These are all clear cases of censorship gone wrong and overall, bad decisions that left an impact on Australian gaming culture. Prior to this, Left 4 Dead 2had very little blood or gore, turning fearsome zombies into something almost comical, South Park: The Stick of Truth had large sections cut out altogether and even Grand Theft Auto V risked getting turned away from this wonderful land of kangaroos, Tim Tams and drop bears. There are cases where censorship merely seems to be the product of hypersensitivity by media ratings boards (shoutout to the Australian Classification Board) but then there’s also situations like these, where the publishers involved made the correct call, given the circumstances.Īs an Australian, censorship is not an uncommon topic to be brought up and it’s only been recently that the R18+ classification was brought in, finally allowing some great games to hit our sandy shores.
However, the situations involved are rarely so clear. You can find that statement here.Ĭensorship is a complex issue and it’s very easy to say that “Censorship is never the right thing to do.” In fact, it’s such an easy phrase that it’s been the motto over the last week following controversies over Xenoblade Chronicles X‘s localisation and Dead or Alive Xtreme 3‘s lack of a western release altogether. Koei Tecmo US has released a statement claiming that the Dead or Alive Community Manager did not represent the company’s stance on the localisation of Dead or Alive Xtreme 3.