Ohh man, Ive been following this game for a while now and it was looking really good. this is really getting out of control
I could live without left for dead 2, I was going to try it out but I saw the IGN review of the edited version and it looks pretty much broken I'm more interested in games with single player narrative type structure anyway.
The original Alien on the other hand pretty much holds my number 1 spot and an aliens game that attempts to go back to the roots of the franchise! if its good, it will be a must have. Can you import console games from overseas and run them without modding?

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depends, all ps3 games are region free so no problems there, but xbox 360 has region restrictions so unless you have a modded xbox your out of luck. pc it doesn't matter unless you play over steam or something.

i can live without l4d2, too but avp3, fuck! I love the movies I loved the previous games so i have to play it. I WILL be importing this, I want to play it so badly but partially i also want to import it as a big "fuck you" to michael atkinson and the aus rating systems. its petty but whatever.

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

Totally, when I read that article i was glad to hear they werent bowing to the pressure and editing the game. I would rather not have it.
but if its unavailable people will import it and if that happens enough maybe they will review the situation. or we could go and pull out michael atkinsons spine with our bare hands and hang it on the wall as a trophy. That would be an ironic turn of events
I will make every effort to get a working copy from somewhere aswell, as a protest as much as anything else.

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maybe that will happen we can only hope lol

so many games will be refused classification now, mark my words. it will put the pressure on to change the rating system but unfortunately atkinson is very set in his ways and his beliefs and has no intention of changing them. if you have read any other forum or news article discussion on the subject you will soon realise that michael atkinson and our rating system is quickly becoming a big joke to rest of the world. And i agree.

even if the game was edited and released here i would still import it. I couldn't stand playing a watered down version when i know that the real version is out there somewhere.

oh by the way, ps3 is region free, but if you have an xbox you can import it from the UK or new zealand. they are both pal so there will be no problems.

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

Thanks for the info. I will almost certainly import this one. It looks pretty damn good but I did read one bad preview article in a UK magazine that said that in the preview version they were testing the graphics looks considerably worse than the sceenshots all over the web. still that was early footage. apparently it looked like a game five years out of date with an original xbox type blur to it all. the guys at edge magazine really tell it like it is so it was a slight concern. fingers crossed hey. screw this Atkinson guy. My girlfriend is an Airline stewardess so I'll just get her to buy it for me overseas

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Sigh... this is really becoming a major problem.

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yep and the sad thing is NOTHING will change until atkinson is gone

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

I really have not been following the politics of this issue to closely. Can someone give me a quick run down?

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as i understand it for a new adult rating to be made for video games, the attorney generals of every state (not sure about territories) have to unanimously agree to introduce it. they all want an R18+ rating except for the SA attorney general Michael Atkinson who opposes it because of his own closed minded opinions on video games. Every argument he has for not introducing an R18 rating is not based on facts, research and plain common sense but rather what he personally wants.

thats the short of it.

according to research the average age of a gamer in aus is 30...........

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

Yay... Adelaide sucks

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I dont think its games that inspire normal passive guys to become homocidal maniacs but rather,
arrogant, ignorant, conservative fools in positions of power. I mean, although the guy hasnt really done anything to deserve severe pain I wouldnt really care if I heard he had his spine ripped out by a large alien with dreadlocks. nor would I particularly care if I found out he was framed and busted trying to bring in several pounds of hash into thailand. does that make me a bad person?

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people in the past have responded to controversial decisions by people in charge with protests and violence, so you are right.

by the way he was recently accused of bribery and is under investigation, heres hoping something good comes from it........

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

I dunno, this government seems to be pretty slippery. I mean, How quickly did the Mike Rann affair stuff die down? What shits me more than anything is that he's so completely misguided about the entire issue. Protecting chilren? Why not ban R rated movies are magazines? (I don't want this BTW) What's the difference with games? This is one of his quotes:

"In cinemas, the age of moviegoers can be regulated, and at the video store people must provide ID to hire R18+ videos. Once electronic games are in the home, access to them cannot be policed and the games are easily accessible to children."


