Australia. When you hear the word you think of the Sydney Opera House, kangaroos, and a lawless post-apocalyptic wasteland where humans maim and torture one another for that sweet, sweet gasoline.
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While the world's only continent/country has yet to devolve into hedonistic barbarism, it is only because they refuse to acknowledge that said barbarism exists. The latest example in their war on video games (which is more like a brushfire) is their 'Refusing Classification' of the upcoming Hotline Miami 2.
Now, refusing classification is not the same as banning. Banning implies censorship, and Australia is founded on democratic principles and we don't allow censorship, do we? But by refusing to classify a movie, show or video game, stores cannot legally sell the game. Which is effectively, in spirit if not in words, a ban.
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Back in 2011, the Australian government instituted a new RC18+ rating, which would allow games and other properties that may be a bit too much to exist within the borders. Hotline Miami 2 is apparently too much. It joins an illustrious list of titles such as Saints Row IV, Phantasmagoria, The Witcher 2 and South Park: The Stick of Truth as titles that have been refused classification (several have had appeals).
The reason, as presented by Kotaku AU, is hilarious. I want you to read the following statement in the voice of a bored, stuffy 70 year old white guy in a suit with a soft Australian accent and a bad, bad combover:
"In the sequence of game play footage titled Midnight Animal, the protagonist character bursts into what appears to be a movie set and explicitly kills 4 people, who collapse to the floor in a pool of copious blood, often accompanied by blood splatter. After stomping on the head of a fifth male character, he strikes a female character wearing red underwear. She is knocked to the floor and is viewed lying face down in a pool of copious blood. The male character is viewed with his pants halfway down, partially exposing his buttocks. He is viewed pinning the female down by the arms and lying on top of her thrusting, implicitly raping her (either rear entry or anally) while her legs are viewed kicking as she struggles beneath him. This visual depiction of implied sexual violence is emphasised by it being mid-screen, with a red backdrop pulsating and the remainder of the screen being surrounded by black."
Man, now I don't even want to play it because you managed to take something so visceral, so deranged and make it utterly and completely dull. That is one way to win the war, Australia.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number has no official release date here in the States but it's slated for Q1 this year on PS4, PS3, PS Vita, Windows, Mac and Linux.
