Hotline Miami Collection pulled from Switch eShop in Australia

[mandiller]

The fact that it was even for sale was bizarre since the sequel was refused classification here and the original had an R18+ rating. The collection was listed as only MA15+ for both, so there was definitely something fishy going on.

Vooks posted about it being pulled:
https://www.vooks.net/hotline-miami-collection-has-been-pulled-from-the-australian-eshop/

If you've already bought it, you're fine. But if you haven't picked it up yet then you'll either have buy it from a different region's store or import the physical edition.

 

[Richter1887]

Australia at it again...

 

[Coldman]

Devolver definitely threw it up there as a middle finger to the Australian classification board.

 

[Braaier]

LOL! That was quick. Bully for those who were able to get it before it was pulled.

 

[Vern]

Sucked in!

 

[RecRoulette]

Oh my god, they actually had it up there for awhile? Awesome.

 

[Deleted member 1726]

Strewth

 

[wrowa]

I suppose they were able to auto-generate a rating via the IARC programm. To be honest, if Devolver did this on purpose to stick a finger to the Australian rating board I kinda find this to be a dick move. IARC is a godsend especially to indie developers and trying to abuse the system on purpose is only doing harm to everyone. But I guess they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

 

[Novocaine]

Knew it was a good idea to buy it ASAP!

 

[grunkleFungus]

Can't believe a country that had Katherine Knight and the Snotown Murders is being squeamish about a game. Are the right wing pols there also blaming games for violence? I know that there was something with Hotline Miami 2, but again I'm not very plugged in so to speak.

 

[Larrikin]

Oh fuck right off. I saw it on store this morning and assumed all was well since usually games dont make it at all if they dont meet "standards"


FUCK

 

[Bishop89]

Still salty the sequel got banned here...
The original didn't though, was a fun game.

 

[Ausroachman]

This countries classifications suck , why even bother having a token r18 category .

 

[Zushin]

Oh for fuck sake, was gonna buy this tomorrow. Piss off ratings board.

 

[Fendajaz]

Fucking pissed that I didn't buy it asap. Fuck the Aussie classification board.

 

[Phoenix944]

Hey don't be mad, they're protecting you!

:/

 

[NoKisum]

Can you guys still get it if you make an NA account?

This countries classifications suck , why even bother having a token r18 category .

Click to shrink...

Prolly to streamline what to ban.

 

[LiK]

Australia keeps pretending no adults play video games.

 

[CatSoul]

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

They should really just release a version with the rape locked off for the Australian market.

 

[The Fabled Englishman]

Can't believe a country that had Katherine Knight and the Snotown Murders is being squeamish about a game. Are the right wing pols there also blaming games for violence? I know that there was something with Hotline Miami 2, but again I'm not very plugged in so to speak.

Click to shrink...

Not really. This is really just an example of why legislated ratings systems cause issues. The ESRB is a self-regulating mechanism so it doesn't have to go through an entire parliamentary/congressional process every time it needs to change its standards. In Australia, changing ratings standards requires parliamentary reform, which is an issue when you're dealing with stuff like drug use and sexual violence - since conservative pollies have to actually give their active assent.

Basically, the reason why these games are being 'banned' comes down to the fact that they can't actually be accommodated within the existing ratings criteria. Hence, they can't be rated - and, if they can't be rated, they can't be legally sold.

 

[NightShift]

Please tell me Devolver released it knowing it would end up getting pulled. That would be great.

 

[Dantendo]

Expected this so grabbed it as soon as I got home from work, money well spent now.

 

[Zampano]

Rack off Landers you dobber!

 

[ThreepQuest64]

And here I was thinking we Germans are screwed with all the cut games back then and the fucked up release of Wolfenstein Young Blood here. But at least we can buy the game and refrain from importing them (although many do import PEGI versions for console from our dear neighbour Austria).

You guys have my deepest sympathy.

 

[StraySheep]

and the fucked up release of Wolfenstein Young Blood here.

Click to shrink...

Whats your story about Wolfenstein being fucked up? Because I have certainly had my own problems as someone who bought the deluxe edition in germany with an American psn account.

 

[ArjanN]

Can't believe a country that had Katherine Knight and the Snotown Murders is being squeamish about a game. Are the right wing pols there also blaming games for violence? I know that there was something with Hotline Miami 2, but again I'm not very plugged in so to speak.

Click to shrink...

I'm pretty sure anything where you use drugs as a 'power-up' tends to trigger australian ratings, more so that the violence.

Spoiler

The was some commotion about a rape scene early on, but that ends up being a fake-out, as it's just a movie scene in the game.

 

[ThreepQuest64]

Whats your story about Wolfenstein being fucked up?

Click to shrink...

Although Bethesda decided for the first time to release the international version (with Nazi symbolic, terms/speech), they separated the dubbed texts and voice. So you either buy the international version with all available languages (voice + text) but German. Or you buy the German version which only included German voices and texts but is cut, like Wolfenstein games before, no Nazi symbolic, no Adolf Hitler but "Heiler" (which, ironically, means "healer"...). It's not the Third Reich you fighting against, it's the Totenkopfregime (Skull Regime).

Since they released the international version here anyways, they could have just made this one version that contains every language.

 

[StraySheep]

Although Bethesda decided for the first time to release the international version (with Nazi symbolic, terms/speech), they separated the dubbed texts and voice. So you either buy the international version with all available languages (voice + text) but German. Or you buy the German version which only included German voices and texts but is cut, like Wolfenstein games before, no Nazi symbolic, no Adolf Hitler but "Heiler" (which, ironically, means "healer"...). It's not the Third Reich you fighting against, it's the Totenkopfregime (Skull Regime).

Since they released the international version here anyways, they could have just made this one version that contains every language.

Click to shrink...

Yes this was also one of the problems I had. Which is not a huge problem because I guess I can use it to improve my German, but still its dumb.

 

[Overflow]

Sigh, I remarked on it yesterday how crazy it was that the first time the game be sold here it's on a Nintendo platform. Sure enough, it just slipped through the cracks. I was hoping we'd see it similarly released on other consoles here, guess not then. Fml