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Silent Hill: Homecoming banned in Australia

By Randolph Ramsay, GameSpot AUPosted Sep 25, 2008 9:43 pm PT

Latest Silent Hill horror game refused classification down under; local distributor will wait until early 2009 for a possible resubmission.

This year has been a depressing one for Aussie gamers when it comes to bans, with three games failing to meet Australia's strict classification requirements. Dark Sector, Shellshock 2: Blood Trails, and Fallout 3 were all banned in 2008, though both Dark Sector and Fallout 3 were eventually allowed back into the country after some modifications were made. It seems that's not the end of the banning story for this year, however. This afternoon Konami confirmed that its upcoming Silent Hill: Homecoming has also been refused classification, so selling it is illegal in Australia.

An Atari spokesman (Atari is the local distributor for Konami games) confirmed the game banning to GameSpot AU, saying that Australia's Classification Board found issue with the high impact of Silent Hill's violence. Examples used by the board in its report include copious blood spray in the game, decapitations, partially dismembered corpses, and numerous scenes of attacks, fights, torture, and death.

The spokesman said plans for Homecoming's Australian release are now "on the backburner until early next year," pending discussions with Konami to see if any changes can be made to accommodate Australia's classification regime.

Silent Hill is one of the leading franchises in the survival horror genre. Homecoming follows the story of a war veteran going back to his hometown to search for his missing brother. The multiplatform game was originally slated to be released in Australia in November this year.

In Australia, the highest rating available for a game is MA15+, as opposed to other forms of media, such as film or DVDs, which have an R18+ classification (the R rating prohibits sales to anyone under the age of 18). Games that feature content deemed unsuitable for an MA15+ rating are refused classification and are effectively banned from sale. This year, both Dark Sector and Shellshock 2 were banned because of violent content, while Fallout 3 was initially banned because the game supposedly showed positive effects from in-game drug use.

For more about Australia's game classification system, check out GameSpot AU's in-depth Censory Overload feature.

372 Comments

  • pinku_panda

    Posted Sep 2, 2009 1:03 pm PT

    Wow, what the hell do they play then if those master pieces are banned 0.o

  • sooty1987

    Posted Jun 19, 2009 6:19 pm PT

    those f f***ers....... im going to have to get it from the UK now...

  • 10boohee

    Posted Jan 5, 2009 6:59 am PT

    this is why democrats and big government suck!! to much government = less freedom

  • backslide11

    Posted Nov 15, 2008 9:10 pm PT

    what the hell?no offense meant, but Aussies must never ever ban games like THESE.its not going to affect how people think and act.these are just games,man!no need to ban them by the government.they just need to leave these kinds of things to the parents!

  • UlTimatelee

    Posted Oct 28, 2008 9:33 pm PT

    Yay finally got my copy in the mail and it was well worth it- i still dont understand why they banned it thou, haha so far all ive seen that was maybe the reason why is when you stab some ppl he kinda gets into it a bit- but far out no better no worse than GTA..Haha the only other reason i think they made have banned it is the scare factor? But surely thats not right?

  • jaydana

    Posted Oct 23, 2008 7:10 pm PT

    (EVIL LAUGH)..AHHH HAAA HAAAAAAA SUFFER TO THE CLASSIFICATION BOARD..I GOT MY COPY FROM USA AND NOW LOOKING FORWARD TO PLAYING IT OVER THE COMING WEEKS..WOOHOOOOOOOO STICK IT.. YOU CANT STOP US BUYING OUR COPY OF SILENT HILL HOMECOMING.. OLD FUDDY DUDDY'S..GET OVER IT..ITS ONLY A GAME...PEOPLE WHO RE-ENACT SCENES FROM FILMS AND GAMES ARENT TOTALLY INFLUENCED BY THE GAME..THEY ALREADY HAD A SCREW LOOSE WHEN THEY WATCHED IT..YOU CANT STOP LOONEYS BY BANNING GAMES AND FILMS.. ITS ONLY ABOUT .1% OF THE POPULATION THAT ARE LOONEYS ANY WAY..SO STOP PUNISHING THE DECENT PEOPLE WHO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REALITY AND PRETENCE..JUST COS WE ENJOY PLAYING GAMES LIKE THESE DOESNT MEAN WE GONNA GO OUT ON A KILLING SPREE..OMG..GET A LIFE AND GET OVER IT..THERE WILL ALWAYS BE LOONEYS IN LIFE AND THAT YOU CANT STOP EITHER..THEY ARE BORN WITH A SCREW LOOSE TO START WITH!!!!!!!!

