Aliens vs. Predator banned in Australia

By Oli Welsh Published 4 December, 2009

SEGA considering appeal.

The Australian Classification Board has refused classification to SEGA and Rebellion's Aliens vs. Predator, barring it from sale in Australia in its current version.

The sci-fi FPS was struck off for "first-person perspective, close-up depictions of human characters being subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat, or eyes," according to the ruling, as seen by GameSpot.

SEGA Australia told GameSpot in a statement: "We will continue to investigate all options available to us, including the possibility of appeal."

Another option would be to produce a censored version of the game, the route taken by EA and Valve recently with Left 4 Dead 2. SEGA may decide against this, since as GameInformer reported last month, the company's European arm has opted not to release AVP in Germany rather than subject it to "significant cuts that would harm the gameplay experience" to get it past the German censor.

The ACB's decision on Aliens Vs. Predator comes in the same week that it banned MMO CrimeCraft for its supposedly positive depiction of drug use.

Aliens vs. Predator is due for release in countries other than Germany and Australia in February, on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Picture of Oli.

About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (54) Latest comment 2 years ago

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  • muscleblade #1 2 years ago

    Good news. They didnt hold back on the gore then. Thats a good thing imo.

  • MeBrains #2 2 years ago

    tststs. so in movies, that is not a problem. in games though... :nods:

  • matrim83 #3 2 years ago

    I would commiserate with the Aussies but I think Ricky Ponting is a cunt so its all well deserved. :p

    In all seriousness though they really need a new system there cause the current one is ass backwards retarded.

  • Toothball #4 2 years ago

    Australia is totally the new Germany when it comes to games.

  • dom6918 #5 2 years ago

    18 Rated in the UK - Citing very strong bloody violence and gore, and strong language..More interested in Dantes Inferno which got this ;) Contains strong bloody violence and sexualised nudity

  • StooMonster #6 2 years ago

    Censorship by nanny state, you know it's coming ...

  • asphaltcowboy #7 2 years ago

    Oh FGS Australia, just create an 18 rating!

  • GreatUncleBaal #8 2 years ago

    Won't somebody think of the facehuggers!

  • darkmorgado #9 2 years ago

    Australia is so bloody backwards and ignorant when it comes to games classification.

    But seeing as they even banned a study that wanted to look at the classification system, it's not surprising. It's all down to one ultra-conservative (read - ignorant fuck) politician.

  • Doctor_What #10 2 years ago

    Well... It is pretty violent... Do we need to see a guy's spine being ripped out to enjoy the game?

    (Just trying to create some balance in the comments, rather than 'RAR! All censorship is bad!'.)

  • kipper #11 2 years ago

    I presume the actual effect of the ban will be slight, as I guess Australian and German adult gamers just import their games via mail order.

    Here in the Netherlands some shops actually stock special censored German editions next to cheaper standard editions. The German editions don't seem to exactly fly of ther shelves...

  • muscleblade #12 2 years ago

    " Do we need to see a guy's spine being ripped out to enjoy the game?"

    The Predators signature move. Sure.

  • actionfitz #13 2 years ago

    Chalk another one up for the colossal prick that is South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson.
    This wanker is responsible for maintaining Australia's status as the only Western country without a "Mature" rating for video games.

    Just listen to the cunt, he reads like Jack Thompsons' long-lost retarded brother - who somehow holds political office:

    "A Queensland letter writer (The Advertiser, 7/3/09) claims that democracy is at an end because I, as Attorney-General, will not agree to an R18+ category for interactive computer games; that “every other state AG is against him”; and the only way to bring back democracy is to vote me out at the next election.
    It is true that I am opposed to an R18+ category for interactive games, but I am one of at least four Attorneys so opposed.
    I welcome a challenge in my electorate of Croydon at the next general election on this issue.
    Among my constituents are hundreds of refugees who are trying to find lodgings for the family, gain employment and sponsor relatives from the old country.
    Their vote is hardly likely to hinge on the “right” to score gamer points on the computer screen by running down and killing pedestrians on the pavement, raping a mother and her two daughters, blowing onself up in a market, cutting people in half with large calibre shells, injecting drugs to win an athletics event or killing a prostitute to recover the fee one just paid her (Welcome to the world of R18+ computer games).
    Those of my constituents who are refugees have been subjected to the practical instead of the virtual suffering that R18+ nerds seek to inflict for their gratification on the computer screen."

