Rule of Rose canned for Australia

By Randolph Ramsay on 29 November 2006

The Rule of Rose controversy has spread down under. The horror game had been receiving plenty of bad press in Europe in the last few weeks, culminating in the cancellation of the game's European release by publisher 505 Games late last week. Today, 505's local distributor has confirmed that Rule of Rose's Australian and New Zealand release has been similarly cancelled.

Distributor Red Ant Enterprises told GameSpot AU that it had been informed by 505 that Rule of Rose ''would not be released in Australia or New Zealand at this time." Red Ant had originally scheduled the game to be released locally in February 2007. Red Ant product manager Nichola Bryan said the game had not been submitted to Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) for approval.

Rule of Rose received plenty of bad publicity in Australia over the past weekend, with mainstream newspaper articles carrying quotes from family organisations decrying the game because of its violence. Earlier last week, morning chat show Sunrise featured a panel debating whether the game should be banned.

Violent and sexually explicit games have had a patchy history down under. The OFLC has previously refused classification for games like Reservoir Dogs, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure, and Narc. Games without ratings cannot be sold in Australia.

Topics: rule, rose, ps2, ban, playstation, australia, ant, game, release, games

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Comments (14)

  • smith commented on 05/03/2009 14:32 Report abuse

    I thing as Bobo said they are games with more gore and sex in the market and yes GOD OF WAR 2 is one of them.I have this game and I keep like treasure,for the stupidity of some one day i make good money from this game.Some sellers they sale now about $130.00,lucky me.

  • BOBO commented on 05/03/2009 14:25 Report abuse

    Any one play the game GOD OF WAR 2;;In the first level the hero make love with two women on the bed as longest you want(the player control the sex) and still is a big title,and not banned Common it is just games grow up.

  • bobe commented on 24/02/2009 14:59 Report abuse

    when we are start wary about the games,in the same time the t.v give to the kids all they need to learn and grow.common let this game free.

  • SnowJay336 commented on 08/09/2008 11:23 Report abuse

    this game is hardly violent... there are many more games out there that are far more violent than this.. this title is, however, quite disturbing with the whole 'kids torturing kids' thing going on.. didnt think that it was too intense to get it banned though...

  • Sir Jase commented on 24/02/2008 13:22 Report abuse

    I bought this game for my ps2, and I was actually quite surprised that this of all games was banned. I've seen much more violent or gorey games. I've seen PLENTY more games with sexually explicit content. This game is by far the least disturbing game I have ever played, second only to spyro the dragon. I bet the people who had it banned haven't even played the game or viewed its story line in detail. The story line to this game is one of the most interesting I've seen in a long time, and reminds me of the film "innocence", and it really shouldn't of been banned at all. If you don't want your kid to play such a game, don't buy it for them, or destroy it if they somhow get it, and if your an adult who dosen't wish to play such a game. Walk past it to the kiddie section. To deprive so many people of such a game is depressing... SHAME on all those groups who had it banned.

  • Sir Jase commented on 24/02/2008 13:20 Report abuse

    I bought this game for my ps2, and I was actually quite surprised that this of all games was banned. I've seen much more violent or gorey games. I've seen PLENTY more games with sexually explicit content. This game is by far the least disturbing game I have ever played, second only to spyro the dragon. I bet the people who had it banned haven't even played the game or viewed its story line in detail. The story line to this game is one of the most interesting I've seen in a long time, and reminds me of the film "innocence", and it really shouldn't of been banned at all. If you don't want your kid to play such a game, don't buy it for them, or destroy it if they somhow get it, and if your an adult who dosen't wish to play such a game. Walk past it to the kiddie section. To deprive so many people of such a game is depressing... SHAME on all those groups who had it banned.

  • TRmaniac commented on 07/01/2008 18:49 Report abuse

    It does suck, really bad. Proof that we have a weak and foolish democracy. They can't just not SELL IT, that's unfair! It's not overly violent, it's not sexually explicit, it's NOT scary [just spooky as it should be] and it's not even that inappropriate. I've seen the gameplay on youtube! What the hell are these guys talking about? I reckon they need to get stuffed.

  • ... commented on 13/08/2007 00:09 Report abuse

    Okay, this is just stupid. People should have the right to buy whatever games they want as long as they can handle it. Personally, my parents get me M-rated games if they think is interesting too, which is most of the time. We have the complete Onimusha series except for Tactics and Blade Warriors. I played the 3rd game when I was 9. Did I get a sword and started killing people? No, even though I admit there are a few people I've encountered that deserve it. What the hell do they think M means anyway?! Just give it an adult rating or whatever, and let me play my game in peace

  • bleed_rhyme commented on 03/05/2007 14:51 Report abuse

    I think it's complete crap. I was really looking forward to this game after seeing the trailers and reviews and now i cant play it at all and the cost of getting it from overseas gaaah! I agree with everyone that if it's really that bad give it and MA+15 rating or even R and not sell it to kid, but like Cam said movies can have just as bad if not worse things in them what the hells's the big deal? As long as they clearly state that its an explicite game they can still sell it and cover their arse. Regardless of price I'm still buying it from overseas and playing it.

  • Clo commented on 04/02/2007 18:52 Report abuse

    People don't seem to want to accept the fact that adults play games too. They think that all games are for children only, and they buy their kids games then complain it's too "adult" Well, what DID you think MA meant when you bought the game in the first place?

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