The highly controversial game "Postal" was banned from retail sale in many countries, but it looks like the developers of Postal are planning a way to get around all that. Running with Scissors is giving online distribution a go to get their previously unavailable titles across to gamers in countries like Australia and New Zealand. Gameindustry,biz has the details...
RWS CEO Vince Desi - "Governments, customs agents or other traditional barriers to going Postal will become irrelevant as the Softwrap system sidesteps distributors, retailers and other would-be gate keepers to deliver the game anywhere and everywhere. ""From the land Down Under to the mountains of Korea, the world can now go Postal in peace and privacy, as God intended. We're just glad that at last responsible kids and irresponsible adults the world over can now get their paws on the most blacklisted and banned game of all time!"
It's an issue that was brought up first during the debate and discussion at the possible Half Life 2 ban, so It'll be interesting to see how our government plans to respond to online distribution of games if this approach gets more popular...
Sow how are they responsibly preventing the sale of this game to kids over the net?
more fuel for the fire, I say.
Well, VALVe didnt seem to have a problem and I think Ubisoft are looking at similar things. I think its a fantastic idea - Hooray for the underdog!
I'm with Mick1460 on this one; If countries like Australia, Korea and Germany weren't so ban happy, they would be more capable of minimizing sales to minors. The internet serves well to remind us that conservative governments no longer have the power to violate our freedom of speech. I hope more development companies follow Running with Scissors' lead.
Note: I hold this view despite having little respect for Postal or Running with Scissors. As I see it, while there are mature adults out there who believe Postal is okay, then they should have access to it.
Well so far, the games that have been banned here are usually total crap, and Postal is no exception. The only exception that does come to mind would be GTA (and rockstar alter the games to let them through). However, that isn't to say that eventually a really good game is banned soley for the ignorant lack of an R rating in video games.