    The guy is an ignorant, self righteous prick.
    I hope more companies like sega will just refuse to release the games in australia censored. Doing so empowers these fucks, it validates them.
    maybe if the next 'Modern Warfare 2 sized game' we see gets banned and the developer refuses to acquiesce to the draconian Australian censors then the electorate of that country will have suitable motivation to get its house in order.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 10:25

  • Emmit_Assassin #14 2 years ago

    Considering that Aussies are the descendants of the prisoner scum of Europe, you'd think a few violent videogames wouldn't be such an issue.

  • jambo74 #15 2 years ago

    Who cares, it is only Australia.

  • Eraser #16 2 years ago

    In the meantime, I'm wondering if the game is actually any less fun when they leave out the gore. I'm not saying Australia is right in banning the game, but sometimes I wonder if developers try to continually cross boundaries so they can sell their game on shock factor. Having said that, I'm not claiming that this is the case here, as I've literally seen no footage of this game at all.

  • menage #17 2 years ago

    Have you even watched the movies?

  • gjgjg #18 2 years ago

    sci-fi FFS

    ps. any Aussies (or Germans) that want an import just mail me. take that draconia!
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 10:44

  • AbyssUK #19 2 years ago

    I think its time to bring back the blue sky in games campaign from UK:Resistance

  • bad09 #20 2 years ago

    I'd laugh if it wasn't so pathetically sad.

    "The sci-fi FPS was struck off for "first-person perspective, close-up depictions of human characters being subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat, or eyes," according to the ruling"

    What like the Alien/Predator/AvP MOVIES people watch and enjoy? FFS...

  • BiscuitBase #21 2 years ago

    SOLD

  • SamboMambo #22 2 years ago

    You can also get stabbed through the anus!

  • Cadence #23 2 years ago

    I'm buying it on that fact alone.

  • Murton #24 2 years ago

    And Australia fails again. Gaming is a multi-billion dollar global industry, if current rate of sale of games in Australia continues as it has been this year they will reach 2 billion dollars worth of sales in the country and generate, the rate of sales tax (VAT) in Australia is around 10% on most goods and services so that's 200 million US dollars this year from the sale of video games alone.

    That figure would be much higher if they had a mature rating games. Banning a game in one country only had two effects, the first is that gaming website report the ban and feed into the hype engine for the game increasing awareness and potentially sales in the countries where it is available and the second effect is that everyone in the banned country takes advantage of our global economy (and the region free capabilities of PCs and PS3s) and import the game, which if done correctly can be done without paying any taxes in your own country.

  • swissorc #25 2 years ago

    Poor Ausies. Guess you'll have to settle for you hot weather lush beaches blue sky and gorgeous women not to mention a short flight from the big J

  • Quint2020 #26 2 years ago

    Australialol though tbh they may be dodging a bullet judging by the last couple of games developed by Rebellion.

  • gorf #27 2 years ago

    For consistency should the source material, the film Predator aslo be banned on the same grounds....?

  • minusblindfold #28 2 years ago

    'first-person perspective, close-up depictions of human characters being subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat, or eyes'

    should be the tag line on the front of the box....

    The Australian Classification is really doing good work in promoting violent video games. I tip my hat to you sirs!

  • thesombrerokid #29 2 years ago

    the games industry should stop pandering to these idiots , it's not like Australians can't get there hands on it if it's banned, the only way they'll learn that it's a discussion is if we show them how weak their position is. so good on sega/rebellion for ignoring these tools.

  • dirk_aircool #30 2 years ago

    swissorc
    You forgot to mention that every living thing is hostile and wants to eat you.( appart from lovley cuddly Koala bears ).

  • the_mtfr #31 2 years ago

    Fucking politicians. When in their own little mind they do think it's okay to have these things in movies.

  • makeamazing #32 2 years ago

    Seems like the Australian commision is worse than Mary Whitehouse from the 80's... they dont like anything with violence or anything that is for adults.

  • kangarootoo #33 2 years ago

    "" Do we need to see a guy's spine being ripped out to enjoy the game?"

    The Predators signature move. Sure. "

    But being objective about it, its still not necessary for the game to be enjoyable. Yes its a signature move, but the gameplay isn't based solely around that action. Its absence would probably make very little difference to the final and complete player experience.

