No it hasn't?

Buy a UK version of the game, and cross your fingers that your package isn't one of the 2% actually checked at customs.

Break laws to avoid breaking laws, I like it lol.

Be easy to get just the disc in the country.  Buy a stack of blank cds, put your disk about 20 down in the stack, and shrink wrap it so it looks like its still sealed.  Then have a relative mail you something like clothes or somethin and have that put in the box.  I highly doubt they'd open the pack and look at each disc, while in with something like that.  Esspecially if a family member mails it, make it look like a present.  (IDK, haven't put a LOT of thought into this, so there are bound to be holes.)

-Twilight Storm

interpole, freeze!

Damnit, the fuzz set this up!

No it hasn't?[/quote]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout_3#Drug_references_in_Australia

As it is, it has been banned in australia... a revised version specifically for australia's censorship laws was made a month later. I have heard of the ban on day 1 and missed the special "australia" revision being released a month later... but the vanilla unmodified version has been banned and that is all that matter. (you can released modified versions to meet china's censorship laws as well)

*sigh*

Did you even read the Wiki article you quoted? They modified every version of Fallout 3 to correspond with the change, removing the reference to the real-world drug Morphine. The game - the same version that everyone else has - is available to buy in Australia.

ZehDon, so what?

Australia has a legal body which bans games, they made the official decision that fallout 3 with morphine in it is illegal to sell there (like the have for other games)... that the authors caved in and modified their work worldwide to fit that form of censorship doesn't mean that the censorship doesn't exist.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_video_games#Australia Here you go, a list of all games banned for sale in australia. In western australia you may not own such games, in the rest of australia you may own them if you bought them abroad, but it is illegal to sell them within australia itself. I bought Postal 2, fun and awesome game. In western australia it would be illegal for me to own, in the rest of australia illegal for me to buy (but I could own it if I brought it with me), and in anywhere in australia it would be a criminal offence to let someone under 18 see it

ex: had I still lived in my parent's house, which I don't, had my 17 brother walked into my room while I was playing it I would have been committing a crime

ex2: a parent who bought it to their 17 year old child would have been committing a crime.

Other things going on in australia include the installation of the "great firewall of australia" http://soviet-overlords.joeuser.com/article/375716/The_great_firewall_of_Australia_to_ban_criticisms_of_the_great_firewall_of_

as well as a somewhat recent (but short lived) temporary suspension of freedom of speech for bloggers due to them "spreading lies in an election year". (that was actually overturned fairly quickly... unlike the other issues; but the fact they even dared implement it in the first place says a lot).

Here's some cool information you failed to link, once again omitting the important information to further your piss poor attempts to slander an entire nation.

Firstly, Australia currently has more Video Games banned than any other nation on the Earth.  This is due to the outdated ratings system employed in Video Games; Australia lacks an R18+ rating and thus any game unable to be rated M15+ has to be refused classification.  The reason for this is Michael Atkinson, the former AG of South Australia, as all amendments to the ratings system in Australia require that all AG from the States and Territories of Australia vote to do so unanimously and Atkinson voted against the reform each and every time it was called.  The unanimous requirement was used to allow the smaller States and Territories of Australia to have an equal voice compared to the larger States and Territories, who would have been more 'important' due to their higher population on the non-adopted proposed system.  Michael Atkinson lost his seat in the recent election, and thus the ratings system can now be reformed and the previously banned games can be re-submitted for classification.

Actually, it would be illegal to show that game to anyone under the age of 15, as Australia fails to lacks an R18+ rating at current.  Anyway, as you failed to realise, this is the same for any rating system anywhere in the world; showing rated material to someone under the age of the rating is of course illegal, hence the rating system in the first place.


