Found this at pspupdates.qj.net, but relevant across the board.
Quote: Vivendi Universal's console action title 50 Cent: Bulletproof has been denied an official age classification in Australia, making it illegal for the game to be sold, hired, advertised or exhibited in the country.
A statement from the Australian Classification Review Board states that a three member panel played the game for a cumulative forty-two hours and came to a unanimous decision that the game should be refused classification.
This announcement follows rapper 50 Cent’s recent suggestion that parents should purchase the game for their children, despite its high age rating in America.
The panel indicated that, while the violence in the main game could be justified by context, this was not true of the arcade mode, with the Review Board’s convener Maureen Shelly stating that, "The counter kills are enacted in detail, they are prolonged and take place in close up and slow motion. The most impactful of the counter kills involve knives and on-screen blood splatter. The Review Board determined that the impact of this mode was high and could not be accommodated at MA15+ classification [Australia’s highest classification rating]. Therefore the game must be refused classification."
Apart from Germany, Australia has demonstrated the least amount of tolerance for violent content in the Western world, partly due to the lack of a rating above MA15+, with titles such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Carmageddon, Manhunt and NARC all being refused classification in the past.
Quote: Vivendi Universal's console action title 50 Cent: Bulletproof has been denied an official age classification in Australia, making it illegal for the game to be sold, hired, advertised or exhibited in the country. A statement from the Australian Classification Review Board states that a three member panel played the game for a cumulative forty-two hours and feel asleep 57 times and came to a unanimous decision that the game should be refused classification, because they knew the game was pointless and was just there so 50 cent could make his 50 cents on it. They also announced that there are, already enough wanna be gangsters in Australia and this would only make the Australia people turn into dumb witted dickheads.
This announcement follows rapper 50 Cent’s recent suggestion that parents should purchase the game for their children, despite its high age rating in America.
The panel indicated that, while the violence in the main game could be justified by context, this was not true of the arcade mode, with the Review Board’s convener Maureen Shelly stating that, "The counter kills are enacted in detail, they are prolonged and take place in close up and slow motion. The most impactful of the counter kills involve knives and on-screen blood splatter. The Review Board determined that the impact of this mode was high and could not be accommodated at MA15+ classification [Australia’s highest classification rating]. Therefore the game must be refused classification."
Apart from Germany, Australia has demonstrated the least amount of tolerance for violent content in the Western world, partly due to the lack of a rating above MA15+, with titles such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Carmageddon, Manhunt and NARC all being refused classification in the past. .
Haha, yeah it would've sucked anyway. Are there ever games released that didn't have an original idea that didn't suck (e.g. games deriving from movies etc.)? The bad thing is, now that that's happened, it's likely to be played _more_. I'm atleast curious to play it now.
Agreed it would have sucked, you can loot dead bodies for 50 Cent CDs and merchandise for ****'s sake. Still think they should make an R rating for games rather than ban them though, even if it was for the best in this case.