NotCliche

No, it’s not because of the boycotters that happened in Australia, but it’s simply just because of the fact that L4D2 has been refused classifications due to the undecided rating on the game itself.

It seems that L4D2 has several factors that had been influential to the “refused classifications” of the game itself. Here’s a list of what Kotaku has observed:

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

* It notes that this violence is “inflicted upon ‘the Infected’ who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently.”

* The report singles out the use of melee weapons as those that “inflict the most damage” and cause “copious amounts of blood spray and splatter (sic), decapitations and limb dismemberment… or even cause intestines to spill from the wounds.”

* In conclusion, the Board finds that the “interactive nature of the game increases the overall impact of the frequent and intense depictions of violence. This coupled with the graphic depictions of blood and gore combine to create a playing impact which is high.”

* Interestingly, the report also reveals that it wasn’t a unanimous decision and that “a minority of the Board is of the opinion that the violence is strong in playing impact and therefore warrants an MA15+ classification” instead. However, the majority voted to refuse classification.

While this means that it’s not really a ban, L4D2 is not available in Australia simply because it has not received a rating yet. Games without ratings are usually not sold in countries that doesn’t rate them.

It is not known if Valve has taken any action against this, although it should be noted that the CEO of Valve will be visiting Australia very soon, although it has nothing to do with L4D2 in general.

But seriously, I doubt L4D2 is anything but a gorefest. Try telling that to Dead Space or Fallout 3, I’m sure they would agree that L4D2 is mild in comparison to themselves.

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