The Australian Internet filter, known as the Great Firewall of Australia, has not been installed - it is on the election agenda for the coming Federal Election, and will be a major point of interest. The proposed filter would be used to ban illegal material on the internet, such as child pornography and pro-rape sites.  Unfortunately, the filter's 'black list' will not be made public, will be entirely under Government control and will be accountable only to the Government, leaving it wide open to possible abuse by whom-ever the ruling party happens to be.  This has lead it to be painted in a very bad light, and rightly so, as the Communications Minister of Australia has already leaked the name of 4chan and Encyclopedia Dramatica as sites that will be banned; sites that do not contain the afforementioned illegal materials and thus calls into question the entire filter to begin with.  Personally, I don't like the mandatory filter, however I understand the need for it.  Having an opt-in list, so that parents can prevent their children from accessing such materials, satisfies both parties. However arguing or inferring that access to illegal materials such as child pornography is protected under freedom of speech, as you have inferred in your post, really makes you question your morals and understanding of what you're talking about.


This so called 'suspension of freedom of speech for bloggers' was merely a requirement for people posting on offical political blogs to use their real names on comments made to prevent the usual trolling that takes place on any internet forum and keep the blogs on track.

If you're going to lie, and I mean out-right lie, please don't bother posting.

Actually it is only illegal without proper adult supervision......children can see r rated movies if accompanied by an adult and so on.  

I am against censorship completely.   As with most things like this the people that thought of it had their minds in the right place but it can be abused for the wrong reasons.  Especailly if what is getting banned is not known.

Aty least you Aussies get   The chaser's war on everything.... I definitley like the lounge music arrangement of cannibal corpse.  That must've been a slap in the face to censors!!!

Two of my favorite quotes regarding censorship:

 

Er... showing a child an R rated movie is generally considered illegal, depending on your country, of course. The ratings - at least in most nations - aren't just 'guidelines' rather actual rules that can, albeit usually are not, enforced.

Quoting Splitshadow, reply 111

Censorship is telling a man he can't have a steak because a baby can't chew it.
-Mark Twain

End of Splitshadow's quote

I always laugh at this one. Two of my favourties:

Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one.  ~Abbott Joseph Liebling, "Do You Belong in Journalism?" New Yorker, 4 May 1960

End of quote

To limit the press is to insult a nation; to prohibit reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves.  ~Claude-Adrien Helvétius

End of quote

Well here in the US you always here the disclaimer" this movie is rated r and children are not permitted except with supervision of an adult" at the end of the ad. 

In the U.S., children are allowed to see R rated movies so long as their parents are there with them.

Wikipedia's explanation of the U.S. movie rating system

That is basically a message telling people with kids to leave, even though they can see more violence and nudity in real life.

Interesting copyright fact I just found: David Bowie, already under contract to record his debut album, was forced to adopt the stage name of "Bowie" in order to have any chance of having his music released in the United States, his legal name being David Robert Jones. During the early 1960s Bowie was performing either under his own name or the stage name "Davie Jones", and briefly even as "Davy Jones", creating confusion with Davy Jones of The Monkees. To avoid this, in 1966 he chose "Bowie" for his stage name, after the Alamo hero Jim Bowie and his famous Bowie knife.

 

TL-DR; David Bowie had to change his name to avoid copyright infringement. I find this utterly hilarious yet a sad example of what bureaucratic, intellectual property belief can lead to. What happens when we copyright all of the available names lol?

ZehDon, one of the advantages to living in the United States is we have no government assholes banning movies and games and deciding who they are appropriate for.  The MPAA and ESRB are private organizations who do nothing but give games ratings based on content, they have no power to control sale or usage.  We have the FCC but their jurisdiction is purely over radio and broadcast television: cable television is actually exempt from FCC control.

