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God of War: Ascension pulled from Qld shelves - Report

Dan Chiappini
By Dan Chiappini, Editor of GameSpot AU

PlayStation-exclusive action game is unavailable due to lack of R18+ rating; retailers instructed to remove promotional material and refuse pre-orders.

Even before it goes on sale, God of War: Ascension is allegedly being removed from a Queensland retailer’s store shelves, according to a report on Kotaku. While the game has allegedly been granted the recently introduced R18+ rating, the move comes as a result of Queensland's failure to pass its complementary state legislation in line with the national classification introduced on January 1 this year.

An internal notice addressed to its Queensland stores claims:

“We have just been advised that God of War: Ascension has been rated R18+. As Queensland has not passed legislation for the R18+ rating for games, we must remove all reference to God of War: Ascension immediately,” stated the memo. “This includes all game slicks, posters, pamphlets, handwritten signage, two-way units, and pre-order signage.”

The message went on to note that the retailer (which was not identified) cannot sell copies of the PlayStation-exclusive game in the state, or accept customer pre-orders.

The Queensland Government is currently awaiting the result of a Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee report--which was due to be released on February 7, 2013--before debating the R18+ legislation in parliament, and seeking to amend state law to include an R18+ classification for video games.

EB Games Australia currently lists a pre-order for the game on its website, though it makes specific reference to its unavailability to Queensland purchasers.

God of War: Ascension is the fourth major console release in the franchise, and is the first game in the series to add an objective-based multiplayer mode. The game is scheduled to release in all other Australian states and territories on March 14 this year.

GameSpot AU contacted Sony Computer Entertainment Australia for comment. The publisher confirmed that it will shortly be issuing a public statement.

Dan Chiappini
By Dan Chiappini, Editor of GameSpot AU

Raised by the warm glow of arcade machine monitors and TV screens, Dan's lifelong passion has always been games. PC, console, mobile, handheld, you name it, he'll play it. He also enjoys photography, long walks on the beach, and clichés.

19 comments
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darthturkey
darthturkey

lol bad luck queensland, i fill sorry for them, back in  the 80's certain horror movies were banned in Queensland, Day of the dead, re-animator etc, at least Victoria is getting that is all matters to me.

rigzzsy
rigzzsy

bloody hell, this is ridiculous, ludicrous, and outrageous.

glad i don't live there

Motroucet
Motroucet

The Republic of Queensland - formerly known as 'The Sunshine State'. :)


Glad I live here. :)(  < LOLSAD.

SIDEFX1
SIDEFX1

Its not really fair since it is in the same country, that this part of the country can have it and this part can't, but it is really easy to take it to QLD anyway..

Alucard1475
Alucard1475 like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

For ***** sake...Why in my state? 

NoelXYeul
NoelXYeul

Sell it at bars or gentlemen's clubs, nobody "18+" is allowed there anyway,

DarkReign2552
DarkReign2552 like.author.displayName 1 Like

It's a stupid law and it's easily circumvented, so they really just need to have out and be done with it. I have 2 friends in Australia that end up sending me money through paypal and I buy the games they want and mail it to them. All it's doing is costing them more money and it's not actually stopping anybody from playing them.

odino
odino

I kinda feel sorry for auusie gamers that politics ruins all this, but I guess they can still "import" from another state.

greasemonkey42
greasemonkey42

People who want it will get it elsewhere from a multitude of avenues - pulling it from just the Queensland shelves is pointless bureaucracy wasting everyone's time and money.

flyersfan87
flyersfan87

How hard is it to just come up with a game ratings system. What does the government care about it anyway, the ESRB operates outside the US and Canadian governments. Europe's PEGI or whatever they call it probably does as well.

Undietaker
Undietaker

@flyersfan87 We do have a ratings system. Federal government has passed the legisations but the governments of each state and territory have to instate it within their jurisdiction independantly.

Queensland simply hasn't done it yet.

eriktkire
eriktkire like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

it's understandable.  QLD with a premier so arse backwards he's already lost half his ministers, booted out a horde of still angry casual/temp public servents ... was so shit out of luck with ideas that he tried holding town hall meetings to get your average joe to come up with ideas on how he should run his government...

... then he gets hit with a flood that wasn't supposed to happen.... and inbetween all that they've barely had a chance to go on holiday.... of course there's no time to go to parliament and pass any new bills.

FriendBear
FriendBear like.author.displayName like.author.displayName 2 Like

LoL Australia has some really messed up Politicians, rise up my friends ~ beat the system.

SIDEFX1
SIDEFX1

Never eat soggy weetbix.

nds1306
nds1306

Anyone else feeling a business ventre being start up as we speak... Sending "illegal" copies to the north?

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