UPDATED: Silent Hill: Homecoming refused classification

PS3 News | Heavy sighs, everyone.

It's been a hard year for Aussies, with news of upcoming games being banned becoming more and more frequent. Now, the latest game to be denied entry into our fair land is the horror sequel Silent Hill: Homecoming.

The game has unfortunately failed to receive a rating from the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC), and has been refused classification (RC). As many will know, any game which is unable to be classified within the MA15+ category is automatically refused classification and therefore illegal to be sold in Australia.

Silent Hill: Homecoming looks set to continue the series' trademark psychological horror, with twisted monsters, decayed environments and an unnerving atmosphere. At present, no specific reason has been given for refusing the game's classification.

UPDATE:

Games On Net has released information from the Board's report on Silent Hill: Homecoming, explaining why the game has been refused classification. Please be aware that the following information may contain spoilers for the game.

According the report, the game has been refused classification due to several scenes of violence and gore, including decapitations, blood sprays, dismembered corpses and several scenes involving drills, including one where "an electric drill is explicitly forced through Alex's right eye socket, remaining there for an extended period as Alex screams and blood sprays from the wound." There is also a scene where "Alex encounters a creature with a human body shape and a long, barbed, spade-shaped head. Using his head as a weapon, the creature explicitly bisects Alex, the two parts of the body lying separately on the ground, with copious blood spray."

All of this basically boils down to the conclusion that, "the Board considers that the cumulative effect of this type of violence is high and as such cannot be accommodated at the MA 15+ classification."

Related Silent Hill: Homecoming Content

Silent Hill: Homecoming Review
24 Mar, 2009 It's time to grow up and move out of home.

Silent Hill: Homecoming has minimal changes for Australia
14 Jan, 2009 Gameplay remains unchanged.

Silent Hill: Homecoming classified in Australia
07 Jan, 2009 Receives a MA15+ rating by Australian Classification Board.

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90 Comments

Annihilation

3 years ago

Jesus Christ, not another one...

RXWAG

3 years ago

are games being refused due to the higher grade graphics that are available today, as it makes it way more realistic?

Smurf80

3 years ago

This will be my first ps3 import then, I will not miss out on this as Silent Hill has been apart of my playstation experience since the PS1 days.

I think something needs to be done about these ratings as it seems it will only get worse as time goes on...

The Genius

3 years ago

...And in other non-suprising news, Lindsey Lohan finally reveals she is a lesbian!

shiraj

3 years ago

another one bites the dust... another one gone, another gone, another one bites the dust...

couches

3 years ago

Pyramid Head up to his old raping ways?

x7h3CUREx

3 years ago

wtf! when is this stupid law going to get changed.

He4dsp1n2008

3 years ago

Just add another game to my bittorrent list... If these games were available in australia, I'd be happy to pay the price but as long as the australian government can't get its act together then what else are we supposed to do?

Cobla

3 years ago

Grrr. Very disappointing!!

Benza

3 years ago

I think we honestly need more high profile games like this getting cencored. It just means more publicity for it and a higher chance of getting the rules changed.

Felonioustub

3 years ago

He4dsp1n2008 wrote

I think this is a stupid way of thinking and just trying to convince yourself that you're not a software pirate. If you were really happy "paying the price" then you can easily import it at a cheaper cost than buying it here anyway.
I'll be taking the import option because I'm a huge fan of the series, except for the 4th one.

evil_kenshin

3 years ago

Once again it proves that it sucks to be a gamer in Australia.

notsofat

3 years ago

i think play-asia might be appearing on my "google chrome most used page" list if im not careful

mikezilla2

3 years ago

il import - just about had enough of this crap - any word on the UK version ?

xelim

3 years ago

PALGN wrote

"an electric drill is explicitly forced through Alex's right eye socket, remaining there for an extended period as Alex screams and blood sprays from the wound."

...And a blowtorch to the eye of a character in Hostel followed by the removal of said eye with a pair of scissors as she screams horrifically is okayed by censors as R18+.

I've been a fan of the Silent Hill games since the very first was released. Thank God I'll be in America when it's released. Glad I can pick it up in a country that has seen more violence in 10 years then the combined history of australia.

redemption

3 years ago

Kinda expected this, i canceled my Pre-order a few weeks ago, and ordered it from Play-Asia. Think you can still get in trouble for importing a game if you had it ordered befor they RC'd it?

Zarnoss

3 years ago

i hope that Konami or Foundation 9 studios dont edit this for PAL release so the OFLC can get a flood of hatemail/WTF? letters so in future they might be able to pursue or contemplate a higher rating system.
Sure it's a bit of a shock , but if enough people get pissed off about this surely they will have to change the system.
Let the gamers be heard.

People... don't be the "Meh what can I do?" crowd, let your voices be heard.
Write to them about this travesty.

All in all , i'm getting this whether I have to import or not.
I'd rather have cash flow going into this country as opposed to overseas also.....

Zhaz

3 years ago

redemption wrote

Think you can still get in trouble for importing a game if you had it ordered befor they RC'd it?

You can still get into trouble for importing a RC game, regardless of whether you have pre-ordered it before the OFLC classified it. Hopefully it should be able to get through, as plenty have been able to import RC games before. Its whether you're lucky enough not to have customs check and send you a letter in the mail letting you know that the game has been confiscated and giving you a warning.

Zarnoss

3 years ago

Zhaz wrote

redemption wrote

Think you can still get in trouble for importing a game if you had it ordered befor they RC'd it?

I'd actually like to hear from someone that this situation has happened to.
From what i hear it's a bit of an urban legend.
Also if said person speaks up about it , what did they do to rectify the problem.

Jarrod

3 years ago

Once upon a time I expected the odd game here and there to get banned, but never really worried about it as all the good stuff got through.

Australian censorship has now gotten to a point where I have to worry about every mature game release.

Thank you, government and censorship board, for this situation. I wonâ€™t be funding the Australian game distribution market until its taken seriously, and from now on will import every single title I buy, regardless of whether or not it is banned here.

redemption

3 years ago

Zhaz wrote

redemption wrote

Think you can still get in trouble for importing a game if you had it ordered befor they RC'd it?

hope my package isn't opened then, though i've had a few of them sent from Play Asia in the past opened up (pocket candy is delicious, the dogs must have smelt it)

Zarnoss

3 years ago

redemption wrote

Zhaz wrote

redemption wrote

Think you can still get in trouble for importing a game if you had it ordered befor they RC'd it?

hope my package isn't opened then, though i've had a few of them sent from Play Asia in the past opened up (pocket candy is delicious, the dogs must have smelt it)

But did it actually get taken away?

Zhaz

3 years ago

Zarnoss wrote

I suppose you could call it an urban legend. I'm just basing my information on a post I remember from xbox.com about someone who was unlucky to have their copy of GTA IV confiscated and posted a scan of the letter from Customs. I am sure that it can happen, I personally myself have been able to get games through with no hassles however I did have a package detained by customs for almost a whole week (It was a bit annoying as I used Express courier for postage) before they finally released it.

As to how you can rectify the situation, I don't think there's much you can do, except coping it on the chin. They take your game away, you get a warning implying don't do it again otherwise you could face a hefty fine.

Zarnoss

3 years ago

Zhaz wrote

I remember from xbox.com about someone who was unlucky to have their copy of GTA VI confiscated

Thats the reason it got confiscated....it came from a terminator in the year 2012.