It was revealed last month that Bethesda's Fallout 3 was refused classification by Australia's Classification Board, which effectively amounted to a ban on the game. Good news Aussie gamers, Fallout 3 has been reclassified as MA 15+, which means it's not banned after all! There's a catch though, as the game had to be edited in order to be resubmitted to the Classification Board. According to the ratings body, "the reward and incentive" for in-game drug use -- Fallout 3 players can use "chems" to enhance certain stats (and lower others) -- has been heavily reduced. So, what? You get +3 now instead of +10?
We don't know the answer, but the upshot is that Fallout 3 will be available Down Under, and that's good news for everyone.
[Via Joystiq]
We don't know the answer, but the upshot is that Fallout 3 will be available Down Under, and that's good news for everyone.
[Via Joystiq]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-13-2008 @ 1:06PM
DBoyFlex said...
Wow, GTA style.
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8-13-2008 @ 1:20PM
Procris said...
The wording "heavily reduced" sounds like most of it is removed. So the use of drugs in the aussie version will be very limited.
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8-14-2008 @ 12:13PM
Erik Stroud said...
I feel sorry for the other countries, but as long as I can have my Blood and Drugs in games, they can too. Time to start a black market for games in australia.
8-13-2008 @ 1:44PM
Trogdor said...
So did Bioshock get the same treatment for Plasmids?
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8-14-2008 @ 4:21AM
mattclarkie said...
That is exactly what I was thinking.
Maybe because Plasmids are a form of gene therapy it was treated as endorsing drug use.
8-13-2008 @ 2:14PM
Amiculi said...
It was implied originally that the issue wasn't that you were using them but that they looked like drugs. Pills, syringes, etc..
Perhaps all they had to do was reduce the drug motif and changed them to the likes of cremes, heated back pads and the gentle touch of an asian lady-boy?
I don't live in the land of Drop Bears but I do have to say I'm tired of them getting shafted, and by proxy, my Aussie friends getting shafted. Knock it off, games aren't just for children, and they don't need to be paying AU$120 for one game.
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8-13-2008 @ 2:19PM
Conor said...
If I was living in Australia,I'd try import proper versions of the games.
Cannot wait for Fallout 3 !
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8-13-2008 @ 2:30PM
T-BoNe254 said...
I wounder when the day will be when people realize that doing these things in a game is not bad. If anything, from what i have heard from the game using drugs has bad long term effects and you can actually become addicted to them in game. To me this would only server as a reminder to not do them in RL...
of course my idea only fails when parents decide to buy there 10 year old kids this game without reading the rating or contents...
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8-13-2008 @ 3:36PM
offday said...
Another example of non-gamers trying to ban a game that they don't fully understand.
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8-13-2008 @ 5:39PM
Aimless3 said...
FFFFFFFFFF I am so sick and tired of non-gamers with some sort of socio-political agenda ruining games for people like us. Most of us are mature enough here to understand that just because you use a "drug" on a videogame does not mean we can run freely around our local townspeople and snort cocaine anytime we want!
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