    I am not btw saying I think this ban is ok, or that the game should be edited, or that Oz shouldn't have an 18 rating option. I'm just saying lets not act like the bloodiness of the finishing moves is really that important to the gameplay.
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 13:43

  • bad09 #34 2 years ago

    "I'm just saying lets not act like the bloodiness of the finishing moves is really that important to the gameplay"

    Hmmmm, I'd say in this case it IS important. The movies/comics this is based on are extremely gory sci-fi scares, and the methods of killing are all ways used by both species in previous media, it's part of the appeal lets be honest.

    While the core mechanics of the game would not be affected much (apart from the alien/predator kills of course) surely the game universe (and immersion in the game) would suffer. Fear of being ripped to shreds by an alien or skinned alive by a predator is part of that, surely if they came along and just laid into you L4D infected style it would be pretty unbelievable and would ruin the atmosphere (therefore enjoyment) of the game? While Alien Trilogy was good, did you not want the aliens to....act like aliens?

    Of course you could then argue that the gore is needless in the source material in the first place......
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 14:08

  • kangarootoo #35 2 years ago

    @bad09

    I'm not saying the gore adds nothing. Just that we should maintain a bit of context. An AvP game without the gore may not be quite as good, but the difference would be negligible I feel.

    And playing AvP 1 as a marine, what scared me most wasn't what happened when an Alien hit me, but the impending approach, the beeping radar and the flashes of movement in the dark (just like in the films, the hunt was always far more tense than the kill). Sometimes what you don't see is just as scary (if not more) as what you do see.

  • jefranklin18 #36 2 years ago

    @dirk_aircool appart from lovley cuddly Koala bears

    Don't be mislead - those creatures are evil. Have you seen the talons on them?

  • Nodebug #37 2 years ago

    ahahahahahahahahaha.


    ahahahahahahaha! etc etc

  • bad09 #38 2 years ago

    @ kangarootoo

    Yeah I see what you mean, I need to go back to AvP though, can't remember if it was gory or not!

  • JDFreeman #39 2 years ago

    Dear Attorney-General Michael Atkinson.
    The comments on your refugee constituents have really pulled on my nerdy bespectacled tear ridden heartstrings. I feel you have really shown me the error of my evil virtual reality ways and I realise now that not only was I insulting what those poor people went through, but was also mere inches away from becoming a frenzied psychopath who goes round driving over babies. But you have saved me; we don’t need tougher restrictions on letting parents buy their little brats’ mature content video games or to ban the sale of weapons. No we just need to ban anything that could cause an already unstable mind to go that one step further. So I would like to add the following to your agenda of restriction;
    All angry Music, All Films that are not Romantic Comedies or made by Walt Disney, All literature that contains the same subject matter that you despise in computer games , Obviously this would include Shakespeare (Richard the 3rd locks away children in a tower, Titus bakes a mothers children in a pie, Hamlet a 15 year old drowns herself and everyone else dies too) and the less we mention about the Old and New testament the better (More death, rape and murder than any other piece of artistic fiction known to man)
    Sincerely,
    A Big Fan of your Hypocrisy.

  • kangarootoo #40 2 years ago

    @bad09

    I think AvP 1 was quite gory. but not overly so. I recall that heads and limbs came off quite readily when an alien under player control attacked human npcs. It wasn't that detailed though really, not compared to what is described here (which I admit I've not actually seen, and it could be rather less dramatic than is being suggested).

    Even the bitey stalk tongue head pokey attack thing (I forget the proper name) was more left to the imagination (you saw the attack from within the jaws of the alien, so the actual strike itself was just a flurry of quick movement). And there was definitely no spinal cord action (the signature Predator trophy move was in there, but it was just a swipe, a splash of blood, and a suddenly absent head).
    Edited by 1 at 04/12/09 @ 15:01

  • Redeye #41 2 years ago

    Yet another quality facepalm brought to you by Mr. Atkinson, a man who obviously doesn't believe that ADULTS have the right to decide what they want to play.

  • Lusterpurge #42 2 years ago

    "Considering that Aussies are the descendants of the prisoner scum of Europe, you'd think a few violent videogames wouldn't be such an issue."

