The Australian Classification Review Board has had a long running feud with the gaming industry as a whole. There is a long running history of games being released abroad with the global equivalent of a “Mature” rating, while getting rejected down under. Some of these banned titles include the likes of every installment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, the original Manhunt (Rockstar never even bothered attempting to release Manhunt 2), Fallout 3, Blitz: The League, and most recently Left 4 Dead 2. Many of these games were later censored by developers so that they could see release, much to the dismay of the Aussie gaming population.
For this reason, many were alarmed earlier this month, when the console release of Sega’s upcoming Alien vs. Predator game was dealt a similar fate. Refusing to approve the game for an 15+ rating, ultimately killed all chances of the game seeing the light of day, at least in its current state.
Things then went from bad to worse when Jason Kingsley, the CEO of Rebellion (AvP’s developer) went on the record saying the following about the banning:
“The content of AvP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent.
We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices.” — Jason Kingsley via GamesIndustry.biz
So if the game is deemed inappropriate by a country’s government and the developer is refusing to budge on the removal or censoring of objectionable content, that would render hopes of Aliens vs. Predator ever seeing the release moot, right? Well lets just say that the fat lady hadn’t quite sung yet…
In what seemed like a futile attempt to maintain the integrity of the product, Sega filed an appeal with the Australian Classification Review Board, citing that the context of the violence in the game was not being considered. Though this sounds like a flimsy argument at best, it is actually very similar to one used by Warner Bros. Interactive in defense of F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin, when it was banned back in November of 2008. To this date, F.E.A.R 2 was the only title to ever to have its banning overturned in Australia, without having to censor or remove content.
Well it looks as if Sega’s gamble may have payed off. Yesterday news was handed down that on appeal, they too have been granted the coveted 15+ rating, without the need to edit any material. When excitedly addressing the Review Board’s sudden shift in stance, Darren Macbeth, Sega of Australia’s General Manager was quoted as saying:
“It is with great pleasure that we announce the success of our appeal. We are particularly proud that the game will be released in its original entirety, with no content altered or removed whatsoever. This is a big win for Australian gamers. We applaud the Classification Review Board on making a decision that clearly considers the context of the game, and is in line with the modern expectations of reasonable Australians”. — Darren Macbeth via Kotaku.com
To put things very bluntly, this is a dramatically unexpected result, especially given how poorly Left 4 Dead 2’s appeal went earlier this year. Might we finally be seeing a shift in perspective from the previously stingy stances of the Australian Classification Review Board? As a red-blooded American that is a strong support of our First Amendment Right to Free Speech, I hope that this is a sign of a things to come in regards to game ratings in Australia. With two overturned bans in the last 12 months, this might very well be the case.
Posted on December 18th, 2009 at 5:07pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: Alien vs. Predator, News, PC Gaming, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, australia, avp, featured, opinion, rebellion, sega
Yetis have an undeserved bad reputation. Just because they’re big, hairy, ill tempered snow apes doesn’t mean they don’t have hearts of gold when it comes to delivering presents, and helping out charities. Gift of the Yeti, a new facebook app from Bioware, shows the softer side of the noble yeti. Santa is sick, and the yeti has taken on the task of delivering presents to each house, but the man just won’t let him do his job. You have to guide the yeti from house to house to deliver as many presents as you can before time runs out, as well as avoid the yeti-hating police. Still not convinced yetis are awesome? Bioware will be donating between one penny, and $10,000 for every play of Gift of the Yeti. So what are you waiting for? Go embrace the ways of the yeti, and run around naked in the snow play Gift of the Yeti on facebook!
Posted on December 4th, 2009 at 6:50pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: News, PC Gaming, bioware, ea, facebook, yeti
A wee while back, a relatively unknown developer released a new game on the Xbox 360. It came out in the dead time of Q1 and nobody expected just how good it would be. That game was Crackdown and the developer was Realtime Worlds. Crackdown rocked everyone’s world and showed a lot of gamers just how much fun you could have with superpowers in an open world environment.
What really surprised the boys at Realtime worlds was just how gamers found new uses for the sandbox in multiplayer mode. With players opting to make up their own ways to compete with each other in the game’s environment. This got them them thinking about multiplayer sandbox environments and from this All Points Bulletin was born.
APB is an MMO which takes the sandbox environment to the next level. With APB, Realtime Worlds have taken the cops ‘n’ robbers theme of Crackdown to a whole new level. Now you can pick a side as either an Enforcer and bust some heads or start your own gang and begin a life of crime all within a the living breathing virtual worth of San Paro.
Before I get down to the fun that you can have stealing, shooting and generally busting heads, APB really has something extra-special going for it with it’s character, logo and vehicle customisation tools. This is one area where no-one else can challenge APB.
To begin with you have the character creation tools. This is the most feature-filled character creation tools that I have ever seen. The bodies can be altered on a wide variety of different attributes including the usuals suchnas build, height, skin and hair colour and facial features. Where this differs from your bog standard games is that each modifyable area has a good range of sub-parameters that can be changed along an analog scale. Skin tone is exceptionally well catered for with a colour pallette that Photoshop would be jealous of.