HOW ARE DVD MOVIES AND DVD GAMES ANY DIFFERENT???? HASN'T THIS MAN HEARD OF A DVD RECORDER?

AAAAARGH!

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

they are no different. how are dvds policed in the home? they cant be unless by responsible parents which is what should happen with videogames. fuck it makes me angry. every one of his arguments are flawed and designed to create moral panic. try to argue with the guy and he'll talk some crap about rape play video games being introduced into australia.

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

What these people seem to think is that because games are interactive they are somehow more psychologically damaging
but as far as I can tell the animated violence in a game, even when its top notch hyper realistic animated violence still doesnt have the same kind of impact as say a very violent film. In my opinion it isnt about seeing or partaking in violent on screen action that has impact but rather when media carries real emotional weight along with the violence. for example I wont subject myself to really horrible torture porn type films like Hostel and I can't watch any movie that is purposefully trying to be controversial about sex crimes. I think that films about the subject of say, Human trafficking or something have their place and are for an adult audience but they just affect me really deeply and I make a choice not to see them.
I am yet to feel really deep negative emotion from playing a violent game. and in the only case that I have come close I was given the option to do the right thing (fallout 3). which is arguably a good lesson for children. I would allow my kids (if I had them) to play games like fallout 3 and bioshock but I might have a problem with GTA 4 and modern warfare 2 if they were under 15. I wonder what some of you guys with kids think about this issue. I know a friend of mine at work just doesnt allow his kids to play GTA 4, fair enough, its really up to parents. Kids can get anything they like really but it takes parents to step in and say: you can only kill prostitues on the weekend, or you have to eat ALL your broccoli before you mull up.

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[Link to www.abc.net.au]

waaaaaaah everything atkinson says annoys me

tyson those are some really good points i had never considered that before, but you are 100% right.

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

woot!!! the game was resubmitted and has now been rated ma15+. so it is 'unbanned' in australia

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

Well that is good news, and encouraging to know that this kind of sets a precedent for future games releases.
Somehow I can't help but hope that Michael Atkinson found out about this and had a spastic attack in his office in frustration.
He probably didnt, but I will choose to imagine that smug grin forcefully wiped from his face.

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I'd love to know why they let it through this time. They didn't change anything did they?

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

Just a little addendum to this, 2 days ago Atkinson passed a law saying that in the lead up to the election in March anyone commenting on the election in a forum or website had to give their full name and postcode, presumably so the government could track them down and sue them for defamation. Today He did a massive backflip and repealed the laws. Now there's a massive stoush between him and the main newspaper here (their site was one of the examples he gave as being "a jungle of criminal defamation" and it's all getting very messy. The good news is they seem to be exposing his douchebaggery and although the newspaper wouldn't be fit to wipe your bum with, they seem to be going on the attack on the R18 classification for games front as well now which is good. They even linked to a pettition to change the laws: [Link to www.growupaustralia.com] (you should all sign).
He made a lot of people angry with the laws he tried to bring in so it's more than just gamers that are pissed with him now.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

it brought a smile to my face to see him shut down so harshly. The law was completely insane but the message is loud and clear, the government wants to know what is being said about them and by who. The advertiser is a pretty poor newspaper but i'll back them in their efforts against atkinson.

another law was recently introduced in SA stating that all R rated movies have to be contained in one area with signs saying that these dvd covers/films are R rated and may be offensive. I think this law was a joint effort between atkinson and family first. pretty pointless and accomplishes nothing. our tax dollars at work yay!

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

So all this censorship is for religious reasons then. Family first etc.

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signed.

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+1, I sent the thing to everyone in my address book. this issue is about as passionate as I ive felt in ages about politics which is kind of sad considering the wealth of other more important issues in the world.

