Bought it, 2 days later ,deleted and refunded. Outrageous that 40yo can't play a mature game. Steam just abiding by our ridiculous prehistoric gaming laws. Still..., pisses me off! Time to import, Again!
UPDATE: Steam stops Manhunt sales Down Under
UPDATE: Valve's digital distribution service stops listing the 2004 Refused Classification (RC) title Manhunt after initially making it available; refunds sent to those who already purchased the game.
Rockstar Games' 2004 stealth action title Manhunt was the subject of wide controversy over its graphic violence and context, earning bans in New Zealand and Germany and receiving 17+ and 18+ classifications in North America and Canada respectively. In Australia, the title was originally classified MA15+ in October 2003, only to be revoked in September 2004 following an appeal by then Federal Attorney-General Philip Ruddock. Manhunt was given a Refused Classification (RC) rating and banned for sale in Australia.
Now, seven years later, it appears Manhunt is once again being made available to Aussie gamers. Valve's digital distribution service Steam is allowing Australian users to purchase the game from its online store, with GameSpot AU successfully purchasing and downloading the title. Manhunt's existing RC status should technically make it illegal for sale in any form Down Under.
"The game Manhunt was refused classification on 29 September 2004," director of the Classification Board of Australia, Donald McDonald, told GameSpot AU. "It is an offence in all states and territories of Australia to sell, hire or demonstrate a computer game classified Refused Classification (RC). As classification offences are established in the State and Territory enforcement legislation, it is the responsibility of the various states and territories to police these matters.
"A computer game classified RC would also be a prohibited import under Regulation 4A of the Customs Import Regulations. Any person importing an RC computer game into Australia needs to consider whether they are committing an offence."
Rockstar Games Australia representatives said they had no comment on the story as of press time.
UPDATE: Overnight, Steam has updated its Australian store offerings and has now removed Manhunt from sale, with the game no longer appearing on searches. Those who bought the game during its brief window of availability are also out of luck, with refunds now being sent out to purchasers.
29 comments
That's too bad for the people down under... Little things like this add up and makes me feel privileged to live somewhere where I'm allowed to make my own decisions on which game I want to buy and play
@Captain_Tom Hey, we have SOME rights, they are entrenched in our constitution and some are implied in the constitution, i think we only have free speech on political matters
@hypnotoad8128: You, frankly, have no idea what freedom of speech means. Freedom of speech is not limited to physically speaking. Freedom of speech is just a common way of saying "freedom of expression." Whether that be in video, drawing, writing, typing, talking, or any other form of expression. Just because the thing they're banning is not physical "speech" doesn't mean they aren't violating the concept of freedom of speech.
Foolish Freedom suckers are alive and well. What a bunch of garbage having to deal with this kind of stuff. Stop Banning games as they are clearly marked MATURE!
They sold Risen a few months ago on sale and took it off when it went off sale. Funny that.
Is this really even news? An online store offers a game for sale worldwide despite the game being banned in some areas. Since when did the internet have borders?
The PC version wasn't banned. They banned the console version, then around 8 months later the PC edition was released and you were able to grab a copy off the shelf with ease at places like Harvey Norman. Was that the thing that was revoked because if it was, a few shops in QLD were still carrying copies until hey sold out the last of their stock in 2005.
This is a perfect letter to the classification board, asking why this is so, yet Left 4 Dead 2 is still censored. It's all double standards.
How on Earth is this about freedom of speech?? The government here doesn't stop you all from talking about a potential R rating on games and It doesn't stop protesting about it, so there is no restriction on free speech at all! Denying us playing these games is a restriction on our personal liberties though which gives us our own personal responsibility and free will to do what we want. That is being breached..
The High Court has ruled Australians have an implied right to free speech, even if it's not explicitly stated in the Constitution. So actually, you do have a legal right to free speech, much like Americans have a right to say, abortions through Roe v. Wade, even though their Bill of Rights is silent on the issue. Not to mention Australia is signatory to dozens of UN treaties and international obligations which require its government to protect free speech. All adding a Bill of Rights would do is define how that right could be taken away (a referendum).
@TBoneTony I would point out that Australia doesn't have a Bill of Rights, so we technically don't have a legal freedom of speech.
thatsucks manhunt is an awesome game i really hope they make a 3rd one or HD remake the first one that would be pretty cool
This reminds me, until the R18+ is passed by all attorney generals, Manhunt 2 for the Wii and PS2 will still be banned because anything over MA15+ doesn't do much but appeal to people over 15. If you remember the skit about making games for Australia, "this is not permissable".
Seriously, it is only a game. Get a life politcians and consider the fact that games and Freedom of Speech and Expression and CAN'T be silenced by politics. Unless if you are a country like North Korea.
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