a company like GOG the effect would be the same: "Henceforth demon, from Google's search results!", and that's about the only legal measures the Germans could take, but still pretty harmful.
I guess that's the only measure Out Back could take also (since GOG has no dependence in Australia). But it's a valid threat.
Well, they could also sentence you to prison for up to 10 years for selling banned games. So no vacationing in australia or going to countries with really good extradition treaties with australia. You would really have to piss off the australian government to get something like that though.
It belongs here too:

http://www.computerandvideogames.com/424642/anger-over-rape-scene-in-hotline-miami-2/

http://wegotthiscovered.com/gaming/hotline-miami-2-dev-responds-australian-ban/

“How would you, as the developer, most like me to obtain your game?”
the fan asks in his email to Söderström.

“I was thinking that maybe I could torrent it and donate to you directly, but I’m not a fan of torrenting games and I don’t want to get in legal trouble.”

Söderström responded:
“If it ends up not being released in Australia, just pirate it after release. No need to send us money, just enjoy the game!”
The only thing surprising is that people were unaware that Australia is pretty much 1950s sitcom America.
avatar
Urnoev: Great, another thread for my bookmarks...

I'm not sure what to think of this development yet.
avatar
Gilozard: It's not really a development. Australia has the most stringent game content laws. Sometimes the board refuses to rate games and they can't be sold there. The only development here is GOG being big enough for well-marketed day 1 releases.
It might not be a development for you, but it is a major development for me.
It changes GOG to become a store that promotes and enforces censorship, which makes me uncomfortable.
I still have to think about it, but for the moment my decision is that I will not buy any games released on GOG on or after 25 February 2015.
Post edited February 26, 2015 by mrkgnao
avatar
ShadowWulfe: Let's hope this list doesn't regularly grow. =/
avatar
IAmSinistar: We felt the same about the other two Regional lists, too. :(
And why, if I may ask? We´ve been calculating that whole "regional pricement stuff" for a long time and thanks to the FairPricePackage it´s completely irrelevant, as long as your last game you buy in a row is a traditional priced game eating up all the store credit you collected before! (and yes, this has been proven) So yes, it´s completely irrelevant if that list is growing, as long as it´s not over-growing the rest of the catalog!

Nobody got the right to ban art; but countries do simply take it! Sadly even the ones claiming that "the rule of the stonger" isn´t relevant for them are still attending to it
avatar
toxicTom: Let's start:

Germany:
MoH:AA
Harvester (really banned!)
Blood
Commandos
The Chaos Engine (!, didn't know this...)
Cannon Fodder 1+2
Are you sure about Commandos? I have at least two discs with it (one even came with a magazine) that I bought here without any problems. As far as I know it is a censored version, but I don't think the game as a whole was banned.
avatar
Gilozard: It's not really a development. Australia has the most stringent game content laws. Sometimes the board refuses to rate games and they can't be sold there. The only development here is GOG being big enough for well-marketed day 1 releases.
avatar
mrkgnao: It might not be a development for you, but it is a major development for me.
It changes GOG to become a store that promotes and enforces censorship, which makes me uncomfortable.
I still have to think about it, but for the moment my decision is that I will not buy any games released on GOG on or after 25 February 2015.
Oh good grief.

GOG is not promoting or enforcing censorship. For one thing, they're a business, not a governmental agency. For another, they don't have any choice - the government of a certain area has decided not to allow this product. The current setup provides the widest distribution for the product in question. Refusing to sell the game at all - GOG's only other option - would result in less distribution.

I really don't see how you can criticize GOG for picking the option that allows the widest possible distribution as 'censorship'. If you're that worried about governments censoring games, complain to the Australian agency responsible if you're Australian, or get involved in your local branch EFF or ACLU.

Educate yourself if you want people to take you seriously.

avatar
IAmSinistar: We felt the same about the other two Regional lists, too. :(
avatar
RadonGOG: And why, if I may ask? We´ve been calculating that whole "regional pricement stuff" for a long time and thanks to the FairPricePackage it´s completely irrelevant, as long as your last game you buy in a row is a traditional priced game eating up all the store credit you collected before! (and yes, this has been proven) So yes, it´s completely irrelevant if that list is growing, as long as it´s not over-growing the rest of the catalog!

Nobody got the right to ban art; but countries do simply take it! Sadly even the ones claiming that "the rule of the stonger" isn´t relevant for them are still attending to it
Actually, countries do have the right to ban art. Germany in particular is notable for its long-standing ban on Nazi symbols. Different places and people have different standards, and each country has the right to collectively decide what they want to permit in the country. Australia is in the middle of a struggle over what they want to permit, but that doesn't give citizens of other countries the right to try and decide for them.
Post edited February 26, 2015 by Gilozard