    They were only the petty criminals like thieves and robbers. The violent ones were kept in Europe and subjected to various types of violence, including explicit decapitation and dismemberment as well as locational damage such as stabbing through the chest, mouth, throat, or eyes.

  • dirk_aircool #43 2 years ago

    Jefranklin18
    I thought they were for hanging on to tree's,not ripping my throat out.The cute cudllyness is just to lure humans in close for the kill.I was completly fooled. ( again ).

  • clockworkzombie #44 2 years ago

    "Considering that Aussies are the descendants of the prisoner scum of Europe, you'd think a few violent videogames wouldn't be such an issue."

    Most Australians would not support censorship if it was asked of them, politicians of course use emotive langauge as a smokescreen. The current Labor governments are of course nanny statists so we are not allowed to make our own decisions.

  • Quixz #45 2 years ago

    What's going on down under.. ? =/

  • rogueJT #46 2 years ago


    Germany and Australia won't be potential markets.

    That's like 100 million people. Got to hurt.

    (Although any "gamer" that wants it uncut in those countries will get it easily enough)

  • Lawlost #47 2 years ago

    The Aussise have always been anti violence in video games, I lived out there for a year about 15 years ago and they censored Duke Nuke Em! Weird as they are not that fussed about hard core porn which was on sale.... a bit like the Germans then ;-)

  • MrSixer #48 2 years ago

    I live in Australia, and was talking to a friend of mine who works in and reports on the IT industry.

    Atkinson is a smug jerk, sure, but he's right to feel confident about censorship not being an electoral issue. Fact is, it's not a big enough issue to make anyone any political capital. But, if someone opposes his 'for the children' stance, then they are by contrast setting themselves up as being - by implication - 'pro-child-abuse.'

    I don't know what the solution here is. The world is changing and Australia won't be like this forever. You can't shout back the tide. All he's doing here is reducing the amount of time that Australia has to adapt to a world that is changing faster than it ever has. Atkinson is functioning as an auto-immune disease. It is a foregone conclusion that his forestalling is temporary at best - and therefore pointless and harmful.

    In the meantime there are workarounds if people over here want to exercise their rights as adults; unfortunately most don't know what those options are. I'm playing L4D2 uncensored, for example, but am finding it hard to find a low-ping game because most people over here just didn't buy the title because of the censorship issue.

    Anyway, this whole thing is sad and embarrassing and I really wish this government had a more sophisticated approach to the issues of the day. Right now I feel like I'm being babysat by by an ailing grandfather.

  • whizzedout #49 2 years ago

    should of been a worldwide ban for Rogue Warrior

  • jellyhead #50 2 years ago

    Aussie comments i've read on other forums have been really supportive of Rebellion in this even though it means they won't get an official release they say it will undermine Atkinson's arguments of "well, they release it edited anway." against an R18 category.
    If other publishers start to take the same stance then the aussie retailers will notice they're losing out and losing potential revenue and will weigh into the debate properly.

  • Sharzam #51 2 years ago

    Iam very much in the camp of better to not release it than to dumb it down, as it could set a dangerous precendent. In terms of money a good example is the film industry they down films so can get lower clasification and so sell more in cinemas i am looking at you terminator series, first 18 then a 15 then a 12.

  • Hexagon #52 2 years ago

    I fully condone what Sega have done with regards to not releasing the game in the German and Australian markets and thereby censoring the title for said markets. Informed Germans and Australians will import the game from the United Kingdom where censorship is no issue anyway. With websites such as MyMemory.co.uk, importing becomes even easier due to the likes of free, worldwide delivery.

  • kwesleyb #53 2 years ago

    I dont have time to read the comments but i just wanna pass on my opinion here... Governments around the world have lost the plot and human rights are slowly disappearing. Surely its the right of the Australian (plus other countries) people if they want to buy this game or not, not money grabbing, over paid governments and/or classification boards. Its pathetic how these people are treating us n different countries, and its going too far. We are being controlled like muppets and something needs to be done before it escalates into something far more serious than banning of just a game (just a game i say? Well banning what could possibly be a fantastic game..). Im sick to death of it. Riots? I can see some forming in a few years time when they go too far with their daily people controlling activities, its only time... Fun times ahead :)

  • djed #54 2 years ago

    When they finally implement the great firewall of Oz (I heard it has been postponed for a little while), they'll hopefully stop you from importing uncensored versions as well.