This also carries over to the vehicle modding tools which allow you to customise you gang/enforcer transport to look mean and drive like bat out of hell. The art team have been to a slue of car modding shows and have really done their homework here as the range of mods that can be applied to your car is exceptionally impressive. each component can also be altered along a broad range pf parameters to fit in with the overall look you want.
Finally, the piece-de-resistance is the logo creation tool. You can use this to manipulate images to create gang and enforcer team logos, tattoos and vinyls for the cars. Again, the features that this toolset offers rivals Photoshop or Freehand for the sort of things you can do to your logos. But the best is yet to come…
Realtime Worlds have been working exceptionally hard on the way in which your logos are applied to flesh, fabric and car bodies. Usually, in games where logos can be applied to clothes and skin, they sit very flat and do not respond to the contours of the medium that they are applied to. Not any more. In APB, logos respond to the surface that they are applied to and will curve and morph around muscle contours, folds of cloth and aerodynamic curves. That’s not all though. The logos will also respond to the colour of the surface that they are applied to.
In order to test this properly they took the logo tools to a local tattooist in Dundee to see what they thought of the results. Needless to say they were blown away by just how well the new tools can apply logos to curved skin. They even expressed an interest in using the tools to help demonstrate to their customers what their new tattoos could look like.
But alas, APB is not just about the character creation tools andthere is absolutely no point in having an awesome-looking avatar if the game plays like an interactive version of classic Fist of the North Star cartoons.
Thankfully, there is as much work going into the gameplay as Realtime Worlds have put into the character creation tools.
San Paro is a thriving city. Without the players the city has a full population of NPCs who go about their daily lives with no thought of the violent gang warfare that is going on in their fair city. In fact the NPCs are one of the key elements in APB’s gameplay. Imagine you are a gang member and you decide to break into a shop and steal its contents. You have to be on the look out for the game’s NPCs as the city’s populace will not hesitate to call the police if they sense that there is something afoot.
Here lies the meat of what APB is all about. Gangs commit crimes and they get seen. The enforcers are called and next thing you know there’s a horde of heavily armed law enforcement officers closing in on the perpetrators with one task in mind. Shoot the criminals down. The real fun here is that only the enforcers have access to radar. They can see where the crime is being committed and what direction the gang decide to flee in. All the gang members have access to is a warning that they have been caught and the enforcers are on their way.
This is where some of the game’s really unique features have the most impact. The gangs can have their own modded cars for getaway purposes and their best driver sitting with the engine running. When the alarm is raised they can pile into the getaway vehicle and the passengers can hang out the windows shooting at the pursuing enforcers. Of course the enforcers have access to some pretty powerful cars as well. If they don’t get the chance to get to the car then the street battle ensues.
The combat is pretty impressive. Unlike many team deathmatch games out at the moment you hear everything that is said in earshot. No longer can teams direct strategy safe in the knowledge that your opponents cannot hear you. If an enemy team member is close enough to hear what you are planning then he or she wil l hear it.
Another feature that is interesting is the matchmaking system. You are matched with patners and opponents based on your fame or notoriety. This essentially encourages all players to go out and make names for themselves as a hard-ass enforcer or the baddest criminal in all of San Paro. This means that if you are relatively new to the scene you will not be left to face master-criminals or San Paro’s equivalent of Dirty Harry alone. On the other hand this also means that those that have attained notoriety to make them San Paro’s equivalent of Tony Montana or Axel Foley then it is likely that they will face multiple opponents on their own.
It’s hard to find a fault here with what Realtime Worlds are putting together here. All Points Bulletin has all the elements to make a really awesome game. No it takes a lot to impress me because I am not the world’s biggest fan of MMOs but APB looks like it might just change my mind.
In other good news, it looks like APB might just be a free-to-play MMO with additional content available through micro-transactions rather than following a traditional subscription-based model. This has not been fully confirmed as yet but if you want to try out APB hit up their website and sign up for the beta-trial which is going on as we speak.
Don’t want to test it up big-stylee? APB will be in stores in March of next year.
Posted on November 20th, 2009 at 2:47pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: PC Gaming, Previews, all-points-bulletin, apb, ea, realtime-worlds
Just as gamers thought they could escape the cold hard clutches of Drangon Age: Origins, BioWare announces some new DLC. Return to Ostagar is the next storyline to hit the Dragon Age: Origins world. Players will be summoned back to the battleground of Ostagar. Discover King Cailan’s super secret political agenda. Go questing in a place that has long been feared to be lost in history.
Return to Ostagar will be $3.99 on the PSN, 400 BioWare points on the PC, and 400 Microsoft points on the 360. I’d recommend getting a Flux Capacitor for that DeLorean, as this game is looking to consume all the free time!
Posted on November 19th, 2009 at 1:33pm by [email protected] (The Games Are Evil Family)
Filed Under: 360, News, PC Gaming, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, dlc, dragon-age, new release, pc
Divinity II: Ego Draconis has been announced for the PC and 360. Mastertronic is taking players back to Rivellon with up to 60 hours of RPG fun. Not only will players get to crush baddies as a knight, they will get to chomp some heads as a dragon! Discover new abilities. and possibilities, as the lowly knight transforms into an all powerful Dragon Knight.