I don't think its strictly religious but it seems that alot of religious organizations are also very conservative, and usually very conservative religious people tend to have their eyes closed to many things. It made me so angry watching all the controversy about the sex scene in Mass effect 1 which was nothing more than a PG love montage, they hadnt even seen it and were up in arms as if it was an interactive rape mini game. speaking of mass effect, whos playing number 2? I'm a few hours in and its consuming my life at the moment.

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it is a generalisation true, but its usually those 50ish old fashioned stuck in their way religious people and groups who are very conservative and up in arms over every little thing they feel threatens them. which is Atkinson to a T. I missed the drama concerning the sex in mass effect but i've heard theres a bit in ME2, can we expect a protest? lol

there was a time when comics and rock and roll music where once frowned upon......

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and it's a story that might bore you, but you don't have to listen, because I always knew it was going to be like that.

I'm playing Mass effect 2 and I played the first they toned down the sex in ME2 a lot.

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This is broadening the topic a little bit, but I was watching a doco on the Black Saturday bushfires last night and it struck me that despite huge plumes of smoke approaching them, a lot of people didn't bother evacuating because the CFA website and the radio didn't mention any threats. I think that it's dangerous when a government thinks too much for their people because people forget how to think and when the system fails like it did on Black Saturday things can go wrong very quickly. I'm not saying that not introducing an R18 rating is going to cost lives or anything, that's just stupid. But I think the government definately needs to butt out of our lives more and let us use our own common sense to make decisions.

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[Link to www.3dprevis.com]

I have to agree to you to some extent. However there are people in this world who need to be told what to do otherwise they would just sit around and let fires burn them alive because no one told them to leave.

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I find it hard to believe this crap about the family first minister who passed these laws about not showing R18+ dvd jackets.
How the hell do laws get passed that are this absurd. shouldnt things like that be country wide and passed through many different less conservative, more objective channels?. My hope is that his actions will draw in the wrath of the general public on the R18 issue and hopefully kick some sense into these conservative fools.

Now, Jamie. have you got any (spoiler free) tips on Mass effect 2. Im a few hours in because I re started as a different class. after I realised how awesome the shooter mechanics were I couldnt stand being limited to shotgun and pistols of my female Vanguard.
Im now a hardcore soldier and it feels much better. got any good tips? as it seems your somewhat further ahead than me if you've already seen the shaggy bits of the game. who did you do?

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I didn't do anyone "technically" lol. My Shepard is waiting for Liara his love interest in the first game. But I did check it out and go back to a previous save game.

I play as a solider because as you said the shooter mechs are far better in this game than the first.

As far as tips go make sure you take advantage of the different kinds of ammo you get as a solider. It really makes up for you lack of magic. Another tip I would give you is to save before pivotal moments in the game because things can go very differently than you expect and you might not want your Shepard to mess up a mission etc etc. Also I hear that there is something that can happen in the game that means you can't play ME3 so watch out for that.

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lol. thats funny man. I never finished the first game. I liked it but somehow the gameplay was lacking the punch to get me to persevere to the end. I should have but I gave my xbox to my dad and that had my 50% complete save on the HD. I looked up the story so I wasnt in the dark but I kind of wish I was in on any subtle or not so subtle references to the original. So far Ive never felt in the dark during conversations but Ive heard its very heavy on the references to past events.

Thanks for the tips. I hope things work out with you and Liara . wouldnt it be cool if you could just test shit out in real life. make a save here and just see what happens when you take another more ill advised path, then re load to continue your "main" quest. I love the direction games are going these days, more and more real every year. Of course Atkinson would have you believe thats a bad thing.

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Dude ME1 was awesome! the end was epic, you really missed out I have to say. Oh well lol

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Oh well indeed. Theres just so much to play at the moment and almost no frakking time to play it all. between work, hobbies and Girlfriend maintenance my game time becomes a few stolen hours late at night when my eyes start to blur from tiredness about an hour into the session. I'm going to finish this one though even if it kills me.

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I know the feeling.

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