November is going to be a huge month for gamers, not necessarily on the number of games being released, but because of two games in particular. It would be a fair bet to say that Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest selling game of the year and go on to become the biggest selling First Person Shooter of all time. When that games drops on November 10, there will be a lot of people either taking sick days or turning up to work looking like zombies. Ten days later a number of gamers will be conflicted in their loyalties when Left 4 Dead 2 releases, unleashing a stumbling mass of zombies for the eager to dispatch. 

Both games have had their far share of controversy, especially after the Airport Killing Simulator video was leaked yesterday, showing just how far Infinity Ward are prepared to go to make sure Modern Warfare 2 blows all of our perceptions out of the water.

But this little rant isn’t about the games themselves, but rather about our neighbours, the Aussies, and their archaic approach to game censorship.

On the one hand they wouldn’t give Left 4 Dead 2 rating because:

The game contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 to play.

This violence is “inflicted upon ‘the Infected’ who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violentlyâ€.

So in other words, it’s ok to shoot up an airport, massacring innocent civilians as they run, screaming, but if faced with defending yourself from an army of undead zombies, that’s too violent.

Something seems amiss. Australia rated Modern Warfare 2 MA15+, because it contains “Strong violence,†but EA had to remove the gore and dead bodies from Left 4 Dead 2 just to get a rating. Didn’t the censors play the Airport Killing Simulator? Didn’t they see the terminal littered with hundreds of dead victims, as they walked over them, guns blazing to complete the level? Or is it that the Aussies have a soft spot for zombie rights and decided it was time to take a stand on behalf of the undead?

In New Zealand we thankfully have an R18 rating for our games, and as such, the un-censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 will be hitting our shelves with an R18, Contains graphic violence rating. Modern Warfare 2 will also hit our shelves, but with a slightly different R18 Rating: Contains violence and content that may disturb.

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Rate this item November is going to be a huge month for gamers, not necessarily on the number of games being released, but because of two games in particular. It would be a fair bet to say that Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest selling game of the year and go on to become the biggest selling First Person Shooter of all time. When that games drops on November 10, there will be a lot of people either taking sick days or turning up to work looking like zombies. Ten days later a number of gamers will be conflicted in their loyalties when Left 4 Dead 2 releases, unleashing a stumbling mass of zombies for the eager to dispatch.  Both games have had their far share of controversy, especially after the Airport Killing Simulator video was leaked yesterday, showing just how far Infinity Ward are prepared to go to make sure Modern Warfare 2 blows all of our perceptions out of the water. But this little rant isn’t about the games themselves, but rather about our neighbours, the Aussies, and their archaic approach to game censorship. On the one hand they wouldn’t give Left 4 Dead 2 rating because:

The game contains violence that is high in impact and is therefore unsuitable for persons aged under 18 to play. This violence is “inflicted upon ‘the Infected’ who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violentlyâ€.

So in other words, it’s ok to shoot up an airport, massacring innocent civilians as they run, screaming, but if faced with defending yourself from an army of undead zombies, that’s too violent. Something seems amiss. Australia rated Modern Warfare 2 MA15+, because it contains “Strong violence,†but EA had to remove the gore and dead bodies from Left 4 Dead 2 just to get a rating. Didn’t the censors play the Airport Killing Simulator? Didn’t they see the terminal littered with hundreds of dead victims, as they walked over them, guns blazing to complete the level? Or is it that the Aussies have a soft spot for zombie rights and decided it was time to take a stand on behalf of the undead? In New Zealand we thankfully have an R18 rating for our games, and as such, the un-censored version of Left 4 Dead 2 will be hitting our shelves with an R18, Contains graphic violence rating. Modern Warfare 2 will also hit our shelves, but with a slightly different R18 Rating: Contains violence and content that may disturb.
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