Hell Kitty

I'm sure that the people who refuse to buy a game because of it's DRM like to think the stand they are taking is a meaningful one, but is there really any way to know that this is true? I mean if all the recent PC games that have required activation were replaced with versions without DRM, would sales suddenly increase a meaningful amount? It just seems like gamers claiming that DRM has a huge effect on PC game sales isn't much different to publishers claiming that piracy has a huge effect on PC game sales, in that neither side can really prove such claims.

I bought Alone in the Dark online from the Atari store, and it required a one time activation on install, and when uninstalling allows you to revoke the license*. No need to worry about limited installs or calling home every time you load the game. *Not that I'd ever replay this bugfest.

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The first intro I remember being impressed by was Soul Blade on PS1.

Apparently dismemberment is an issue in Japan, and games are usually modified for release, but dismemberment plays a big part in this game (whatever that means) and so it just gets banned. Basically, gore okay, severed body parts not okay. Still haven't seen anything actually confirming this.

Heh.

Yep. A guy on RPS mentioned playing the Russian version (it's totally okay because he's going to buy the English version) and either the English version is out or it's the Russian version fan translated.

And yet you chose to play it for 10 hours. Oh, sorry, you were forced to play it for 10 hours. The "oh I only make this much and games are like sooo expensive" sob story it just pathetic. Games are luxury items, no one needs to play them, and certainly no one is forced to play them. "I was forced into it. By myself!" Companies make and sell games. You want to play them, you buy them. Don't want to pay for them, then you don't get to play them.

Well obviously the reason stores decide to release games early is because they are cleverly attempting to combat piracy by releasing legit copies of games that have been pirated and are available for download on the internet.

Wow, thats stupid that they had to do that. So you call cocaine a "stimpack" and its all good? People in AU cant connect those dots? I can't speak for my fellow countrymen, but if I ever encountered real world drugs in games my immediate reaction would be to inject my eyeballs with whatever the hell I could get my hands on. I don't think there will be missing content, just name changes from the sound of it. I'm sure someone will offer some kind of mod that changes the names to real world drugs, much like you see in other games where firearms are given real names, or the names of vehicles in the GTA series changed to the real world inspiration.

Um, because you played it for 10 hours.

Playing the latest Sims 2 expansion. Kicking my sims out of their lovely homes and sticking them in the awesome apartments I built.

^ I agree with that. Combat in Bloodlines was functional, just like Deus Ex. Combat in JA2 was awesomecalafragdalisticexpealadoshis. Silent Storm combat was even better, because there ain't nothing like taking out the side of a building with a single grenade.

Australian censors ruin Fallout 3 for everyone! Or what Tigranes said.

Most games have always done that.

If you're playing a pirated game for more than an hour you're no longer just "trying it out".

Why not? Refused Classification (banned) is just another rating, it's the rating a product gets when the content is at such a high level it falls outside of all other ratings. The reason some games get the RC rating in Australia isn't because we have a ratings systems that is harsher than other western countries, as we don't, it's because unlike film and literature there is no adults only (R18+) rating, so games that would meet the R18+ standard have to be refused classification until the content is modified. Games may or may not be art, but they are mass produced products, and like any product if something about it is believed to be harmful then restrictions will apply.

A. It's out earlier in Europe and the UK B. It's out much earlier in Australia C. They're dirty pirates

I find Amazon to be pretty expensive compared to most other online stores, with the most expensive shipping costs.

This is nonsense. If the publisher doesn't spend money on copy protection, would that money instead go into the development of the game, and how would that extra money make for a better game? Do people wait to see that a game isn't worth buying before they pirate it? If going to a store (even an online store) and spending money takes effort, isn't the real issue that people are lazy and cheap?

"Won't somebody think of the children!?" - Australian censorship As opposed to the censorship in any other country? If a film includes a level of coarse language that earns it an M rating, or a violence level that earns an R rating, does that mean it's been classified due to its level of immorality?

Australia doesn't ban games for being "immoral".

Yeah, because if German reviewers give lower scores than US/UK reviewers, the obvious explanation is that it's harder to bribe Europeans. What?

As for journalistic integrity, it's a well known fact that all reviews are bought and paid for, except the ones you agree with.

You should have told her exactly this, that's obviously where you went wrong. Make sure you tell all future girlfriends. They'll appreciate your honesty.