That's fair, and I can understand the need for third party examination.  The OFLC in Australia is a Government department, however they are bound by guidelines for classification which can be reviewed, such as the case with the Video Game Ratings. To Ban something, it has to fall within the appropriate guidlines: 


This set of guidlines applies to nearly all mediums.  The OFLC, frankly, does a great job of classification as only the utter most extreme films and books are banned, and this is where most people claim it falls down; when dealing with the most extreme subject matter, such as movies depicting the rape and sexual brutalisation of women and children.  The problem I have is that virtual or interactive material, such as Anime movies and Video games, are not accounted for; they have a different set of standards - often higher - than their film or literature counter-parts, usually due to the outdated mind set that Cartoons and Video games are for children rather than being treated on the same playing field.  The fact that it's a Government Department hasn't hindered it's purpose, and allows it to lay down the law when needed, it just means it needs a prod in the right diretion sometimes.

Yeah, this isn't true in the USA, as has been pointed out already. Our ratings systems are not backed by the power of the government. They're just private organizations that stepped into the role fairly well which allows us to avoid the bullshit that is known for banning video games from an adult population even if its labeled as something else... aka won't rate it, refused classfication, whatever, it's banned. We've got some censorship built into some laws, but its nothing like the aka "anywhere in the world", rest of the world stuff.

Slander an entire nation? hardly. The australians need to get their heads out of their behinds and vote out the chumps who keep pushing it towards a soviet third world country... just like the USA and europe and others who have become complacent and voted in such trash. I have no ill will towards australia and I am presenting the facts as they are. Their censorship of games is wrong, their attempt to censor the internet via a great firewall is wrong, and the attacks on bloggers for protesting those behaviors are wrong. I don't see how you can turn it around as me SLANDERING AUSTRALIA when it is incompetent and downright evil would be tyrants in australian government that I am speaking out against.

I love mark twain.

Although I believe I have vastly improved on the saying:

Twains saying is a person making a horridly stupid argument because he is stupid (which is sometimes, but rarely the case). Mine is a person making a horridly stupid argument as a flimsy excuse to hide their ulterior motives, which is far more common.

No, you're omitting the portions of the facts when the aforementioned portions don't provide additional support to whatever piss poor view you're attempting to shovel down someone elses throat.  I love to present my personal opinions as fact (hell, to me, they are fact) however I have the common deceny to admit that I do this - wonderful board members like Nesrie often call me out on it too, which provides interesting and intellectual discussions.  Stop pretending you're presenting a balanced and factual point of view; you're an ignorant moron who's running off on a tangent which I have systematically proven to be inconsistant with the truth at hand.  I have no patience for people like you.


The Australian OFLC bans - not censors - video games.  Big, big difference.  I've already explained why they are banning games and that the majority of Australians do not support this, however a political loophole enabled one man to prevent change.  This has since been altered, and the change is happening.
Australians haven't tried to censor the internet - as I've already explained.  The Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, is presenting plans for a Firewall to do so, however.  This Firewall will most likely cost the elected government their power in the coming Federal Election because there is no public support for it apart from the extreme conservative parties.  Again, not representing the majority of Australians.
There have been no attacks on bloggers of any kind for protesting anything.  A change in the registering requirements for Offical political blogs doesn't constitute an attack on anything, regardless of what you would like it to mean.


Please, for the love of god, stop posting.  You clearly have no understanding of anything you're saying or any of the subject matter you're talking about.  Every word you're typing makes the rest of dumber.  Please, please, stop.


Did you even read this before you posted?  Honestly, your blind self-serving arrogance is staggering.

actually the first postal game was banned in US but you wont find any articles about it because we have free press here. *cough* *cough*

Actually their are a lot of games that won't even make it into the use because they were banned. Don't think because we have a lot of games her; that known were banned. Also any american made game the gets an AO rating literally commits suicide a 99.9% of the stores in america will not sell an AO game let alone have them on the shelves.

I remember the US version of Sacred was edited so it didn't have monsters being decapitated and spurting blood. Drifted pretty far off topic now but whatever

 

The Witcher and Indigo Prophecy were also edited to meet American guidelines.

The Witcher is now available in the U.S. in an un-edited edition as the Enhanced Edition.  I grabbed that on Impulse for $9.99 on a weekend sale.