Hells' Reach Banned from Steam

Varik

Grumpypants wrote: »

Not surprised with Oz banning games they ban loads of games, but the only other game banned from Ireland that i can remember is manhunt 2 and remember hearing an interview with the guy who banned it and he just said it was because the violence had no context.

It was unbanned afterwards.

And 2 games had their rating increased over the pegi rating they had.

Grumpypants

Varik wrote: »

It was unbanned afterwards.

And 2 games had their rating increased over the pegi rating they had.

They had to do that photo negative effect during the killing scenes though, i had to get an imported version for the full death scene. Still pants though.

humanji

Cuddlesworth wrote: »

If a game is in violation of the Blasphemy law or any law then they don't really have any option but to ban it.

I can't imagine it being the blasphemy law. I don't think there's been any use of that so far, has there? And if not, it'd be insane to start now.

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

nothing on the IFCO website...considering they need to provide documentation this sounds like a load of bollocks.

Might as well pop an email to see if they respond.

I sent a mail off earlier. Not really expecting an answer until next week, and that's if they answer at all.

Andy!!

I don't think it looks THAT bad a game... big move list, decent graphics, context sensitive hits (helmets vs squishy flesh)... looks decent enough. Wouldn't buy it mind you.

Mr E

/\/ollog wrote: »

.... Hells Reach has been banned In Australia and Ireland

Probably thought it was Halo Reach. :pac:

Wetai

Mr E wrote: »

Probably thought it was Halo Reach. :pac:

Reading the thread title I initially thought it DID say Halo Reach

Coriolanus

Did ya send that email Humanji?

humanji

Yeah, but it'll be sometime during the week that I get an answer, if I get an answer.

humanji

I got a reply this morning:

To those who have written in concerning the notice on the hells-reach.com
website, the following is the correct situation.

As is the case with 18 PEGI classified video games, this was submitted to
IFCO for examination.

We subsequently notified the publisher on 24th November that it was in
order to supply this game in Ireland with its PEGI rating and descriptors.
I do not know if the game is to be unavailable in this country, but it has
not been banned by this office.

Ger Connolly
Acting Director of Film Classification
IFCO

So, it's not banned at all.

super_furry

Sounds really odd. Ireland's one of the smalled EU countries but if they say it's banned here, there's still a good chance that the mainstream gaming media will pick up on it.

Irish Halo

Or a scam to sell more through Gamersgate?
http://www.hells-reach.com/australia-and-ireland-update-2/

farna_boy

Did anyone bother reading any of IFCO's policies or did they just decide to starting posting BS without checking the facts?

From IFCOs FAQ:

Are many films banned today?
No, things have changed a lot since 1923, when the Irish Film Censor's Office was first established and the Official Censor was seen as the moral guardian of an emerging and deeply conservative state.

Of more than 50,000 film censorship decisions to date, about 2,500 theatrical films have been banned, while about 11,000 have been cut, but this was largely pre-1965.

However today, there is a general recognition that, so long as it is within the law, adults should be entitled to decide for themselves what they would like to see when they go to the cinema.

As regards video/DVD, the same principle applies, but clearly there's a difference between an adult viewing an 'Over 18' film in the controlled environment of a cinema and an 'Over 18' video being rented or sold to someone over eighteen who may, either inadvertently or deliberately, enable it to be seen by a minor.

This is a difficult one for us at IFCO: we don't want to be frustrate individual citizens exercising their freedom of choice or expression, but we cannot be oblivious to the potential effect that a particular video or DVD might have on a vulnerable child. We would welcome this issue being considered at any future review of the relevant legislation.

Retr0gamer

humanji wrote: »

......

That is a strange one. Was wondering why it would have gotten banned since it seemed so tame and John Kelleher and cohorts are usually quite sensible. Perhaps something happened whereby there was a delay in classification.

marco_polo

Retr0gamer wrote: »

That is a strange one. Was wondering why it would have gotten banned since it seemed so tame and John Kelleher and cohorts are usually quite sensible. Perhaps something happened whereby there was a delay in classification.

Just crossed wires by the looks of it. The original tweet in the OP by the developers is dated the 3rd of November, and according to that IFCO email above they only issued the go ahead to the publisher on the 24th November

Nollog

http://twitter.com/#!/HauntedOfficial/status/143823117456900097
It's now available.
I twitched them the ifco's response to humanji

CORaven

Website is bit by bit removing the claims that it was banned in Ireland. Putting the spin that it is no longer banned and has been given the green light.

Zeouterlimits

CORaven wrote: »

Website is bit by bit removing the claims that it was banned in Ireland. Putting the spin that it is no longer banned and has been given the green light.

Dirty, was afraid they'd spin it like that.

BlitzKrieg

Anyone pass this on to kotaku yet?

VinLieger

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

Anyone pass this on to kotaku yet?

DONT DO THAT it will simply garner more press for them which i dont think they deserve using this kind of ****ty marketing ploy, its kinda insulting TBH to be lumped in with Australia by saying were as backwards as they are when it comes to game ratings

BlitzKrieg

Of the philosophy that any press is good press? Even one pointing out they are lying scumbags?

SirLemonhead

BlitzKrieg wrote: »

Anyone pass this on to kotaku yet?

no because it's an awful site :pac: