How Do You Feel About Videogame Censorship and/or Banning?

I was reading this article (posted below) that talks about government banning certain videogames from being imported, sold, rent due to the game' s content.

Personally, I believe government should stay the he** out of making choices like this for everyone they govern. Instead, they should enforce the ratings system, and let the legal-age buyers decided for themselves.

What do you think? You may want to read the article first...

Leisure Suit Larry banned in Australia

Aussie government says Magna Cum Laude won' t be coming at all to gamers in Oz.
Try as he might, Larry Lovage won' t be going Down Under anytime soon--Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude has been blocked from entry into Australia. Various Australian news agencies reported last week that the Office of Film and Literature Classification, the branch of the Australian government that rates all video games that enter the country, has banned the title.

The report issued by the office indicates that the game' s sexual content, specifically the cinematic scenes that feature " obscured and/or implied sexual activity and obscured and partial nudity involving stylised, animated characters."

Earlier this year, the office refused to classify Rockstar' s gory slasher Manhunt. It is now illegal to import, rent, or sell either game in Australia.

Published by Vivendi Universal for the PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude represents the rebirth of the classic adventure game series published by Sierra On-Line in the 1980s and 1990s. It is legal in the United States.

By Chris Kohler -- GameSpot

Videogaming is the contemporary interactive pasttime.

they can' t enjoy simple rights like playing a game! i bet lsl sucks, but still, what next? no gta san andreas? games like that are just interactive forms of porn. is porn legal there? hmmm??? i' m pretty sure it is... and these people are dispicable by outlawing a game because its... dispicable.

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BURN IN HELL CENSORS!!!

Well, that was put simply enough, but I couldn' t agree more. " Refused to classify?" Now that sounds just dandy. However, it' s not just Leisure Suit Larry that' s in danger--there are games being quashed all over the world for having " questionable" content. So, just because not everybody agrees with gaming, governments feel that' s sufficient grounds to completely ban something. Well, it' s not like videogames are any worse than television--turning on TV in America is a definite health hazard. Videogames are an art form compared to most of the trash you see elsewhere.

Bah. They ban EVERYTHING in Australia.

Kikizo Staff Writer

Censorship!!!! I have no problem with people playing the games they want, as long as they don' t get negatively influenced AND show it in public. But, that is not the case, so censorships exist to control stupid behavior from gaming. I guess it would be appropriate, particularly, you wouldn' t want your kid ****ing around with a nude girl in bytes all the time do you...um...your 7-year old????? To an extent, games have a negative effect on society and human behavior.

Games I want: Starcraft: Ghost (went to gamestop and saw it on the shelf labeled " coming soon, reserve your copy today"
Halo 2

Well the Australian government have saved a lot of Australians from playing an atrocious game! But no tbh I don' t see anything wrong with this. Same goes with Manhunt. They' re banning games which without a shock factor (killings in the case of Mahunt, sex in the case of Leisure Suit Larry) would be very average. Time for publishers and developers to try harder and actually make decent games.

To some ppl may think those are decent games. Without allowing ppl to pick and choose for themselves, you really cant decide what is decent and what is not. Whats good for some is bad for others and vice versa. Forcing one group to have to deal with the others own opinion really isnt fair.

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