Rule of Rose Overruled (ign.com)
- ign.com -
Australia, November 29, 2006 - We knew that the PS2's controversial horror game, Rule of Rose, was banned in the UK. However, there was still a lingering question-mark hovering over the possibility of release in Australia. Today, thanks to CNET, we have confirmation that the game has been banned in Australia too.
According to GameSpot Australia, distributor Red Ant Enterprises had been informed by 505 that Rule of Rose ''would not be released in Australia or New Zealand at this time." Red Ant had originally scheduled the game to be released locally in February 2007. Red Ant product manager Nichola Bryan said the game had not been submitted to Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) for approval.
Really, we shouldn't be all that surprised by this move - two other high-profile games have been banned in the last year as well - Marc Ecko's Getting Up and the craptastic Reservoir Dogs. While they were not given the opportunity to view the game, the OFLC has a stringent screening process for all software making its way into our nation. If the software is deemed to extreme to be rated the current maximum rating, MA15+, it is automatically banned. There is no R rating or 18+ equivalent.
This all comes as a minor disappointment for gamers in the UK and other PAL nations hoping to circumvent the ban by importing a copy from Australia. While we don't encourage the practice, the lack of a more flexible rating system has seen this becoming a necessary move for curious (and importantly, mature) gamers.
Australia, November 29, 2006 - We knew that the PS2's controversial horror game, Rule of Rose, was banned in the UK. However, there was still a lingering question-mark hovering over the possibility of release in Australia. Today, thanks to CNET, we have confirmation that the game has been banned in Australia too.
According to GameSpot Australia, distributor Red Ant Enterprises had been informed by 505 that Rule of Rose ''would not be released in Australia or New Zealand at this time." Red Ant had originally scheduled the game to be released locally in February 2007. Red Ant product manager Nichola Bryan said the game had not been submitted to Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) for approval.
Really, we shouldn't be all that surprised by this move - two other high-profile games have been banned in the last year as well - Marc Ecko's Getting Up and the craptastic Reservoir Dogs. While they were not given the opportunity to view the game, the OFLC has a stringent screening process for all software making its way into our nation. If the software is deemed to extreme to be rated the current maximum rating, MA15+, it is automatically banned. There is no R rating or 18+ equivalent.
This all comes as a minor disappointment for gamers in the UK and other PAL nations hoping to circumvent the ban by importing a copy from Australia. While we don't encourage the practice, the lack of a more flexible rating system has seen this becoming a necessary move for curious (and importantly, mature) gamers.
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