My sister (and occasional co-host) Sarah will be shattered at the news that Valve’s new game ‘Left 4 Dead 2’ has been refused classification (RC) in Australia. This means, for all intents and purposes, the game is banned in Australia.

I was alerted to this from an email from one of my listeners (Brad over at MovieFanHouse) and immediately went to work to confirm this. The best article I found (there are many) was on gamespot.com.au. I am reposting some of their article here. To read the full article click the link:

Left 4 Dead 2 was slated for a mid-November local release, but events today have put a giant question mark over the launch after news came that the Australian Classification Board had put its legislative foot down. The Classification Board is the government body responsible for rating all video games content authorised for sales in the country. According to the Classification Board website, Valve’s upcoming first-person shooter has been refused classification for failure to adhere to the current maximum MA 15+ ratings guideline–film can reach a maximum R18+ rating. The announcement means the title is now illegal to sell, rent, or promote within Australia.

They went on to say:

Left 4 Dead 2 marks the fourth game banned in Australia this year, joining Risen, Sexy Poker, and Necrovision–the latter two of which were approved for sale after being resubmitted with changes. The original Left 4 Dead game was given the maximum MA 15+ rating when it went on sale in Australia in November last year.

They then had this update:

GameSpot AU has received the official ruling from the Classification Board. The refusal largely focuses on the Board’s interpretation of the game’s violence finding that “The game contains realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence which is inflicted upon “the Infected” who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently” The ruling goes on to say that “However, it is the use of the “melee” weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage. These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore.”

Go to gamespot.com.au to read the whole article. This all leads to the major question that we raise all the time here at Geek Actually, why don’t we have an R15+ rating on games here in Australia. I have talked about this often on the show and even wrote a long blog on this awhile ago. You can read that post here.

What are your thoughts on this? Comment below or come over to the forum to discuss. Click here for the forum thread.