Sega today announced that it had won an appeal against the Australian Classification Board's ban on upcoming shooter Aliens Versus Predator, securing an uncut release of the game in Australia.
We got a chance to look at Aliens Versus Predator earlier this year in GamesCom and it was definitely one of the goriest games on show at the exhibition, with reps from both Rebellion and Sega saying that they did not to expect an Australian or German release and had explicit plans against making a censored version available for those famously strict markets.
Sure enough, the Australian rating body banned the game from sale - until today's appeal. AVP will not see a released under a MA15+ certificate, the highest available in Oz.
The Australian government has long been criticised for it's rating policies by members of the games industry as, with no 18 or AO certificate available, anything unsuitable for 15 year olds is usually banned.
"The game contains first-person perspective, close-up depictions of human characters being subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat or eyes," said the classification board's initial report, according to GI.biz. Like we said; gory.
"We are particularly proud that the game will be released in its original entirety, with no content altered or removed whatsoever," said a Sega spokesperson. "This is a big win for Australian gamers. We applaud the Classification Review Board on making a decision that clearly considers the context of the game, and is in line with the modern expectations of reasonable Australians".
The Australian Attorney General has remained firmly against the game however, claiming that "You don't need to be playing a game in which you impale, decapitate and dismember people."
"I accept that 98 per cent, 99 per cent of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the one per cent to two per cent could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence," he added.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums and check out our interview with Aliens Versus Predator's art-man Tim Jones for more information on the game.
We got a chance to look at Aliens Versus Predator earlier this year in GamesCom and it was definitely one of the goriest games on show at the exhibition, with reps from both Rebellion and Sega saying that they did not to expect an Australian or German release and had explicit plans against making a censored version available for those famously strict markets.
Sure enough, the Australian rating body banned the game from sale - until today's appeal. AVP will not see a released under a MA15+ certificate, the highest available in Oz.
The Australian government has long been criticised for it's rating policies by members of the games industry as, with no 18 or AO certificate available, anything unsuitable for 15 year olds is usually banned.
"The game contains first-person perspective, close-up depictions of human characters being subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat or eyes," said the classification board's initial report, according to GI.biz. Like we said; gory.
"We are particularly proud that the game will be released in its original entirety, with no content altered or removed whatsoever," said a Sega spokesperson. "This is a big win for Australian gamers. We applaud the Classification Review Board on making a decision that clearly considers the context of the game, and is in line with the modern expectations of reasonable Australians".
The Australian Attorney General has remained firmly against the game however, claiming that "You don't need to be playing a game in which you impale, decapitate and dismember people."
"I accept that 98 per cent, 99 per cent of gamers will tell the difference between fantasy and reality, but the one per cent to two per cent could go on to be motivated by these games to commit horrible acts of violence," he added.
Let us know your thoughts in the forums and check out our interview with Aliens Versus Predator's art-man Tim Jones for more information on the game.
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