  • Leria

    Posted Oct 11, 2008 6:56 pm PT

    Yet another embarrassment to Australia, the country that was started by convicts and has started to treat it's citizenry like little children who need to have everything dictated to them.

    Australia, get real, get sane, and realize that there is absolutely nothing wrong with these games the way that they are, because they are made for adults or children who their parents know are mature enough to not go out and do stuff like they see in the game or the movies in real life.

  • heelflipdarkslide

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 9:17 am PT

    I'm in Australia and my import copy arrived yesterday morning. Pretty solid game so far.

  • Hofmarskal

    Posted Oct 10, 2008 3:10 am PT

    Is there any game they won't ban? If the Aussies ban a game, then you can be sure it's a good game:-)

  • All_3st

    Posted Oct 9, 2008 9:10 am PT

    I'm really looking forward till the day that the gaming industry is seen as an equal to the movie/music industry!

    RESPECT THE GAMER!

  • sparks12935

    Posted Oct 5, 2008 9:27 am PT

    Wow, that's ridiculous. Poor Australia.

  • artiebillymac

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 8:38 am PT

    How old are these board members to make this decision that the whole of Australia residents can't buy & play this game,Makes me want to move country's .. .

  • Jack_Corbae

    Posted Oct 3, 2008 3:13 am PT

    Why do we care? Imports are cheaper! I can pick up Spore from Canada for AU$56 DELIVERED!

    Screw the classifications board - Import! It's cheaper anyway.

  • UlTimatelee

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 9:55 pm PT

    I dunno im feeling left out cos im not even gettin a choice? I guess wheteher the games are lame or not doesnt really matter to me- i just want the choice to be able to make a decision for myself?

  • renderman7

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 9:17 pm PT

    omg.. the first silent hill was great.. the rest sucked.. and you are making it sound like we are missing out cause of those 4 games. fallout 3 will be great and all they changed were some drug names.. dark sector.. pfft yeah right.. more like crap sector.. and as for shellshock.. the first one sucked.. why did they make a second one...

    sometimes the banning of games can be a good thing.. 3 of those 4 needed to be kept off store shelves

  • UlTimatelee

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 6:02 pm PT

    Yes it is- all ps3 games are region free if thats what you mean! And look i think this is ridiculous! I dont see why we as adults have to miss out on all these games just because we cant agree on an R rating system- i can guarentee you now kids that go into Video stores and kids that go into Targets and Kmarts all over Australia dont even get checked to buy movies. My point being maybe if we tightened the laws a lil bit and it was alot like sellin underage kids Ciggerettes and Alcohol where fines were in place for the owners of these stores, maybe they would think before just selling their wares to neone! I know first hand when i picked up my copy of GTA- which is rated MA15+ in Australia- which clearly means no kids under the age of 15 are allowed to buy it, i had a kid behind me in the line at a Games store which i wont mention who looked to be all of about 12-13 got his copy of GTA no questions asked? Things like this make me mad- not that i dont think he could of handled playing the game cos im sure he could, he wouldnt be there if he wasnt a gamer that chose to play games along those lines- its not like someone just walks off the street and choses to play these types of games? If ur a gamer whateva ur age may be- you know what ur gettin urself in for- i mean for crying out loud- lets take COD4- lots of shooting and blood and heads being blown off- i think ne 13 yr old boy could handle that. Do i think hes goin to take it to the street or the play ground- no and the ppl that say he will are bogus- Violence, sex and drugs have been around alot longer than video games- i dunno im just so worked up bout this!!! I find it crazy... All the points the government have on this ban have counter points that there not even seeing. It seems easier to just ban these games.. For crying out loud games of all sorts are part of millions of ppls lives, whether it be on the mobiles- consoles or the computers. The government just needs to get with the times!!!!!! And clearly stop acting so old school bout everything

  • Daweba360

    Posted Oct 2, 2008 4:15 am PT

    Hy Guys Im sorry to tell u that Silent Hill Homecoming is
    NOT CODEFREE !!!!!!!!

  • jsdore77

    Posted Oct 1, 2008 10:11 pm PT

    We Aussies all need to import this game, take a pic of us holding it with a great big smile and thumbs up and send the pic to the OFLC and the tool in South Australia with a note attached saying, "I'm over 18 and I CHOOSE to play it!"

  • darthturkey

    Posted Oct 1, 2008 2:35 am PT

    If the R rating was on games here in Australia, kids will some how get their hands on this games.

    So i cant see why games cant be R rated, i know kids who play games which are banned here Australia, games which are RC.

    So come on and get with the system and release an R rating.

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