Konami’s latest entry in the survival horror franchise was able to survive the horror of Australia’s strict video game outlines.  Silent Hill: Homecoming just got the ability to sell in the land down under, receiving the Ma15+ max rating that the Australia rating system allows. Video games in Australia cannot receive the R18+ rating as it is only allowed for movies.

Silent Hill: Homecoming is the latest high profile game to have its ban uplifted in Australia.  Big name contenders like Fallout 3, F.E.A.R. 2, and Dark Sector also had difficulty being sold, and were only allowed distribution through censorship or an appeals process.  The common thread through these games is the amount of extreme violence and gore, something not taken likely in Australia.  In fact, when analyzing lists of banned games, Austrailia has one of the highest counts with around thirty titles that are banned/have been banned.  The Grand Theft Auto Series, in particular, seems to have the most problems with the Australia ratings board; they are only available through a censored version.

Looking at the board’s website shows that Silent Hill’s rating is in the “revised” state, and will warn consumers that the game contains “strong horror violence and themes”.  There is currently a debate in the restriction of R18+ ratings as studies show that the average Australian gamer is thirty years old.

More on Silent Hill: Homecoming can be found at www.konami.com, and more on the Australian classifications board at http://www.classification.gov.au.

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